PizzaExpress superfans create dough ball wedding cake
Two PizzaExpress ‘superfans' have celebrated their wedding with a cake made out of the brand's classic dough balls, after a marriage proposal via a Padana pizza.
Dale Connelly and Catherine Scott, from Colchester, commissioned a cake to be made with 1,000 dough balls plus edible chocolate flowers, served with chocolate or vanilla cream dips. The creation took cake designer Juliet Sear 16 hours to make ahead of the couple's wedding on Saturday 15 August at the All Saints Church in Fordham, Essex.
Dough balls, usually served with garlic butter as a starter (and sometimes chocolate spread as a dessert), have been a mainstay of the PizzaExpress menu since the group first opened in 1965.
PizzaExpress was also involved in the couple's engagement two years ago, as groom Connelly hired out the whole of Southend Pier, and asked a PizzaExpress restaurant to write his proposal in cheese on the couple's favourite pizza, the Padana, which has toppings including goats' cheese, mozzarella, caramelised onions, spinach and red onion. The pizza was then presented to Scott, who accepted the proposal.
Head of menu at PizzaExpress, Holly Davies, commented: "We were very excited when Dale and Catherine asked us to create something special for them. It was a big responsibility."
Connelly said their choice had surprised some people but most had thought it was "amazing", and called the final creation "the icing on the dough ball wedding cake". Scott added:
"We've had the most perfect day with lots of touches that are personal to us. People might think we're bonkers but we couldn't be happier and will remain PizzaExpress fans for life."
The year 2015 marks the restaurant group's 50th year of trading, and it announced the opening of its new flagship site near London's Leicester Square in February this year. It also saw strong sales growth in March this year, and introduced a host of ‘1965' specials to commemorate the anniversary.
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