A CENTURY-old recipe has been used to recreate an enormous cake first made to celebrate the christening of Prince Edward, who later became Edward VIII.

The 1894 Christening Cake is 4ft tall, and took bakers Judy Banks and Lesley Dalton 500 hours to make.

They followed a recipe used to make three christening cakes at York, Cheltenham and Edinburgh, and printed in an 1894 Yorkshire Gazette article.

The decorated cake is now on display in the window of Joseph Terry and Sons Shop at the York Castle Museum.

The article states that the original square cake weighed 60 pounds and was made in two tiers, both of which were panelled in pink, pleated satin.

It adds that: "A battlemented wall, representative of the walls of York was run round the top of the square, and within the space thus enclosed the tiers of the cake, circular in form, were fixed."

Meanwhile visitors to the museum can go on a historic tour of food and drink through the ages, during this week's Festival of Food and Drink.

The city centre attraction has transformed its world of original interiors into the setting for informal themed talks on dining over the past 300 years.

The hour-long events will take place at lunchtime, from 12.30pm, and begin today with a talk on taking tea in England, held in the Georgian Period Room.

On Friday, social history curator Katy Turner will talk on the subject of A Well-Ordered Table In The Victorian Parlour.

The museum's late-night Evening Talks will also begin on Thursday at 7.30pm with a talk by Peter Brears on Traditional Food In Victorian Yorkshire. Tickets for the evening event cost £4.

Updated: 12:09 Wednesday, September 18, 2002