Seagoe parish harvest cakes 1907 & 2007
On Monday, the 11th November in 1907, at Seagoe School, the parishioners of Seagoe Parish enjoyed a harvest supper, at which the largest cake ever baked in Portadown took centre stage. Thanks to mention of the cake in an old cookery book it was possible to have a copy of the original cake recreated for the parishioners of Seagoe Parish to enjoy at their harvest supper at Seagoe Old School on Sunday the 14th October 2007 - a century later!
The 1907 cake was made by Messrs Davidson & Co of the Alexandra Bakery, and the 2007 replica was recreated by Howell House, a subsidiary of Irwin's Bakery in Portadown. They followed the original recipe using over 300 eggs, 30lbs of flour and 25lbs of sugar to create the copy, the end result, as in 1907, measuring 2½ feet in diameter, 1 foot deep and 7½ feet in diameter. The masterpiece required the skill of a master decorator and then 2 men to transport it to where it was displayed at the harvest services.
At the Sunday evening harvest service Mr Niall Irwin, Director of Irwin's Bakery in Portadown, spoke about what was involved in reproducing the cake, which was exact in every detail, including icing the names of the 29 townlands of Seagoe Parish and the harvest emblems of corn, fruit and flowers.
Mrs Florence White, a parishioner of Seagoe Parish, remembers being told as a child about the original cake and she was on hand to help with the cutting of the recreated cake.
Kiwoko Hospital in Uganda will benefit from the funds raised at the harvest services and the display of the cake. Seagoe Parish has undertaken to support this hospital as part of their own fundraising towards building a new Parish Centre.