Celebrating A 100th Birthday Party
Plus Red, White, and Blue Holiday Cakes with a color twist.
Dreamy Cakes, just around the corner!
You may be the baker in your family and thinking about making those red, white, and blue cakes to celebrate the upcoming holidays.
Are you concerned about artificial food coloring? They say it is not good for us anymore! Read on until the end to discover how I solved the artificial color dilemma and find the recipe for the Gluten-Free Chocolate Ganache Cake with Cherry Cream Filling I made for Adriane Stewart's 100th Birthday party.
A 100-Year-Young Celebration Needs a Special Cake!
Recently, I travelled to where my mother-in-law, Adriane Stewart, was celebrating her 100th birthday party. Since there were others at the party who needed to eat gluten-free, I made a "100"-shaped gluten-free chocolate cake with a cherry cream filling and chocolate ganache frosting, featuring white chocolate roses as a garnish.
The “100” was created using one oblong cake pan and two round cake pans. It went a long way since it was very rich, but happily every crumb was devoured, and it was a hit for everyone, whether they were celiac or not!
Celebrating Adriane Wadsworth Stewart’s 100th
… a woman who keeps giving the joy of music!
Adriane Wadsworth Stewart was born in Farmington, Connecticut, USA, in 1925. She often quips, “When I was born, they spanked me and instead of crying, I started to sing, I’ve had a song in my heart my whole life.”
As a lyric soprano, Adriane’s formative years were filled with music. She grew up singing in her school and church choirs, then later she attended Smith College, where she majored in voice and choral directing, graduating in 1947. During the summers, she took lessons at The Juilliard School, a performing arts conservatory founded in 1905 in New York City. The Juilliard is known as a world leader in performing arts education. Adriane also has a fantastic fashion sense, as one of her summer jobs while studying at Juilliard was working at Saks Fifth Avenue in NYC.
After graduation, Adriane performed in some of North America’s most prestigious venues, including a radio show in Laguna Beach, Florida, where she sang classics in English and French, with a mix of opera, as well as Scottish and Irish folk songs. She was invited to appear on the Horace Heidt Show, a nationally broadcast variety show similar to the Lawrence Welk Show.
“I sang Scarlett Ribbons and it was an amazing thing,” Adriane recalls of her experiences singing in Hollywood, California, where she lived for some time before returning to the East Coast, where she sang in the chorus at the Radio City Music Hall.
“It was gorgeous, I had Life Magazine take a picture when I was changing from one costume to another, it was glamorous.” Says Adriane.
In the early 1950s, in addition to Radio City Music Hall, Adriane toured in a production of The Merry Widow. She sang in the Metropolitan Opera’s chorus before touring the country in her own show, performing folk songs and playing the autoharp alongside an accompanist.
“We sang a lot of musical comedy, plus songs like ‘If I Loved You’ and ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’… we did all kinds of musical stuff.”
Adriane recounts performing on a 47-day cruise to South America, stepping off the ship in Argentina to be met with giant posters of Eva Perón. She had worn her bright blond hair in a similar style, but says, “I’ll never forget that, it was too much for the locals, so I took my hair down so I didn’t look like her anymore.”
Travel and excitement were constant recurrences in Adriane’s life. Little did she know when she joined a group going on a music tour to Toronto, Canada, that the next chapter of her life would include love at first sight and a new life and family in Canada.
Adriane Wadsworth and Athol Stewart’s first glance at each other was at a fancy dress party. She was wearing a long, silvery-blue gown, her bright blond hair styled in a fashionable, upswept manner. When she glanced at the audience after a performance, there Athol stood, his eyes transfixed, watching her. He was handsome by any standard, a fine figure attired in the formal dress kilt of the Canadian Army’s Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders.
In her own words, “You can just imagine how gorgeous he looked, and I can say I fell in love at first sight.”
During WWII, Athol Stewart served in Company, 3rd Canadian Division and landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, before leading his men to take the city of Caen, a linchpin of the German defenses at that time. He was interviewed by the CBC several times and then returned to Canada on the hospital ship, RMS Lady Nelson, after being wounded in action.
Eventually, Adriane and Athol married, and they had children, settling in Thornhill, Ontario. Athol was then an advertising executive in Toronto. Since they had both been previously married with children, theirs was an on-and-off blended family, and summers consisted of everyone getting together in a “The Brady Bunch” style, spending time at the cottage on Lake Muskoka.
Adriane never lost her love of singing. She was able to continue performing with the Canadian Opera Company chorus for eight years, although she chose not to go on tour, as she had young children at home.
“La Traviata’s my favourite,” says Adriane, “I was in Madame Butterfly, and Aida. Turnadot, and Carmen, but Aida was so beautiful! It was my favorite.”
In the 1980s, Adriane and Athol spent their winters in Florida, where she performed at the Florida Noah’s Ark Club, which specialized in performances for Canadian Snow Birds.
If you ask her what it is like being a senior, she will say, “It is a whole new experience. As seniors, we have so much to give to the next generation, and we get to receive so much in return.”
Life, according to Adriane, is to be lived by the Grace of God. Yet, an exciting life can also have downsides and times that would break the hearts of many.
Adriane lives the prayer, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." Adriane is the first to advise family members to have faith: “Because with faith, things can turn out.” Adriane is an inspiration to us all.
“I still have my high notes, I still have my voice, so I’m very lucky. I want to inspire other people to recognize what we can still do as seniors,” she says.
In late retirement, Adriane moved to The Parkview on John Street in Oshawa, Ontario. She continued joining church choirs and theater groups. In 1998, she received the Pauline McGibbon Lifetime Achievement Award in the Arts, and in 2013, she won Durham’s Senior Star competition. Adriane participated in the Jubilee Choir to celebrate Canada’s 150th Anniversary, where she sang a selection of Canadian songs.
Adriane looked beautiful in a lavender lace gown at her 100th Birthday Party!
Adriane is deeply loved and cherished by her now large family and enjoys nothing more than being with them, even though we are all spread out across two countries. We are all thankful to be able to get together as much as we do.
It is inspiring to see that being positive and keeping faith despite things we would rather pass us by …can still turn out.
Adriane has such a fantastic voice and even performed several numbers at her 100th Birthday Party to a packed venue.
The Makings of a 100th Birthday Cake For Adriane.
Yes, I had to travel, but I wanted to make this cake. I made a smaller version for Adriane’s 90th and would not be deterred, even though I would be far from my own kitchen. Thankfully, I had access to a friend’s kitchen, but I made the gluten-free cake mix at home, so all I had to do was add the liquids, bake it, and decorate. Having a ready-made gluten-free cake mix saves a lot of worry and time.
The decor didn’t require a lot of pink food coloring, but gained a little oomph with a few beet-juice colored white chocolate balls as accents. …and of course, there was more than one cake for everyone to enjoy, whether gluten-free or not!
If you'd like to create a variation for a celebration of your own, here is the recipe.
Chocolate Cake - A Gluten-Free Dry Mix
The flour Blend: This amounts to 4 cups altogether, but measuring by grams is more accurate for gluten-free flours.
200 grams of Potato Starch
166 grams of Sweet (glutinous) Rice Flour
114 grams of Arrowroot Flour
20 grams of Potato Flour (not starch)
20 grams of Green Banana Flour1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 tbsp. vanilla sugar (sugar stored with a vanilla bean)
1/4 tsp. salt4 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
2 cups pure sifted cocoa
1 tablespoon Psyllium Husk Powder
1 tablespoon of Flax or Chia Seeds ground very fine
Blend all the dry ingredients together and store in an airtight container. Don't be fooled by this recipe - 4 cups of Flour, plus the other ingredients, make what is referred to as A Four-Cup Chocolate Cake Mix, and this amount is added to the wet ingredients.
Making the Cake Batter: For One Cake or 12 Cupcakes.
4 whole eggs beaten or whisked.
1 cup milk, water, buttermilk, or kefir
¾ cup oil, or a ‘melted butter and oil’ combination.
2 1/2 tablespoons White Vinegar
Add 2 cups of Dry Cake Mix and mix until well blended.
Pour the batter into a buttered 9-inch round springform cake pan, approximately 2 inches deep. (or other cake pan of a similar size) Bake at 350℉ for 45 minutes or until cake tests done. (A small knife inserted comes out clean)
Making the Cake Batter: For a Two-Layer Cake or 24 Cupcakes.
8 whole eggs beaten with an electric mixer
2 cups milk, water, buttermilk, or kefir
1 1/2 cups avocado oil, or a combination of melted butter and oil.
5 tablespoons White Vinegar
Add 4 cups of Dry Cake Mix and mix until well blended.
Pour the batter into two buttered 9-inch round springform cake pans approximately 2 inches deep. (or two other cake pans of a similar size) Bake at 350℉ for 45 minutes or until cake tests done. (A small knife inserted comes out clean)
Cherry Cream Cake Filling
1 pkg. Frozen Pitted Dark Cherries
3 tbsp. Corn Starch (or potato starch)
1/2 cup water1 cup 35 % Whipping Cream
1 tsp. Pure Vanilla
Method:
In a saucepan, combine the cherries, cornstarch, and water, and heat until the mixture thickens. Cool.
Whip the cream with vanilla.
When the cherry mixture is cool, fold it into the whipped cream and use it as a filling for the cake.
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
A little more than a one-to-one ratio.
1 1/4 cup Belgian Chocolate Pieces (or semi-sweet Baker’s Chocolate)
1 cup 35% Whipping Cream
Method:
Melt the chocolate slowly in a double boiler together with the cream, stirring continuously. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and cool somewhat. Whip the chocolate and cream mixture until it is thick, creamy, and spreadable. Use to coat the cake entirely.
White Chocolate-Clay Roses
5 oz (140 g) white chocolate
1/4 scant cup (50 g) light corn syrup, slightly warmed
Method:
Chop the white chocolate finely and place it in a double boiler, stirring continuously, until it melts. Be careful not to overheat it. Stir (do not whisk) the corn syrup into the melted chocolate until combined. The white chocolate will become thick very quickly after adding the corn syrup.
Turn the mixture out onto parchment paper and gently knead into a smooth ball. Wrap in parchment and cool completely, resting at room temperature for at least 3 hours. Knead the dough again until it is pliable, and then shape small pieces into rose petals. Then, assemble them into roses. If the chocolate clay does not hold its shape at this stage, chilling the clay can help in modeling.
To Add Color: Add the beet juice food coloring to a small amount of warm corn syrup and knead separately.
I made the cake two days before the birthday party. One day before, I prepared the filling and chocolate ganache, and assembled the whole thing. This timeline allowed the cake to chill well overnight. I used frozen water bottles placed under the finished cakes, which I carried in clean laundry baskets for the drive to the party. Just in case you need to know how to transport one that you make over a distance.
The Red, White, and Blue Holiday Season
I hope you will find solutions for the upcoming Red, White, and Blue Holiday Season and create some colorful cakes of your own during the period from Canada Day on July 1st to Independence Day on July 4th, marking the start of summer vacations.
Americans and Canadians share so many historical roots, ancestors who came to both countries from all over the world. Almost all of us have family and friends on both sides of the border. We love each other, so don’t be swayed by the recent hyperventilations and keep sharing your dual celebrations.
Colors or Colours, we need them to decorate cakes!
As promised, here is a solution if you're trying hard to avoid artificial food dyes.
I recently experimented with creating my own food colors using fruits and vegetables. After all, I wouldn’t want to serve someone something unhealthy. It was a lot of work to grate, make purees, and powder them by drying in the oven, all so I could create naturally colored frostings. Here are a couple of winners in Red and Blue, which you can play with without having to go through all that trouble.
The Red Food Color is made with red beet powder and lemon. I made the beet powder, but it's also possible to buy it since beets are a superfood.
The Blue Food Color is Blue Spirulina, a superfood with a non-fishy taste and a vibrant blue hue that requires only a little to achieve its full effect.
So, who needs artificial now?
Here is hoping you enjoy happy celebrations, cakes, parties, and more!
Trina Astor-Stewart
Content Creator, Author, Illustrator, PR and Marketing Consultant.
AstoriaMagazine.com
GlutenFreeTrina.com
TrinaAstorStewart.com
x.com/astoriatrina
facebook.com/ajourneywithtrina/
payhip.com/AstoriaDigital Store.
What an interesting article Trina! It is nice to learn more about Adriane and her interesting life. Your cake was interesting too!