World-record carrot cake? Massive dessert feeds town, stuns crowd with sheer size
Coffee shop owner, age 80, makes enormous carrot cake for his birthday
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}At 80 years old, Canadian coffee shop owner Ted Martindale believes he's done what few would attempt, let alone achieve. He says he's baked the largest carrot cake in the world.
"I know we broke the record, and I'm pretty sure I can convince [Guinness World Records] of that," Martindale told Fox News Digital.
The nearly 6,000-pound cake, built in his small British Columbia community of Quesnel, is now under review by Guinness. But for Martindale, the verdict is already clear.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I've got all the documentation required," he said.
The idea for the giant carrot cake was a little wild, by his own admission, he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This nearly 6,000-pound carrot cake is believed to have set a world record for the largest carrot cake ever made. Guinness is reviewing it. (Ted Martindale)
"I looked up the [Guinness World Records book] carrot cake and I thought, 'Well, we can bake that. All we have to do is do the mathematics and the whole thing, and I can easily beat that record,'" he said. "So, we went for it."
In celebration of his 80th birthday on March 25, the owner of Granville's Coffee unveiled the giant carrot cake — inviting the community to join in the festivities at the town's senior center.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}What he didn't anticipate was how the attempt would evolve into a town-wide event.
"Two weeks ago, my wife and I thought, 'Nobody's going to show up for this,'" he said. "And then the whole town just almost showed up. There was no parking in town. All the restaurants were busy. It was almost like a civic holiday. It was just amazing."
A giant carrot cake was the centerpiece of Ted Martindale's 80th birthday celebration at a senior center in Canada. (Ted Martindale)
Pulling it off required precision and scale.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It was a month-long process because we had to make 432 sheet cakes, and we had to store them in a big freezer in a grocery store," Martindale said.
Assembly, he said, "was just like brickwork."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It was like a construction project. And we had to make all the icing on that day because you can't make icing and freeze it."
In all, it took "14 hours and about 12 people to put the whole thing together," he said.
The final product exceeded expectations.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The gigantic carrot cake constructed for Ted Martindale's 80th birthday party took 14 hours and 12 people to make. (Ted Martindale)
"When the whole thing was finished, it was amazing," Martindale said. "I just never expected it to look like that. It was beautiful."
Martindale, who has owned Granville's Coffee for 34 years, is no stranger to big ideas.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I'm sort of a crazy old man," he said.
For all the spectacle, Martindale sees his coffee shop, which he calls the "focal point of the whole town," as his real legacy.
Martindale has owned Granville's Coffee in Quesnel, British Columbia, in Canada for 34 years. (Ted Martindale)
"Everybody comes here, and it's a gathering place," he said.
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Martindale has no plans of slowing down.
"I still go to work every day," he said.