Inauguration 2013: The big cakes of the inaugural balls

At the commander in chief’s inaugural ball at the Washington Convention Center, President Obama will host 4,000 armed service members, Alicia Keyes and Jamie Foxx will perform, and a six-tiered cake from Duff Goldman’s Charm City Cakes, of “Ace of Cakes” fame, will be eaten.

The cake -- layers of red velvet, lemon poppy seed, pineapple coconut and pumpkin chocolate chip with Swiss buttercream -- is decorated with the presidential seal, emblems of each U.S. military branch, hand-painted red, white and blue stars and stripes, and patriotic fondant bunting.

Meanwhile, a three-tier 500-pound cheesecake has been prepared by Eli’s Cheesecake of Chicago for the inaugural ball for Obama’s staff on Tuesday. The cheesecake, layers of plain and chocolate chip, is decorated with gold stars, a blue presidential eagle and the inaugural seal. The top tier is a replica of the Capitol Dome.

The cake called for 155 pounds of cream cheese, 50 pounds of butter, 45 pounds of sugar, 40 pounds of sour cream, 20 pounds of flour, 15 pounds of chocolate chips, 5 pounds of powdered sugar, 20 dozen eggs and 2 cups of Madagascar vanilla, in addition to 100 pounds of buttercream, according to the blog Obama Foodorama.

The layers are being delivered in a refrigerated truck driving overnight from Chicago to Washington, where they will be assembled for Tuesday’s ball and served to 6,000 guests.

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