Largest Zuger Kirschtorte (Swiss cake)

The largest Zuger Kirschtorte (Swiss cake) is 241 kg (531 lb 5.03 oz) and was achieved by Confiserie Speck (Switzerland), in Zug, Switzerland, on 25 January 2020.

The 25th January 2020 marked the 125th anniversary of Confiserie Speck's inception, so they decided to organise a Guinness World Records record attempt to celebrate the occasion.

A 'Zuger Kirschtorte' means a cherry cake from the canton of Zug, located in Switzerland. It was invented in 1915 by pastry chef Heinrich Höhn, and was enjoyed by the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Charlie Chaplin.

On the day of the attempt, the assembling of the cake took 2 hours. One particular challenge was soaking the cake with the cherry brandy kirshwasser. The diameter of the cake was 4.15 metres (13 ft 7.38 in) so getting an even distribution was tricky. In the end someone had to be suspended from the ceiling with a watering can! It was also quite chilly on the day of the attempt which made the butter cream difficult to spread, so it had to be continuously warmed up.

However, the feat was not without a hefty price tag. The total cost of the attempt was just short of 100,000 EUR!

The confectionery shop has grown a lot from this attempt. Every single employee helped with this project and it created a real sense of community and passion. The shop stresses that without the dedication of the employees, none of this would have been possible. Confiserie Speck also had additional support from companies who shared their know-how and always had an open ear for their problems, wishes and ideas.

We asked Confiserie Speck what being a Guinness World Records title holder would mean to them, and they said that achieving this record would be "something like an Oscar for our birthday cake!"

Congratulations to Confiserie Speck on being Officially Amazing, and also making us very hungry! Think we're all off to by some cake now...