Culinary academy celebrates Independence Day with 15,000-cupcake flag

AMMAN — It was a beehive at the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts (RACA) during the past week.

For seven days, 45 members of the academy have been “burning the candle at both ends” to come up with a piece that “perfectly” marks Independence Day, according to organisers.

“As a culinary academy, we want to celebrate the occasion with what we know best — cooking,” RACA Marketing Manager Omar Daoudieh told The Jordan Times on Monday.

The academy staff managed to create a 12-metre-long and 6-metre wide Jordanian flag with using 15,000 cupcakes.

“We came up with the idea only a week ago. It took us a lot of effort to finally do it,” Daoudieh noted.

The academy’s efforts bode well, breaking the Middle East record as the largest number of cupcakes forming one piece, according to the marketing manager.

Chef Ahmad Samour, who was among those who worked to create the flag, said it was a “hectic” mission that ended up “exactly as planned”.

“We worked around-the-clock challenging the limited time, and sometimes resources, to finish the cupcakes,” he added.

The 15,000 cupcakes were made using 1,000 kilogrammes of flour, 6,000 eggs, 500 kilogrammes of butter, 60 kilogrammes of honey, 400 kilogrammes of icing sugar, 25 kilogrammes of chocolate chips and 100 litres of milk, Samour said.

The cupcakes, displayed at RACA, were sold and their proceeds will go to charity, according to Daoudieh.

The King Abdullah II Fund for Development, the Arab Potash Company, the King Hussein Business Park, the Urdon Shop, the Dead Sea Spa, Orange, Zara Investment Holding and the Amman Chamber of Industry supported the initiative, according to RACA.