The impressive 4ft (1.2m) cake is a replica of the famous St Bride’s Church in Fleet Street which provided the inspiration for the traditional tiered wedding cake used around the world today.

Here you can see the cake sharing the skyline with the real St Bride’s Church

Back in the 18th century, London-based baker’s apprentice Thomas Rich wanted to create something special for his wedding day so, taking the tall spire and steeple of St Bride’s Church as a model, he came up with the idea for a tiered cake.

This cake was provided by Sophisticake (who made the wedding cake for HRH Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall). It was created using a medieval recipe which required a whopping 200 eggs, 120lb (54kg)  of dried fruit and 18lb (8kg) of butter!

The cake will be donated to St Bride’s Church to share with its parish and support their charitable causes.

The Royal Wedding takes place on 29 April 2011 in London

When we started looking to Sri Lanka for our World in London series, we came across Lanka Cake Shop and Tea Salon. This popular café and shop keeps the thirsty residents of Primrose Hill happy with a range of teas from Sri Lanka.

Lanka is partnered with the Euphorium Tea Salon in Colombo, Sri Lanka and serves up specialty infusions that can’t be found anywhere else in the UK.

These pure Ceylon teas are characterised by their delicate colour and rich flavour and are served at selected tea salons and shops in Sri Lanka. You can enjoy a pot of tea in the Lanka café or pick up loose leaf or silken tea bag varieties to try at home.

You can even sample the teas in cake form such as the shop’s Earl Grey tea flavoured crème brulee.

Let us know where else you can find a Sri Lankan experience in London.

Last week I headed along to the Drunken Monkey for a taste of their new Tea Party Menu.

In contrast to the normal heaving nature of the upstairs bar area, the downstairs dining nook was an oasis of calm.   

We sampled the Quince Asian Tea, a tasty hot infusion with liqueurs served in a teapot that went down very easily; the Citrus Iced Tea with gin and plenty of vitamins for the Christmas season from the fresh juices; and the range of three organic cakes from private baker A Little Peace. 

Personal favourite was the lemon and ginger drizzle cake and the hot cocktail tea, I love the idea of a cocktail in a teapot!

The afternoon tea needs to be booked in advance so your tasty cakes can be whipped up for you.  It’s £11 for tea (they have twelve different teas to choose from) and cake. It’s extra if you decide to add cocktails.

Last night I had my first taste of food from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan at Samarqand restaurant.

As it turned out, Central Asian cuisine wasn’t drastically different from anything I’d had before – the menu included dumplings, noodles and kebabs – and the sleek decor and friendly staff combined to make a very enjoyable evening.

We started off with vodka-based cocktails as recommended by our enthusiastic waiter (we agreed with his choice). There’s a lounge area if you’d just like to sample the excellent cocktails.

I picked vegetarian options from the menu; Lazzat (fried aubergine salad) to start and manty (steamed pumpkin dumplings) for main. However, our waiter was adamant that lamb is the real speciality at Samarqand so my friend dutifully ordered lamb shashlik.

Portions were on the small side but the food is quite heavy so there were no worries about it being filling enough.

We were recommended the Napoleon cake for dessert which contains layers of puff pastry and cream, and that the waiter told us is just as good as the one his mum makes in Uzbekistan! He also egged us on to try zebra chocolate cake – a chocolate sponge with a light chocolate filling. Both desserts were rich and sweet.

We took the richness off the dessert with a pot of delicious jasmine tea, served the traditional Uzbekistani way: poured into small bowls and back into the tea pot three times before drinking.

Samarqand has lots going for it; It’s very reasonably priced (even more so when you take into account its Central London location) with main courses from £9.95 to £13.50.

I also liked the laid back atmosphere – this would be a nice venue for after-work drinks and meeting friends for dinner. And it’s handily located just five minutes’ walk from Bond Street tube.

I was also impressed by the service – the staff were friendly and attentive and our waiter in particular went above and beyond to make sure we had everything we wanted, and even threw in a bit of Uzbekistan history with dinner!

Samarqand, 18 Thayer Street, W1U 3JY

We were told upon entering that this was a magical palace, and that the builders had turned it inside out, shaking out its stories and secrets with the dust.

Walking through Kensington Palace was like stepping into a fairytale. Each room has its own story and a theme, The Room of Enlightenment, The Room of Palace Time and so on. As you explore each room you’re encouraged to find the name of seven princesses that once lived in the palace.

The whole exhibition was, well, enchanting! Walking through a darkened room filled with sparkly, wonderful hats made by Stephen Jones, watching dancing shadows and rifling through shells, sketches and artefacts in The Room of the World, the World in a Room. My favourite room was The Room of a Sleeping Princess which contained a dress made of paper cranes.

Although beautiful, there’s something bittersweet about the Enchanted Palace. You get the sense that the princesses lived lonely and isolated lives. It’s also a little eerie, as I really felt I was wandering around in someone else’s home!

Photography isn’t allowed in the Enchanted Palace but I did get a quick snap of the Enchanted Palace afternoon tea which we enjoyed in The Orangery afterwards. Hopefully, you can make out the poster for the exhibition stamped on top of a chocolate ganache cake (delicious!)

Also, take a look at these pictures of beautiful Kensington Palace Gardens, which are free to wander round.

Enchanted Palace at Kensington Palace until 30 June 2012. Book tickets

This week’s pic shows what happens when afternoon tea goes rock ‘n’ roll – it is put on a Union Jack plate and served at The Gore hotel!

The Gore was the setting for the 1968 launch party of  The Rolling Stones’  Beggars Banquet album, and favoured hangout of such musicians as Annie Lennox, Paul Weller, and er, Spandau Ballet.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Afternoon Tea includes the best cheese and ham sandwiches I’ve ever tasted (how did they make a simple sandwich so good?) and delicious chocolate éclairs (which tasted suspiciously boozy.)

Do you have any brilliant London images to share? (They don’t have to be cakes, although we do rather like them!) Join the Visit London Flickr pool and your snaps could end up here on the VL Blog.

The London Restaurant Festival launched on Wednesday evening with festival organiser Fay Maschler cutting this astonishing cake. Where would you even begin to start eating this*? If it makes you feel hungry, have a meal out this weekend with one of the festival’s special menu offers!

Seen anything special in London this week? Add your London photos to our Visit London Flickr pool and we could be featuring your pictures!

*perhaps just mosh your face into it.

Exciting news for foodies: a brand new farmers’ market opens in London tomorrow.

Sourced Market at St Pancras International has stalls piled high with fruit and veg, cheeses, olives, cakes, fresh juices and wines.

The Flour Power City Bakery stand is sure to be popular, selling delicious breads and cakes, and possibly the best chocolate brownies in London.

The bakery already has stands at Borough Market and farmers’ markets around London.

Kate Scott from Flour Power City was very excited about the new opening.

“We started off in Hoxton Street 12 years ago and we’ve just grown from there,” she said. “We tried shops but they didn’t seem to work for some reason.”

It seems markets are the place to be. Make sure you check out Sourced Market when it opens next week!

Living in London, we’re used to doing everything at twice the normal speed – lunches on the go, speed-dating and of course, grabbing a quick morning brew.

Newly opened tea shop Yum Chaa is encouraging us to slow down and take a bit of me time over a cup of their specially-blended, loose leaf tea. While tea bags may be more convenient, they constrict the movement of the tea, releasing bitter tannins which spoil the flavour. So you’ll only find the loose leaf variety when you sit back and relax at Yum Chaa.

The teas on offer range from the familiar Earl Grey and Assam, to more exotic varieties such as Egyptian Nights and Chilli Chilli Bang Bang. There’s also a naughty selection of cakes on offer.

Yum Chaa is located in Soho, just a few minutes walk from Oxford Street, making it the perfect place to take a break from shopping.

And if you really are too busy to be away from your email, the café has free Wi Fi so you can tap away to your heart’s content (or have a loose-leaf to go if you must dash!)

We caught up with comedians The Jokerists, also known as Rose Watt, Holly Burns and Del Des Anges to find out about their fringe show.

Tell us about your show

Rose: It’s what happens when no one says no to a stupid idea.
Holly: It’s called Comecidal Lolocaust.
Rose: We do twenty minutes of stand-up each.
Holly: Very egalitarian.
Rose: My bit is about my life since moving to London. With songs.
Del: I’m the childish disgusting one. The one your parents warned you about.
Holly: And I basically geek out over science to an alarming degree, with occasional singing and dancing.
Rose: Also there’s cake. FREE CAKE*.
Del: Come and laugh at our faces. Camden Head, tea time.
Holly: Ahem. That would be The Camden Head 4.15pm, 9-11 August. REMEMBER THE CAKE.

What are your favourite comedy venues in London?

Holly: Yes, do tell. I need recommendations for when I move to London.
Rose: There’s a new material night called Old Rope that I love because I’m a comedy nerd and like watching try-out stuff grow into actual routines.
Del: And I didn’t die on my arse at Lion’s Den, so that’s good.

The Camden Fringe runs throughout August. All tickets are £7.50. Check out the full list of Camden Fringe events.

*subject to availability.