Simone WilsonRonald Reagan, actor turned California governor turned U.S. president, sure had a way of getting the American people, or at least the crazy rich kind, to love him. The charismatic ex-POTUS may not have his own national holiday yet, but national holidays pale in comparison to this guy's legacy, seven years after his death:
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation is dropping 10K on this 100th birthday cake, a five-tier monster that will take 10 bakers 160 hours to complete. [NBC Los Angeles].
Did we mention the 50-pound chocolate eagle on top?
(To be fair: Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village pastry chef David Laufer told us, very hypothetically, that if we were to order a cake exactly like the one ordered by the foundation for Reagan's birthday gala this Sunday, of the same size and scope, it would cost $10,000. So draw your own conclusions.)
The gala will be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum at 40 Presidential Drive in Simi Valley on Sunday, February 6. Or, if you're not on the exclusive invite list, you can settle for drooling while other, more exclusively invited people enjoy their cake with this live web-stream of the event.
400 pounds of All-American love; Credit: NBC Los Angeles
According to NBC, chef Lausner actually used Google to figure out Reagan's favorite flavors and cake add-ons. And what did he find there, in the depths of the Internet?
Turns out, chocolate cake is the favorite of the Great Communicator. In fact, he loved birthdays so much, he always had an emergency chocolate cake aboard Air Force One, in case anyone who happened to be flying with him were celebrating one. There's even a replica chocolate cake in the Air Force One that's parked at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.
The cake will also feature a coat of licorice jelly beans (ew) around the feet of the eagle; 100 stars and stripes drawn in frosting; various patriotic seals; and edible photos of Reagan (creepy). Watch the NBC slideshow here.
And, so that every starry-eyed presidential worshipper can get a taste, Laufner was commissioned with 1,650 additional cupcakes in “commemorative boxes” to match the 400-pound main attraction.
If that's not enough to make you jealous, the foundation's website adds:
The program includes a 21-gun salute, a F-18 flyover, keynote remarks by Secretary James Baker and the official laying of the presidential wreath on President Reagan's memorial site.
Damn. Reagan fans may not be able to remember what he did, exactly — or at least not Sarah Palin (she's headlining the Santa Barbara gala) — but they sure know how to celebrate the guy.
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