To celebrate their 150th birthday, the Sydney Swans AFL and AFLW teams decided to take on the challenge of recreating the iconic Australian Women’s Weekly Duck cake. Despite their enthusiasm, the results were hilariously far from perfect.
The cake, a staple of many childhood celebrations, involves shaping a simple butter cake into a duck and decorating it with popcorn, potato chips, and licorice. However, the Swans’ attempt used white chocolate mud cake, which doesn’t hold its shape as well as butter cake, contributing to the comical outcome.
The process started promisingly, with team members cutting the cakes into the necessary shapes. But things quickly went awry as the structure was built and the icing was applied. The end products resembled a low-budget horror movie’s version of the beloved cake, each with its own quirks and charm.
Celebrity chef Courtney Roulston was brought in to judge the cakes, humorously noting the unique qualities of each attempt. One cake lost its beak but retained its wings, another closely resembled the picture but was very small, and a third ended up as a heap of crumbled cake and icing. Ultimately, the second cake, which maintained both its wings and beak, was declared the winner.
Despite the less-than-perfect results, the Swans’ effort was commendable. Their attempt brought smiles and laughter, showing that even in the face of culinary disaster, the team’s spirit and camaraderie shine through. Here’s to hoping they give it another shot in 150 years!