The British Embassy apologized yesterday for a tweet “commemorating” the 200th anniversary of the burning of Washington with a cake shaped like the White House decorated with sparklers. Devotees of American history will remember that British troops burned the presidential home and many other buildings in D.C. on August 24, 1814 during the War of 1812.

Predictably, the “only sparklers this time!” tweet did not go over well with ever Twitter user who saw it, and an apology followed.

“Apologies for earlier Tweet. We meant to mark an event in history & celebrate our strong friendship today,” the Embassy tweeted with a link to an essay by Deputy Head of Mission Patrick Davies titled “Torch of Friendship.”

Needless to say, we’ve put the events of August 1814 far behind us. So much so, in fact, that when the British prime minister, David Cameron, visited the White House two years ago, he and President Obama, fresh from watching a March Madness basketball game together, traded wisecracks about the burning. The redcoats “made quite an impression,” Obama said. “They really lit the place up.”

“I can see you’ve got the place a little better defended today,” Cameron replied. “You’re clearly not taking any risks with the Brits this time.”