REVEALED MEGHAN’S WEDDING CAKE MAKER
PRINCE Harry and Meghan Markle have chosen a renowned pastry chef who works from an East End bakery to make an organic lemon elderflower wedding cake for their big day.
The couple have turned to Claire Ptak, owner of the Violet Bakery in Hackney, east London, to make the cake, which will be iced with buttercream and decorated with fresh flowers.
They have forsaken a traditional rich fruit cake for a lighter texture and are looking forward to sharing it with guests at their reception after the wedding at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on May 19.
If not quite as dramatic as getting bombed at Buckingham Palace, the couple can at least reflect that they are following in the tradition of the late Queen Mother, who declared a bond with London’s East End after a German air raid in September 1940.
But there may be a certain amount of bravery in their choice. In December, the Food Standards Agency gave the bakery a rating of only two out of five, demanding improvements in hygienic hanseasonality dling of food preparation, cooking, reheating, cooling and storage, as well as in the building’s cleanliness and condition, including a need for appropriate layout, ventilation, hand-washing facilities and pest control.
The couple’s choice reflects the transatlantic nature of the romance between Harry, 33, and Los Angeles-born Meghan, 36.
Food writer Ms Ptak, 42, was raised in California and was a pastry chef at the famous Chez Panisse in Berkeley, before arriving in London in 2006.
She worked at The Anchor & Hope gastro pub near Waterloo Station before starting her own business at a stall in Broadway Market, east London, then opening her organic bakery in 2010.
“I can’t tell you how delighted I am to be chosen to make Prince Harry and Ms Markle’s wedding cake,” she said yesterday.
“Knowing that they really share the same values as I do about food provenance, sustainability, and most importantly flavour, makes this the most exciting event to be a part of.”
Ms Ptak is renowned for her organic creations decorated with delicate flowers, and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has declared her “my favourite cake maker in the whole world”.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had two cakes for their nuptials – the first, a traditional fruit cake made by Leicestershire baker Fiona Cairns and the second a childhood favourite of William’s made by McVitie’s.
McVitie and Price, as the firm was then known, made the Queen and Prince Philip’s official wedding cake, while Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer’s was by the Royal Navy’s cookery school, HMS Pembroke, at Chatham.
Ms Ptak is keeping her royal recipe under wraps but might take inspiration from a lemony recipe belonging to her mother.
She has written of Elisabeth Ptak’s “legendary lemon bars”, the recipe for which features in Leon: Baking & Puddings.
The Queen will celebrate her 92nd birthday at a concert in her honour at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring Sir Tom Jones, Kylie Minogue, Sting and Jamaican-American reggae rapper Shaggy.
The concert, marking her commitment to the Commonwealth, will be aired live on both BBC One and Radio 2 at 8pm on Saturday April 21.