Harry and Meghan's cake will break with tradition, says royal baker

LONDON - Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding cake has taken 6 bakers 5 days to prepare and breaks with tradition, according to its designer Claire Ptak.

Harry, Queen Elizabeth's grandson, and US actress Markle will tie the knot on Saturday in Windsor Castle's 15th-century St George's Chapel.

Ptak said her design was more of an "installation" than a typical wedding cake, but offered few details.

The couple decided to buck the royal tradition for fruitcake and instead opted for a lemon and elderflower creation with buttercream icing, topped with fresh flowers.

Harry and Meghan chose lemon and elderflower because they wanted to enjoy flavors that are in season, Ptak said.

"When I was first asked to present an idea for the cake I brought a selection of flavors and designs and they made a decision together as couple," Ptak told the BBC.

"You have a really lovely kind of thing happening when you take a bite, which is to get all of those flavors and sensations that are perfectly balanced."

Ptak is originally from California and worked at Chez Panisse in Berkeley under chef Alice Waters before moving to London. She started her own business cooking at home and selling cakes on a stall in east London's Broadway Market.

"It is obviously such an honor to be asked to do this because for me I have been baking since I was a little kid and this is my dream," she said. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

UK royal wedding cake to be made by London-based California baker

LONDON - Britain’s Prince Harry and his fiancée Meghan Markle have chosen an east London bakery to make a lemon elderflower cake for their wedding in May, his office said on Tuesday.

Harry and U.S. actress Markle will be married at his grandmother Queen Elizabeth’s Windsor Castle home and picked Claire Ptak, who runs Violet Bakery, to bake the cake.

“It will be covered with buttercream and decorated with fresh flowers,” Kensington Palace said in a statement. “They are very much looking forward to sharing this cake with their wedding guests on May 19th.”

Ptak is originally from California and worked at Chez Panisse in Berkeley under chef Alice Waters before moving to London. She started her own business by cooking at home and selling cakes at a stall on east London’s Broadway Market. She set up Violet 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,” Ptak said in a statement.

“Knowing that they really share the same values as I do about food provenance, sustainability, seasonality and most importantly flavor, makes this the most exciting event to be a part of.”

Markle had previously interviewed Ptak for her former food and lifestyle website The Tig, which she ran for three years before it closed last year as public interest in her relationship with Harry grew.

source: news.abs-cbn.com