Yesterday Kensington Palace revealed that Violet Bakery in London had been appointed as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding cake maker. And it turns out a Kiwi will be involved in bringing the creation to life.
Violet Bakery in East London’s Hackney is owned by Californian pastry chef Claire Ptak. Its head baker is Izaak Adams who hails from Timaru.
Izaak, centre, at work at Violet Bakery.
In a departure from royal tradition, Harry and Meghan have chosen an organic lemon and elderflower cake as the centrepiece for their May 19th nuptials at Windsor Castle. It will be iced with limited edition buttercream and adorned with flowers.
Fruit cakes, like the one Prince William and Kate Middleton chose for their 2011 wedding, are the traditional royal staple.
One of Izaak’s wedding cake creations.
Ptak focuses on seasonality and sustainability in her baking. In a statement released yesterday, she said “I can’t tell you how delighted I am to be chosen to make Prince Harry and Ms Markle’s wedding cake.”
“Knowing that they really share the same values as I do about food provenance, sustainability, seasonality and most importantly flavour, makes this the most exciting event to be a part of.”
Bakery owner, food columnist and now royal baker Claire Ptak poses at her East London bakery.
Ptak started out small, selling home-made cakes at London’s Broadway Market before opening her Hackney bakery in 2010. Meghan discovered her a few years back and interviewed her for her now defunct lifestyle blog The Tig.
William and Kate’s cake, left, is markedly different to Violet Bakery’s wedding cake style.
Adams isn’t the only Kiwi to be involved in the royal wedding. Harry and Meghan’s projects manager is Dunedin raised Clara Madden, who is charged with making sure everything runs smoothly in the lead-up to the couple’s big day.
There is also an outside chance that Madden’s brother Nick could sing at the wedding too. He’s a member of a capella choir The Queen’s Six, who regularly perform for the royal family including at official royal occasions. They are based at Windsor Castle, where Harry and Meghan’s wedding will be held.
With only two months to go before the big day, details are hurriedly being finalised. Security costs alone are set to top £24 million (NZD $47 million). Meghan’s dress will cost a reported £400,000 (NZD $780,000).
And the cake won’t come cheap either. William and Kate’s 8 tier cake cost a reported £80,000 (NZD $156,000) – which worked out to a whopping $240 per slice for each of their 650 reception guests.
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