Click here to read the Spanish version.
One of the most anticipated secrets in baking has been revealed: the recipe for Prince Harry and Princess Meghan Markle’s wedding cake. Its creator, Claire Ptak, owner of London bakery Violet Cakes, has just published a new cookbook, Love is a Pink Cake: Irresistible bakes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between, which includes the recipe for her most sought-after cake.
The star ingredient of that springtime cake – Harry and Meghan married on May 19, 2018 – is an elderflower liqueur made exclusively for the royal family at their private Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England. Its fresh, citrusy aroma pairs perfectly with lemon, buttercream and fresh flowers, which are also part of the original creation.
“I’m always interested in elevating the main ingredient and enhancing its flavor,” explains the Californian pastry chef, who relies on organic raw materials and seasonal products in her cuisine. In fact, this was one of the reasons Megan Markle chose her to prepare the spectacular lemon and elderberry cake for her wedding.
A historic cake
Ptak and Markle met in 2015, when the pastry chef and writer sent the future princess a copy of her first book, The Violet Bakery Cookbook. At the time, Markle had a lifestyle blog, The Tig, and liked Ptak’s work so much that she contacted her to request an interview.
Three years later, Markle contacted Ptak again, this time with the challenge of creating a wedding cake that would go down in history. Ptak, whose teacher was Alice Waters at Chez Panisse, fuses the best of British and West Coast American cuisine through simple flavors and ingredients.
And Meghan and Harry’s cake is no exception. Among the ingredients in their dough are unsalted butter, powdered sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, free-range eggs, self-rising flour and ground almonds; while the buttercream frosting is a delicious mixture of unsalted butter, powdered sugar and crème fraîche. Elderflower liqueur, the star of the cake, is present in all elements of the dish.
If you dare to prepare it, you know where to find the recipe.
