Harry And Meghan's Wedding Cake Recipe To Be Published In Upcoming Cookbook
The American baker Prince Harry and Princess Meghan chose to create the cake for their 2018 nuptials is set to release a new cookbook, which will include her recipe for the royal confection. Claire Ptak, the owner of the London-based bakery Violet Cakes, first came to know Markle in 2015 after she 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 she was so impressed with Ptak's book that she reached out to request an interview.
Three years later, Markle reached out to Ptak again — this time with the challenge and honor of creating a wedding cake that would be the envy of brides around the world. A California native who honed her style under the direction of Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Ptak has an affinity for showcasing simple flavors and ingredients to merge the best of the culinary traditions of Great Britain and the American West Coast.
"I'm always interested in elevating the ingredient to be better than it is on its own," Ptak told the BBC. "That's really something I think I learned at Chez. How do you bring out the essence of something? I think so many people are heavy-handed with their baking, and so I like to keep it as simple as possible and just elevate the flavor of whatever is the star ingredient."
The star ingredient
In the case of the royal wedding cake, that star ingredient was an elderflower-infused liqueur, which was made exclusively for the royal family at their private estate, Sandringham, in Norfolk, England. Ptak told The Indian Express the cordial was "better than any other elderflower I've ever had." And while you won't get the chance to sample the royal version, another good-quality British elderflower liqueur will fit the bill.
True to her word, Ptak keeps the non-star ingredients simple, including in the batter and drizzle, simple ingredients like unsalted butter, caster sugar, zest from unwaxed lemons, lemon juice, free-range eggs, self-rising flour, and ground almonds. The buttercream icing is a blend of unsalted butter, icing sugar, and double cream. The floral liqueur is incorporated into all three elements of the dish.
Ptak's newest cookbook, "Love is a Pink Cake: Irresistible Bakes for Morning, Noon, and Night," showcases her love for ingredients in her original and adopted homes. She told the BBC, "Everybody loves California and everybody loves England in kind of fairy tale ways, and they have their own idea of what those places are. I wanted to just show my version. We've seen a million baking books, and I just wanted to make it really personal."