The wedding cake that was expertly crafted ahead of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's 2018 nuptials was quite the showstopper.
The royal couple broke from tradition when they opted for a trendy lemon and elderflower sponge, instead of the custom fruit cake. The cake was also not built in traditional tiers like Princess Kate and Prince William's eight-tiered wonder.
© GettyMeghan's cake was built from four separate cakes on a tiered gold stand for a modern feel which was covered not in the usual royal icing, but in a decadent Swiss meringue buttercream.
© GettyThe cake was then covered in stunning white peonies and roses with green leaves for an ethereal feel - a true masterpiece. But the royal wedding cake was not only visually stunning, but it had an extra special sentimental touch.
© GettyThe cake was famously made by Claire Ptak of East London bakery Violet. But long before the baker shot to fame as the maker of the esteemed royal cake, she had been personally interviewed by the Duchess herself for her now-defunct lifestyle blog The Tig.
Claire and Meghan also both share a Californian upbringing and at the time, had both relocated to the UK making her the perfect candidate to create the most important cake of Meghan's life.
© GettyIn a statement released by Buckingham Palace announcing Claire's appointment as the royal wedding cake baker, she was described as having "formerly worked as a pastry chef under the legendary Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California", before moving to London and working at the award-winning pub The Anchor and Hope.
© GettyThe East London-based baker sat down with Tatler where she explained that Meghan had faith in her creative vision and allowed her a high degree of control over the final product which is said to have set the royal couple back $70,000.
© Getty"Meghan, she specifically said to me, 'I don’t want to tell you what to do… the reason why I’ve chosen you is because I love your baking and your work and your point of view and your ethos'," she said.
© GettyShe added: "And I was like, 'Oh my god, that’s so cool. The best job brief ever!'". Despite their obvious break from tradition in the flavour of the cake, they did pay homage to Harry's royal roots in the final bake as the elderflower syrup came from the late Queen’s Sandringham estate.
© GettyThe cake is in no way devoid of luxury as Claire incorporated 200 Amalfi lemons and it was not a small amount of Sandringham elderflower syrup in the recipe, but 10 bottles.
© GettyIn terms of the provenance of the ingredients, sustainability was at the cake's core, along with lashings of more silky buttercream, it has been reported that 500 organic eggs from Suffolk were delivered to the Violet kitchen ahead of the big day.
© InstagramSpeaking with Town and Country Magazine about her rare experience of baking a royal wedding cake, Claire said: "I think the hardest part was that there was so much talk about us before it happened, so you’re like, 'Oh God. I have to do it now. I have to deliver it, and it better be good.'
© GettyDISCOVER: Baby Meghan Markle pictured with maternal grandmother Jeanette in ultra-rare photo
"So that was the scary part. We just put our heads down and really focused on the job. I just wanted to deliver the best possible cake."
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