Claire Ptak Looks Back at Creating Royal Wedding Cake Ahead of Meghan Markle & Prince Harry's Anniversary
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will celebrate their second wedding anniversary on Tuesday — and the date isn't going by without some very sweet memories.
Claire Ptak, the pastry chef who created the "quintessentially spring and British" floral cake for the royal wedding two years ago, is looking back on one of the highlights of her career.
"A very Happy 2nd Anniversary to Harry and Meghan," Ptak wrote on Instagram on Sunday, ahead of the royal couple's May 19 anniversary. "@sussexroyal My dream job got even better that day."
In another post shared on the same day, Ptak praised her team of bakers that made the dreamy confection a reality.
"My dream team," Ptak wrote alongside a photo of the group, who wore uniforms made by Sunspel Clothing for the special day. "Can’t believe this was two years ago. I love these bakers so much. It was an epic challenge and we nailed it."
The team of bakers spent five days baking and icing each tier of the cake in Buckingham Palace before transporting those tiers individually to Windsor Castle for on-site assembly the morning before the reception. The ingredients list included 200 Amalfi lemons, 500 organic eggs from Suffolk, 20 kgs of butter, 20 kgs of flour, 20 kgs of sugar and 10 bottles of Sandringham elderflower cordial.
A post shared by Violet By Claire Ptak (@violetcakeslondon) on May 17, 2020 at 1:03pm PDT
Lemon and elderflower 💛🤍 for @sussexroyal Happy Anniversary
A post shared by Violet By Claire Ptak (@violetcakeslondon) on May 17, 2020 at 1:10pm PDT
RELATED: See Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Stunning and 'Quintessentially British' Wedding Cake
Meghan and Harry enjoyed a lemon and elderflower cake on their wedding day, the unique flavor chosen to "incorporate the bright flavors of spring," Kensington Palace announced months before the wedding. The dessert was covered in an elderflower-infused Swiss meringue buttercream that Ptak previously described as "satiny and super delicious" and was adorned with 150 fresh flowers, including peonies and roses.
"The texture is really lovely and the flavor is quintessentially spring and British," Ptak said in a video released by Kensington Palace days before the wedding.
Ptak, the owner of the Violet Cakes bakery in London, said in 2018 that she was "delighted" to be selected for the job of creating Meghan and Harry's cake.
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claire ptak/instagram Claire Ptak and her team of bakers
Aaron Chown/Gety Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on their wedding day
"I can’t tell you how delighted 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 flavor, makes this the most exciting event to be a part of."
Ptak and Meghan had previously met when the former actress interviewed the pastry chef for her now-defunct lifestyle website, The Tig.
"I’ve been baking since I was a little kid, and this is my dream," Ptak — who, like Meghan, is originally from California — previously said of the honor of making the cake. "To be asked to do one of the most exciting cakes is really fulfilling and wonderful. As it may or may not boost my business, that’s obviously a bonus. But I don’t really know what will happen, so I’m just pretty happy to be involved."
