The Royal wedding pastry chef: Claire Ptak

Chef to decorate lemon and elderflower cake with buttercream and flowers

LONDON – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are entrusting a California pastry chef based in east London with their spring-themed wedding cake. 

After the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby Archbishop marries the couple at St. George's Chapel, the 15th century church on the grounds of Windsor Castle, there will be a reception at St. George's Hall.

Claire Ptak, an apprentice of the celebrated Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, runs the Violet Bakery in London. She will create a lemon and elderflower cake covered with buttercream and adorned with fresh flowers, according to The Kensington Palace.

After the March 20th announcement, the demand for Ptak's Violet Bakery Cookbook spiked. The dozens of recipes in the book include ideas for fruit preserves and cakes made out of whole grain flours and less refined sugars.

Before the demand to try her cakes blew up this year, Ptak, 43, made artisan pastries at the Bovine Bakery in Port Reyes, California, and joined the Chez Panisse as a pastry chef when she was 27. After she moved to London in 2005, she sold her rustic organic cakes at the Broadway Market.

In 2010, she opened Violet Cakes in East London's Hackney area. Eight years later, her reputation for wholesome and fresh ingredients was a perfect fit for Markle who told Today in 2012 that she preferred apple, kale, spinach, lemon, and ginger juice over an afternoon cup of espresso any day.  

It was a decision that changed Ptak's life. To deal with the sudden growth of her business, she announced on social media Tuesday that she was looking for an operations/general manager. 

Here are photos of some of Ptak's cakes:


About the Author:

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.