BAKING: A Love Story

Claire Ptak burst C onto the global radar when she and her East London bakery, Violet, were tapped to create the cake for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's 2018 wedding.

If that's all you know of her, you might think her work is all about grand perfection. But "perfect" isn't her style.

"We bake for love. Whether it's for ourselves, to show love for a child, friend, or partner, or to celebrate a rite of passage, there is no denying the incredible effect cakes can have," Claire explains in the introduction to her latest cookbook, Love Is a Pink Cake. (The title comes from a 1950s series of lithographs by Andy Warhol, one of her favorite artists.) "My main drive is to make things taste good. To me that means luscious strokes of buttercream instead of perfect fondant. When it's imperfect-like when your mother or grandmother or friend or lover makes it for you it feels so much better than something that's perfect and out of a factory."

Her flavor-driven style is heavily influenced by her growing up in California and her stint as a pastry chef at Chez Panisse, the storied Berkeley restaurant often cited as the birthplace of California cuisine. A focus on local, seasonal ingredients and what she calls "a Californian sensibility" are notions Claire brought with her when she moved to London in 2005 for love, and they define her recipes. "I go to the market to see what the farmers are growing and then decide what I will bake for my friends or put on the menu at the bakery," she says.