Who is the London-based baker responsible for creating Prince Harry and Meghan’s lemon-and-elderflower wedding cake?
IT wasn’t something that most people gave much thought to—and those that did probably assumed, quite reasonably, that when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle cut their wedding cake, the item in question would be a rich fruit one. That’s what The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge ate at their wedding and what The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall had at theirs six years earlier (albeit one jazzed up with 20 bottles of brandy).
However, the Royal couple had a surprise up their sleeve. In March, it was announced that, rather than going down the sturdy, sultana-studded route, they were having a lemon-and-elderflower cake celebrating ‘the bright flavours of spring’, covered with buttercream and decorated with fresh flowers. Moreover, it was going to be made in a tiny east London bakery called Violet.
‘I can’t tell you how delighted I am,’ bakery owner Claire Ptak said when the news broke. ‘Knowing that they really share the same values as I do about food provenance, sustainability, seasonality and, most importantly, flavour, makes this the most exciting event to be a part of.’ As it happens, that isn’t where the similarities end. Like Miss Markle, Miss Ptak is American. And, like her, she fell in love with an Englishman, then found her life transformed as a result.
Denne historien er fra May 16, 2018-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra May 16, 2018-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
