Charli XCX and Meghan Markle Had The Same Wedding Cake Baker
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12 hours ago
Violet Bakery has had a string of A-list commissions
This weekend, pop queen Charli XCX married The 1975’s George Daniel in East London – and the wedding was suitably brat. The pair tied the knot in Hackney Town Hall before strolling down the high street to Italian restaurant Dalla, where they enjoyed a family-style meal of pasta and flowing champagne. Afterwards, it was onto Ellie’s bar in Dalston for partying fuelled by mini martinis.
But, in not so brat news, it turns out the wedding had one similarity to that of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Both Charli and the royal couple enlisted Hackney’s California-inspired bakery Violet Bakery, founded by Claire Ptak, with making their cake.
Charli XCX’s Cake Came From Claire Ptak’s Violet Bakery
We got a peek at Charli XCX’s wedding cake because of a now-viral TikTok video, in which a fan called Ruby revealed her friend, who worked as a waiter at Dalla on the night of the wedding, had been given some of it to take home. ‘He was like, “Oh, do you want to swing by and get a slice?” He boxed up a slice for me,’ said Ruby. ‘Then I think it was the owner of the restaurant that was like, “Do you just want it? It’s going to go in the bin.”’ The vanilla-flavoured cake had two tiers, and was decorated with grapes and figs.
Violet Cakes’ founder Ptak also created the wedding cake for Harry and Meghan’s nuptials back in 2018. The East London baker crafted an extravagant, spring-inspired lemon and elderflower cake for the royal couple, using seasonal and organic ingredients including a whopping 200 Amalfi lemons, 500 eggs and 10 bottles of elderflower cordial. She covered the cake in buttercream and decorated it with three different types of peonies (Meghan’s favourite flower).
‘I can’t tell you how delighted I am to be chosen to make Prince Harry and Ms. Markle’s wedding cake,’ Ptak said at the time, in a statement released by Kensington Palace. ‘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.’
The cake was more modest than previous royal cakes, consisting of one two-tier cake and two single-tier cakes. In comparison, Prince William and Kate Middleton’s was an eight-tiered, three foot tall creation made by Fiona Cairns, while Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s was nine feet tall.
Nonetheless, making Harry and Meghan’s cake was no mean feat: it took Ptak and six further bakers five days to create it, and the team were sworn to secrecy in the run up to the day.
Aside from Charli and Meghan, Ptak has made cakes for a number of other stars over the years, including a recent commission to whizz up a birthday cake for actor Harris Dickinson.
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What To Expect At Violet Cakes
Violet Cakes may be best known for its celebrity wedding cakes, but the bakery also serves an array of pastries to Hackney locals. Every day, visitors can choose from an irresistible selection of cinnamon buns, coconut macaroons, chocolate torte brownies, cookies, American scones and more. Everything is made with organic ingredients, carefully sourced from top-quality suppliers, like flour from Shipton Mill, flowers from London Flower Farmer and Rebel Rebel, fruit from Natoora, and chocolate from Pump Street.
Alongside this, there’s a menu of savoury dishes on offer: think mozzarella and serrano ham toasties, avocado on toast, and seasonal quiches, plus coffees. There’s a terrace where you can eat al fresco, complete with heaters for the winter months.
Bubble cake by Claire Ptak from Love is a Pink Cake, (c) Pia Riverola
Founder Ptak was raised in California, working as a pastry chef for Alice Walters at Chez Panisse before moving to London. She started out selling her cakes at a stall in East London’s Broadway Market, going on to open Violet Bakes just down the road in 2010. Since then, she has published a number of cookbooks including Love is a Pink Cake (2023) and The Violet Bakery Cookbook (2015).
Violet Cakes is located at 47 Wilton Way, London, England E8 3ED. Find out more at violetcakes.com
