UK royal wedding cake to be made by London-based California baker

[March 21, 2018]  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince Harry and his fiancée Meghan Markle have chosen an east London bakery to make a lemon elderflower cake for their wedding in May, his office said on Tuesday.

Harry and U.S. actress Markle will be married at his grandmother Queen Elizabeth's Windsor Castle home and picked Claire Ptak, who runs Violet Bakery, to bake the cake.

"It will be covered with buttercream and decorated with fresh flowers," Kensington Palace said in a statement. "They are very much looking forward to sharing this cake with their wedding guests on May 19th."

Ptak is originally from California and worked at Chez Panisse in Berkeley under chef Alice Waters before moving to London. She started her own business by cooking at home and selling cakes at a stall on east London's Broadway Market. She set up Violet Bakery in 2010.

"I can't tell you how delighted I am to be chosen to make Prince Harry and Ms. Markle's wedding cake," Ptak said in a statement.

"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."

Markle had previously interviewed Ptak for her former food and lifestyle website The Tig, which she ran for three years before it closed last year as public interest in her relationship with Harry grew.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Stephen Addison)

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