--- title: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Royal Wedding Cake description: Pastry chef Claire Ptak, who is making the royal wedding cake, provided a sneak peek into the making of the lemon buttercream cake. canonical: https://time.com/5280704/the-royal-wedding-cake-2018/ author: Lena Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-18T11:15:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-06-24T06:56:38.165Z og:title: Here's the Recipe for the Heavenly Royal Wedding Cake og:description: It looks absolutely beautiful, and now we know the recipe og:url: https://time.com/5280704/the-royal-wedding-cake-2018/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt890795266cc2eb2a/6989309bab6d77291f6b2af5/meghan-markle-prince-harry-royal-wedding-cake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2120 og:image:height: 1193 og:image:alt: Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Visit Northern Ireland og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's the Recipe for the Heavenly Royal Wedding Cake twitter:description: It looks absolutely beautiful, and now we know the recipe twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt890795266cc2eb2a/6989309bab6d77291f6b2af5/meghan-markle-prince-harry-royal-wedding-cake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hold Onto Your Fancy Hat. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: This Video Is No Longer Available [Watch (HLS stream): This Video Is No Longer Available](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8) (0:10)  _Published 2026-06-23. Pastry chef Claire Ptak, who is making the royal wedding cake, provided a sneak peek into the making of the lemon buttercream cake._ by [Lena Grossman](https://time.com/author/lena-grossman/) ## Lena Grossman May 18, 2018 11:15 AM UTC by [Lena Grossman](https://time.com/author/lena-grossman/) ## Lena Grossman May 18, 2018 11:15 AM UTC With the royal wedding just one day away, Chef Ptak is giving us a behind-the-scenes look at creating Prince Harry and Meghan’s wedding cake. In March, Kensington Palace announced that pastry chef [Claire Ptak of London’s Violet Cakes was chosen to bake](http://time.com/5206888/meghan-markle-prince-harry-royal-wedding-cake/) Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s cake for their [May 19 royal wedding](http://time.com/5039393/royal-wedding-2018-details/). The cake will be a lemon elderflower cake covered with buttercream and decorated with fresh flowers. It is meant to evoke the season and “incorporate the bright flavours of Spring.” > [](https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/997372838960132097) “The cake is made up of lemon sponge. It has an elderflower syrup drizzle. It has an Amalfi lemon curd, and then it has a Swiss meringue buttercream with elderflower,” Ptak explained in the video. > [](https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily/status/997367621468217344) She added that the cake will be assembled at Windsor Castle, and the flowers go on at the last moment. According to Kensington Palace, Meghan Markle’s royal wedding cake recipe calls for 200 Amalfi lemons, 500 organic eggs from Suffolk, 20 kgs of butter, 20 kgs of flour, 20 kgs of sugar, and ten bottles of Sandringham Elderflower Cordial. In the days and weeks leading up to the [royal wedding](http://time.com/5218450/meghan-markle-rules/), Chef Ptak’s social media posts on Instagram and Twitter have provided a bit of an insider glimpse into preparation. One Instagram photo showed boxes of lemons, with the caption “And so it begins.” Floral decorations seem to be no sweat for [California-born Ptak](https://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/recipes-londons-violet-bakery). [Violet Cakes’](http://www.violetcakes.com/about/) Instagram feed is replete with floral frosting designs and seasonal fruit. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5280704/the-royal-wedding-cake-2018/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5280704/the-royal-wedding-cake-2018/"},"headline":"Hold Onto Your Fancy Hat. 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