Why royal wedding cake baker Claire Ptak is the perfect choice

As the royal wedding fast approaches exciting details are starting to emerge.

Last week we got a glimpse at the simple and surprisingly traditional invites (ours must still be in the post!)

And earlier this month it was revealed who Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have chosen to make the royal wedding cake.

Step forward pastry chef Claire Ptak, owner of the trendy Violet Bakery in East London.

“I can’t tell you how delighted I am to be chosen to make Prince Harry and Ms Markle’s wedding cake,” Claire said of being selected.

“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.”

American-born Claire first kicked-off her career as a pastry chef at Chez Panisse in California, before moving to London and taking roles at The Anchor and Hope and Moro in the capital.

She then started her a business selling delicacies from a market stall on Broadway Market, selling produce she cooked from home.

No doubt being chosen to bake for the royals will induce some nerves, but it won’t be Claire’s first high-profile commission. Last year, Jamie Oliver, asked her to whip up a mocha gluten-free birthday cake for his wife, Jules. “She is humble, talented and brilliant,” Oliver said after Claire’s royal appointment.

That’s something echoed by photographer Kristin Perers who has collaborated with Claire on numerous occasions, having photographed her book The Violet Bakery Cookbook and her articles for the Guardian ‘Baking the Seasons.’

The pair also have a partnership called Violet and the Vicarage which hosts food styling and photography workshops (Claire is married to a vicar in Hackney hence the vicarage in the title.)

Kristin believes Meghan and Harry will love every minute of working with Claire on their wedding cake.

“Claire is an amazing woman to collaborate with! She brings California sunshine to Hackneys streets,” she tells Yahoo Style UK. “We first met on Broadway market when my son was small and we would swim at the lido every Saturday,” she explains about their meeting.

“The deal was 20 laps first and then on the way home a cup cake of his choice!”

“Claire baked my wedding (cup)cakes, we are both ex pats from the states (I’m from Florida) and we connected over our love of seasonality.”

Rather than a traditional fruitcake, Harry and Meghan have chosen a lemon and elderflower number covered with buttercream and decorated with fresh flowers for their upcoming nuptials.

And Kristin believes the royal couple are in for a treat with their choice of cake.

“The choice of a cake from Violet for the Royal Wedding is actually quite meaningful,” she explains.

“Claire’s baking is grounded in quality ingredients and seasonality. Her cakes are also beautiful but in a way that is not showy or glitzy.”

“And of course with Claire you always get an element of surprise, she is a very intuitive creator and this is a truly magical gift as a baker,” Kristin continues.

“Her flavours are honest, delicious and true to the seasons that’s one of the things that makes them so special,” she adds.

Kristin thinks that choosing Claire to make their cake Harry and Meghan will help to add to the individuality of the occasion.

“The choices made for invitations, dress, venue and cake of course set the tone for any wedding and marriage,” she says.

“What’s so exciting about this is Claire will consider all the elements involved in the wedding and come up with something unique for Meghan and Harry, unique to the day, moment and the intention they set as with their marriage for the rest of their lives.”

And Kristin was particularly excited to hear that her friend had been chosen to bake the royal wedding cake.

“As an American ex pat the ‘pinch me’ moment was thinking Barak Obama is going to be eating Claire’s cake!”

For more information about Kristen’s work visit her Instagram

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Read more from Yahoo Style UK:

Everything we know about the royal wedding so far

Royal wedding cakes throughout the years: From Kate Middleton’s to the Queen’s

Meghan Markle’s dad: Everything you need to know about Thomas Markle Sr