by Chrysa Smith

As expected for such a regal event, Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding cakes are two big secrets. Are the ingredients growing in the garden of a medieval castle?Valued at over 100,000 British pounds? Bottled since the time of Henry VIII?

I can’t help but laugh, as I think of the Seinfeld episode where Elaine wanders into Mr. Peterman’s office, finds and tastes a beautiful, boxed layer cake. After finding it was an invaluable slice of cake from Henry VIII lineage, ready to be appraised by an expert, Elaine attempts to replace the cake with another boxed beauty: an Entenmanns; found in the bakery aisle of your local grocery store.
Certainly, no Entenmanns for Will and Kate–although I do like their thickly laden crumb cake from time to time. For this affair, Fiona Cairns Ltd has been chosen to make one of two cakes that will be meticulously baked, frosted and presented at the wedding. So what do we know so far? It will be multi-tiered. It will be completely handmade by Cairns—an English country baker with 25 years in the business. A graphic designer by training, Cairns hand makes every bit of her cakes: frosting, flowers, fillings. You can find them at upscale shops like Harrod’s and boutiques like Waitrose, John Lewis and other tempting-looking UK sources for foodies. Kate has asked for a variety of edible flowers (English rose, Scottish thistle, Welsh daffodil, Irish shamrock) to decorate a cake that is described to have ‘little color’ but most certainly, brandy-soaked fruit. Check out the beautiful designs of Cairns’ other wedding cakes, cupcakes and specialty cakes, as well as her new cookbook, Bake and Decorate at: http://www.fionacairns.com//.
Cake #2 is a favorite of Will–a chocolate biscuit cake from McVitie’s. From their website, they look like the garden variety Nabisco or Keebler crackers found on the local store shelf stateside. How ordinary of them. But as royalty would have it, another secret will be pulled out of the royal recipe box especially for this special occasion. And if you haven’t yet received your wedding invitation, you can still bring home a bit of wedding history with one of their collectable Will & Kate cracker tins.
Here’s to Jolly Good sweets!! I hope the recipes will be made public following the wedding.