Here’s A Sneak Peek At The Royal Wedding Cake

Second only to Meghan Markle’s dress on the Royal Wedding Speculation-O-Meter is the look (and recipe) of the lemon and elderflower cake. Now, the cake’s tasty contents have been revealed:

Now that’s a grocery list! The locally sourced lemon sponge confection will be served to the bride and groom’s 600 guests at a lunchtime reception at St. George’s Hall following the wedding ceremony. Speaking to the British press this week, Claire Ptak — the cake’s creator, and owner of the Markle-approved East London shop Violet Bakery — called the confection a “slight shift from tradition.” Where Fiona Cairns, maker of the Cambridges’ wedding cake, was given a “clear brief” not to bake anything “ostentatious or grand,” Ptak apparently didn’t get the same memo: Meghan and Harry’s design is reportedly “unusual,” with “three parts of varying sizes.”

The additional tidbits Ptak divulged to the press about the cake’s flavour profile are similarly indulgent: Included in the layers are lemon curd from Amalfi lemons that, to Ptak, “have the most delicious flavour” to balance the sweetness of the elderflower swiss meringue buttercream. “The buttercream is sweet and the lemon curd is very tart so you get a very lovely thing happening when you take a bite, which is to get all of these flavours and sensations perfectly balanced,” Ptak noted. And, according to the Daily Mail, the whole thing will be sprinkled with roses, as well as three strains of peonies — Madame Claude, Bowl of Cream, and the appropriately titled Duchess — which are Markle’s favourite blooms.