Cake creator Fiona Cairns recalls how Kate and Prince William’s wedding cake “broke with tradition”
Kate Middleton had a hand in creating her dream royal wedding cake.
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Kate and Prince William’s nuptials, their royal wedding cake baker Fiona Cairns tells PEOPLE about the “very stressful” task.
“The brief came from Kate, and she was very specific,” Cairns recalls in this week’s issue. “The theme of the wedding was to be very classical, very imaginative and stylish. Where William and Kate’s cake broke with tradition was that she made it very clear she didn’t want a cake as tall as some of the previous royal wedding cakes.”
The royal bride also requested “softer” icing of sugar paste rather than royal icing and provided a list of 17 flowers and leaves she wanted to be included.
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“It had to be multitiered, and it had to be a fruit cake,” Cairns says. “She didn’t want any gold or glitter. It wasn’t to have any color on it all. It had to reflect the flowers of the four [U.K.] nations, and it also had to reflect the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace, where the cake was going to be, to show some of the architectural detail.”
“There was a lot to work out!” the baker continues.
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. PETER MACDIARMID/GETTY
The result was an eight-tiered traditional fruitcake adorned with 900 leaf and floral touches and topped with the couple’s cipher.
Listen below to the episode of our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day as we look back at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding 10 years later.
