Icing on the cake: the India connect at royal wedding

April 30, 2011 02:16 am | Updated November 17, 2021 02:49 am IST - London:

As Prince William and his bride Kate Middleton cut the lavish, multi-tiered wedding cake, there will be some celebrating the India connect. India-origin Kishore Patel is the man behind the company that has crafted the elaborate confection, the centrepiece at the reception in Buckingham Palace on Friday.

Fiona Cairns Ltd. began on Fiona's kitchen table 25 years ago, when Mr. Patel — Fiona's husband and now managing director of the company — saw the potential of his wife's beautifully crafted handmade cakes.

The company's website said that Mr. Patel joined the company full time in 2001 and the business moved to a state-of-the-art bakery in Leicestershire.

The company makes 27,000 fairy cakes a week.

“We are thrilled, privileged and proud to announce that we have been asked to make the wedding cake for HRH Prince William and Catherine Middleton,” said an announcement on the firm's website.

Daily Telegraph had earlier reported that the cake would be decorated with Prince William and Kate's new cipher, which would be officially released on their wedding day.

A theme would also be the four flowers of the home nations — English rose, Scottish thistle, Welsh daffodil and Irish shamrock.

Prince William is also understood to have sought an alternative treat — a McVitie's chocolate biscuit cake.

“I couldn't believe it, I'm very excited, very daunted and very privileged — a mixture of emotions.

“It's multi-tiered, doesn't have colour — it's cream and white (icing) — and it's a traditional cake but also quite delicate and modern, all the tiers will have a different theme,” Fiona was quoted as saying.

The huge cake would include a range of produce from dried fruits like raisins and sultanas to walnuts, cherries, grated oranges and lemon, French brandy and free range eggs and flour.

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