Kate Middleton's Baker Reveals Challenges, Pleasure In Creating Royal Wedding Cake

Being assigned to create a royal wedding cake is not easy, according to the pastry chef who made the fruitcake for Prince William and Kate Middleton's nuptials.

When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge exchanged "I do's" in 2011, they chose Fiona Cairns to bake the eight-tier fruitcake for their big day. With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding drawing near, the chef shared what it's like being part of such a grandiose celebration.

"We realized that it was a huge privilege that we were even being considered to make the wedding cake for the future king and queen of England. And it was an enormous responsibility from the very, very beginning," Cairns told Town & Country.

"As soon as we were commissioned, from the time of the phone call, I had sleepless nights," the pastry chef continued. "We had to keep pinching ourselves. It's a very important part of the royal wedding, and it was the biggest, most important commission that we as a business had ever received."

According to Cairns, Prince William and Middleton were already familiar with her fruitcakes even before they asked her to make a cake for their wedding. She confessed that it was the first time she worked directly with the royal family, and her experience with them was "wonderful."

Cairns added that Middleton was very hands-on with the design of her wedding cake. The chef complimented the Duchess, who apparently she knew exactly what she wanted. "The ideas came from her, we had meetings with her, and the brief was from Kate," Cairns said.

"She put us absolutely at ease, she's as natural and as lovely as we all see her in the media," Cairns continued. "It was a wonderful process."

In related news, Prince Harry and Markle picked the pastry chef of Violet Cakes, Claire Ptak, to work on their royal wedding cake. The couple opted for a lemon elderflower cake with bright flavors of spring.

In December, there were rumors that Prince Harry and the "Suits" actress wanted a banana cake for their royal wedding. "This will be the first royal wedding cake made from banana," an insider said.