Royal Wedding Inspiration
There’s no greater honour than being commissioned by royalty to design and create a wedding cake. This exactly what happened to Fiona Cairns and her team in 2011 when Prince William married Catherine Middleton. The stunning eight-tiered cake was made from 17 delicious fruitcakes and decorated with over 900 handmade sugar flowers and intricately piped lacework to reflect the fabric of the wedding dress. The magnificent creation made for an astonishing centrepiece at the Buckingham Palace reception and the cake was later displayed as part of the Summer Exhibition at Buckingham Palace.
This was just one of the 750,000 cakes Fiona Cairns Ltd makes every year, catering for all sizes and occasions. Classically designed with contemporary twists, each and every cake is lovingly handmade and hand-decorated using only the best ingredients, ensuring that each one tastes as good as it looks.
Established over 25 years ago at Fiona’s kitchen table, the business was formed following a batch of miniature fruit cakes she made for friends one Christmas. Trained as both a graphic designer and pastry chef, Fiona’s cakes were both beautiful and delicious. There was nothing like them on the market at the time so following demand, Fiona and her husband and business partner Kishore Patel, founded a thriving business.
The Leicestershire-based bakery produces handmade cakes for every season and occasion and has a skilled team of product developers, bakers and decorators constantly working on new designs, recipes and techniques – although they still bake thousands of fruit cakes to the same recipe the business was founded on.
As well as bespoke commissions, the bakery also continues to meet orders from Harrods, waitrose, Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason and Bon Marche in Paris as well as selling at the Fiona Cairns online shop, www.fionacairns.com