An award-winning cake artist, from Reading, has said it was an ‘absolute honour’ to design and decorate the coronation cake, that was 'the hardest secret to keep'.
Elizabeth Wood, who runs CakeBuds in Burghfield, was invited by Pladis Global and McVities to design and decorate the coronation cake, to be presented to the King and Queen at Windsor Castle.
Elizabeth worked with another cake artist, Rosalind Miller, to create a cake fit for a King.
The cake, which took five months to make from design through to decoration, stood at approximately 1.2 metres tall and was presented as a coronation gift at Windsor Castle.
The design of this coronation cake represents the Carolean age and was inspired by the Prince’s Foundation ethos - Respecting the Past, Building the Future.
The cake draws on the majesty of the coronation with each tier inspired by aspects of historic coronation regalia.
The bottom tier has matt stone icing reflecting the Stone of Destiny – a symbol used for centuries in the inauguration of Monarchs. The Stone of Destiny travelled from Edinburgh Castle to Westminster Abbey to be placed underneath the coronation chair.
The second tier is engraved with the delicate pattern taken from the Anointing spoon, on to which holy oil is poured by the Archbishop of Canterbury during the ceremony, before anointing the King and Queen.
Talking about the experience, Elizabeth said: “I feel incredibly honoured to have been asked to take part in this amazing team and play a small part in this historical event. It has been one of the hardest secrets I have ever had to keep."
The third tier sees marbled stone texture continuing but embossed with detail from the coronation chair, known historically as King Edward’s Chair.
The top tier has a porcelain decoration inspired by the coronation chair and is topped by a ceramic interpretation of the Sovereign’s Orb, one of the Crown Jewels.
Both porcelain elements were created by Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust scholar, Nico Conti. He is a ceramicist who specialises in 3D printing porcelain.
Talking about how she celebrated the royal event, Elizabeth said: "I watched the Coronation on Saturday at home with my family. However I did attend the Concert at Windsor Castle on Sunday evening.
"We acquired the tickets through my husband’s work, as he is in the military. It was an amazing evening and the atmosphere was incredible!"
Elizabeth Wood, an award winning wedding cake designer, specialises in creating contemporary wedding cakes across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey, London and The Cotswolds.
She said she worked as a forensic accountant in London before setting up CakeBuds in summer 2017.
"I have always enjoyed baking, however it was not until I created my daughters first birthday cake in September 2016 that I realised designing and making cakes was something I wanted to focus on full time", Elizabeth continued.
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