A Sweet Way to Celebrate the Royal Newlyweds

At Miss Margaret’s Speciality Cakes, the mixers are busily whirling the stuff of dreams just days before the Royal Wedding of actress Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Miss Margaret’s  regular customers and those looking for a way to celebrate the couple’s walk down the aisle can do with one of the cupcakes available for this special occasion.

“For the royal wedding, we have our white velvet wedding cupcakes with tiaras and crowns,” says Margaret Smith, whose bakery and cupcake shop bear her name.

Smith opened the popular shop in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 2009. And, since that time, business has soared.

She says, “We probably sell 600 cupcakes a week. A lot of those are for weddings.”

On Saturday there may be cupcakes for the guests at the Royal reception, but the wedding cake  is a source of much excitement leading up to the  couple’s nuptials.

Kensington Palace announced the pastry chef the couple selected. Chef Claire Ptak is the owner of a bakery based in East London, Violet Cakes. “Prince Harry and Ms. Markle has asked Claire to create a lemon elderflower cake that will incorporate the bright flavours of spring,” the Kensington Palace stated. “It will be covered with buttercream and decorated with fresh flowers.”

When couples visit Smith’s shop to choose a wedding cake, she says, “You kinda get a feel when they come in the door for a testing. You watch their face and find out their favorite flavors. A lot of them have pictures, and we get as close as we can to what they want. We may have to change some things, but we have them happy when they leave.”

There are plenty of choices because Smith offers 65 different cake flavors. It’s part of her commitment to her customers whether they’re shopping for a cake or a cupcake.

“I have customers who have moved out of town, and they come back for a cupcake,” she says. “People are calling from all over and as they come through town, they’ll stop and pick up their orders.”

As the cupcakes created especially for the Prince and soon-to-be Princess  are prepared, it seems quite possible Smith will need to bake more. After all, for those who want to be part of the wedding but whose invitation got lost in the mail, a cupcake is a sweet way to have your cake and eat it, too.