Claire ptak wedding cake

Claire ptak recipes
Claire Ptak is an American baker, food writer, and food stylist.
Growing up in Point Reyes, California her first job was in a local bakery at age 14 and, by 27, Ptak had impressed the pioneering and spirited Alice Waters so.

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Meet Claire Ptak of Violet Cakes

It wouldn’t be an overstretch to say that Claire Ptak has been obsessed with baking her whole life. Growing up in Point Reyes, California her first job was in a local bakery at age 14 and, by 27, Ptak had impressed the pioneering and spirited Alice Waters so much that she was offered a job on the spot. The former Chez Panisse pastry chef moved to London in 2005 where she started selling cakes on the ever-popular Broadway Market before opening Violet Cakes in Hackney in 2010. Touted as the hip baker in the city, Ptak uses organic ingredients where possible, mixing seasonal buttercream icings, fresh fruit purees and home-made flower cordials. We caught up with Claire before a busy weekend of bacon and egg buttermilk biscuits and Summer spelt cake to discover what her secret to the perfect cake is along with a new Violet recipe, created especially for Gather. ANDIE CUSICK

What first compelled you to cook?

I wouldn’t say I was forced into it, but I didn’t have a choice in the matter. It was so obvious from an ea

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A California native, Claire Ptak worked as Pastry Chef for Alice Waters’ iconic farm to table restaurant Chez Panisse before moving to London, where she started her cake stall Violet on Broadway Market in 2005. In 2010 she opened Violet, the bakery and café in fashionable East London. Claire has authored five cookbooks; most recently ‘Love is a Pink Cake’ (2023) which marries her two homes – California and England – to create a romantic and dreamy selection of seasonal bakes. Her previous book ‘The Violet Bakery Cookbook’ was shortlisted for the Fortnum & Mason Best Cookery Book 2016. In 2018, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry personally chose Claire to make their wedding cake putting Claire on in international stage and initiating a new flavour trend with Claire’s combination of Amalfi Lemon & Elderflower, breaking from hundreds of years of Royal traditional fruit cake wedding cakes. Her signature, loose swoops of buttercream decoration, has become a style in its own right. It can be seen on cakes made all over the world. A regular contributor to Observer Food Monthly and Th

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Claire Ptak

Praise for Love is a Pink Cake

This is an absolutely enchanting book ... I could eat any of these recipes at any time of the day or night ... every page delights

Nigella Lawson, author of 'Cook, Eat, Repeat'

This ravishing trove of recipes and baker's lore is a testament to years of practice and endeavour ... a marvellous achievement

Jeremy Lee, author of 'Cooking'

Claire is my favourite baker. I know so many of these recipes will become favourites baked again and again. A Violet recipe always works perfectly.

Anna Jones, author of 'One: Pot, Pan, Planet'

This is an absolutely enchanting book ... I could eat any of these recipes at any time of the day or night ... every page delights

Nigella Lawson, author of 'Cook, Eat, Repeat'

This ravishing trove of recipes and baker's lore is a testament to years of practice and endeavour ... a marvellous achievement

Jeremy Lee, author of 'Cooking'