Prince William’s secret second wedding cake that his chocoholic grandmother loved

Prince William and Princess Kate’s wedding back in 2011 has easily gone down as one of the most iconic royal weddings of the century so far, with everything from the Princess of Wales’ breathtaking dress designed by Sarah Burton to the gorgeous ceremony at Westminster Abbey making history. One aspect that we don’t talk about quite as much anymore is their wedding cakes. The parents of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis had two cakes for the special day: the first was a multi-tiered fruitcake by Fiona Cairns, but the second, Prince William’s groom’s cake, has undeservedly flown under the radar.

A nod to one of Prince William’s childhood, the second was a classic tiffin, a chocolate biscuit cake. Speaking exclusively to HELLO!, Barry Colenso, the man behind the cake, revealed that he worked with the McVitie’s Cake Company on it: “It was based on one of Prince William’s favourite afternoon tea cakes from when he was younger, a classic Tiffin cake, which was a fairly simple recipe.” He also noted that, though they developed it into a grander wedding cake, they stuck closely to Buckingham Palace’s recipe and guidelines.

The confectioner described the cake’s taste as “rich, indulgent and creamy with a really snappy texture”, thanks to the use of Rich Tea biscuits. Given that the groom’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, was a dessert-lover and chocoholic, we have absolutely no doubt that she enjoyed every bite of her tiffin at the wedding.

Prince William’s childhood favourite

Tiffin has a special sentimental value for the Prince of Wales. Not only is it a recipe that Buckingham Palace has been making for decades, but it’s something that the 43-year-old would share with his grandmother throughout his childhood in their afternoon teas. 

According to former royal chef Darren McGrady, chocolate biscuit cake was one of the late Queen Elizabeth’s favourites, as well as Prince William’s: “I used to prepare it for both of them when they had tea together,” he wrote on his website. “The Queen would request the cake in the menu book for Sunday tea when she knew her grandson would be joining her from Eton.” 

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In fact, the late Queen loved it so much that she broke her own rule for it: while remaining cake from afternoon tea was typically dispatched to the staff dining room for the following day, the tiffin was the only cake that Queen Elizabeth would request for the royal tea table day after day, until it was all gone!