McVitie’s and pladis have created, baked and decorated a special cake presented as a gift at Windsor Castle in commemoration of the Coronation of Their Majesties on 6 May 2023.
McVitie’s distinguished heritage includes marking many milestones for the British Royal Family with celebration cakes for weddings, christenings, anniversaries and Jubilees since 1893. Last year, McVitie’s was honoured to create and present a celebratory cake to the late Queen on her Platinum Jubilee, with the theme of the Tree of Life reflecting her long reign and the passing seasons. Over the years, a number of Royal visitors have visited their bakeries and the company has also made commemorative biscuit tins for consumers to collect and treasure.
The design of this Coronation cake signals the Carolean age and takes inspiration from the Prince’s Foundation ethos- Respecting the Past, Building the Future. The cake, whilst modern, draws on the majesty of the Coronation with each tier inspired by aspects of historic Coronation regalia.
David Murray - pladis MD
“On behalf of the pladis family, it is an honour for us to present this uniquely crafted cake to celebrate Their Majesties’ Coronation," said David Murray, UK and Ireland Managing Director of pladis. "As a Royal Warrant holder, this culinary contribution to the Coronation builds on a long history proudly serving the British Royal Family.”
The cake, which took five months to make from design through to decoration, is a dark fruit cake created by pladis’ Chef, Robert Craggs, and inspired by McVitie’s recipe archive for previous Royal cakes. Standing at approximately 1.2 metres tall, the cake includes 300 Duchy organic, free-range eggs and is packed with succulent fruits, including sultanas, raisins, and glacé cherries, which make up over half of the recipe. The two-month aged fruit cake was made with over 300kg of batter, baked in small batches and individually fed with 1,000 Trees Apple Eau de Vie 2020 from Capreolus Distillery in Cirencester. The apples for this were sourced from His Majesty’s Highgrove Estate’s 1,000 apple tree orchard.
The pladis team collaborated with a Royal historian and award-winning cake artists Rosalind Miller and Elizabeth Wood to curate this Coronation cake and combine modern minimalism with the majesty of the Coronation ceremony. The cake is made up of four tiers:
- The bottom tier has matt stone icing reflects the Stone of Destiny – a symbol used for centuries in the inauguration of Monarchs. This May, the Stone of Destiny will travel from Edinburgh Castle to Westminster Abbey to be placed beneath 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 Their Majesties.
- The third tier sees marbled stone texture continuing but embossed with gilded detailing from the Coronation Chair, known historically as King Edward’s Chair – one of the most precious and famous pieces of furniture in the world. It has been the centrepiece of coronations for over 700 years in British history.
- The final tier wears a porcelain surround featuring details again taken from the Coronation Chair and is topped by a ceramic interpretation of the Sovereign’s Orb, one of the Crown Jewels. Both elements have been created by Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust scholar, Nico Conti – a ceramicist who specialises in 3D printing porcelain, championing both tradition and technology.
