THE plan was to offer a little quirky fun, but Cupcake baker Madeleine Witham quickly discovered how voracious Ballarat’s appetite is for a royal wedding.
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Ms Witham had thought she would sell “about five” royal boxes to celebrate the impending nuptials of English Prince Harry and his American bride Meghan Markle on Saturday night (Ballarat time).
By Thursday morning, The Little Cupcake had sold 30 with nine more online orders waiting from overnight and a steady stream of royalists entering the Eureka Street shop while The Courier visited.
“This rivals Mothers’ Day, which is one of our biggest times of the year,” Ms Witham said. “I will be one unlikely to be watching the royal wedding. I’ll be going to be exhausted.”
Customers have told her there has been a lack of royal fun in Ballarat, especially for home wedding watching parties. And then they discovered her cupcakes – most via social media.
Reports are that Prince Harry and Ms Markle had requested a lemon elderflower cake incorporating the bright flavours of spring and covered with buttercream and fresh flowers.
The Little Cupcake opted for a vanilla on vanilla, honeycomb chocolate, red velvet and chocolate on chocolate taste palate. Each mini-cupcake is crowned with an edible royal motif, including faces of the royal couple.
“Obviously we’ve hit on a nerve in Ballarat,” Ms Witham said. “This whole thing keeps getting bigger and bigger all the time.”
The Little Cupcake has still been selling other flavours in-store daily and is committed to fulfilling all royal orders by Saturday. There will even be a limited supply available in the shop Saturday morning.
Ms Witham said it was a fantastic community response for a local business, which prides itself on sourcing ingredients from suppliers in the region. All cakes are made from scratch.
For those keen to schedule high tea arrangements in line with the wedding at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, first official guest start to arrive from 6pm (Ballarat time). Royal family members are touted to appear at 8.20pm with Prince Harry and his best man Prince William to arrive about 8.45pm. Queen Elizabeth is the last to take a seat at 8.55am with Ms Markle to make her grand entrance at 8.59pm.
By 9pm, have a cup of tea at the ready. And maybe a royal cupcake.