Mich Turner MBE, Baker Extraordinaire and certified Cake Queen, came through for a sweet (quite literally) welcome for Prince William and whipped up the magnificent – wait for it – four-foot cake with eight tiers, 1000 hand-moulded sugar petals and Union Jack detailing. 

Made for the VIP supper held at the UK Pavilion in Expo 2020 Dubai on February 10 to celebrate the UK National Day, the masterpiece materialised after more than 600 hours of hard work. Turner conceived the idea and began planning for the cake in December of last year. 

The base consisted of a layered vanilla cake with chocolate ganache buttercream, covered in frost fondant icing and draped with the Union Jack flag. This layer alone was baked in the grand kitchens of Atlantis, The Palm, using 30kg of cake batter, while 5kg of chocolate went into the ganache frosting. The other seven tiers were constructed in the UK and flown over to the city in refrigerated airplanes. Final assembly was done in the UK Pavilion itself.

Each layer was carefully designed with a message in mind, displaying the qualities of the UK. Innovation, Science, creative arts, music and sporting accomplishments were all represented in each of the tiers. The crown of the cake, the topmost layer, was shaped as a sphere to replicate the Al Wasl Dome and was also covered with a Union Jack made of icing. 

Seven layers of this glorious cake will be going on display in the UK Pavilion, so we’ve found the prettiest way to get a mad sugar rush but you might get arrested trying to take a bite.