German torte cake to sweeten UK royal wedding

Those angling to dig their forks into a cake from prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding can order their own piece from a tiny bakery in Germany before it hits the royal plates on April 29th.

Bakery Konditorei Viktoria in the southwestern town of Eberbach is working around the clock on their signature cake for the wedding, reflecting a long-standing tie between the family-run business and the British royal family.

The bakery, which has made cakes for the royals for about a half century, will send a fruity calorie-rich torte cake to London for the wedding.

"There were several occasions (when cakes were sent to London) -- for instance queen Elizabeth's 25th jubilee, the wedding of Charles and Diana, the queen mother's 100th birthday," bakery owner Birgit Strohauer-Valerius said.

The torte is made from freshly squeezed orange juice, Cointreau liqueur, marzipan, candied orange peel and filled with orange-Cointreau cream. The final touch includes white icing and marzipan crowns.

"We put some candied orange peels into this cake because orange marmalade is originally from England," said baker Florian Baecker.

The bakery ships its tortes to customers around the world and town residents have been snapping them up so quickly that bakers have had to work overtime to keep up with the demand.

"We first served our 'William and Kate cake' to customers at our cafe and the response was fantastic," Baecker said.

"People were enthusiastic and said, 'We can actually try the cake William and Kate will get for their wedding,'" he added. "Demand is so high we have had to add night shifts."

Germany has a long tradition of royal marriage with Britain.

The German House of Hanover has had six monarchs on the British throne, including queen Victoria, whose husband Prince Albert was born in Germany and whose daughter Victoria became German Empress during the reign of Frederick III.

"It's proven that (queen Victoria's) parents lived (in Eberbach) for awhile," Strohauer-Valerius said. "So my father took the opportunity in 1963 and sent the first queen Victoria of Eberbach torte to Buckingham Palace."