Finally preparing a meal, start to unwrap ten cakes (7)
I believe the answer is:
gateaux
'cakes' is the definition.
(gateau is a kind of cake)
'finally preparing a meal start to unwrap ten' is the wordplay.
'finally' suggests the final letters.
'meal' becomes 'tea' (tea is a kind of meal).
'start to' says to take the initial letters.
'ten' becomes 'x' (roman numeral).
The last letter of 'preparing' is 'g'.
The initial letter of 'unwrap' is 'u'.
'g'+'a'+'tea'+'u'+'x'='GATEAUX'
(Other definitions for gateaux that I've seen before include "CAKES], with access to the French" , "Rich cakes" .)