Ever wondered what makes the perfect afternoon tea? In a new cookbook, Buckingham Palace is sharing a few royal baking secrets.
Inspired by the annual garden parties hosted by the Queen each summer, the Royal Collection is launching "Royal Teas: Seasonal Recipes from Buckingham Palace." It features 40 popular recipes created by the royal chef Mark Flanagan and royal pastry chef Kathryn Cuthbertson, who help to serve around 30,000 afternoon teas to guests at the Palace each year.
"The idea for the book started with the garden parties and afternoon tea," Jacky Colliss Harvey from the Royal Collection Trust told The Daily Mail."We had a long list of recipes but had to weed them out if they were too complicated or ingredients too expensive or difficult to source."
Recipes include garden-party favorites carrot cake and Victoria sponge, as well as cardamom and orange shortbread and summer berry tartlets. But according to Harvey, there's more to the new book than just sweet treats.
"Tea is the quintessential British meal," she added. "We still follow the tradition that savoury precedes sweet, and that wholesome is to be consumed before the indulgent, but the perfect tea table has to include a combination of both."
"Royal Teas" also highlights one particularly special recipe which the Queen herself has enjoyed making. It includes drop scones, or Scotch pancakes, which the monarch made for President Eisenhower during his visit to Balmoral in 1959. According to the National Archives, the Queen later sent the family recipe in a letter to the President, with annotations and a suggestion to use treacle instead of caster sugar.
When it comes to baking scones, it seems nothing can beat the royal touch.
"Royal Teas" will be available from May for £12.95 ($16.55) at the Royal Collection Trust.
From Good Housekeeping
