The Queen takes on Mary Berry with 1959 drop scones recipe (2024)

By Valerie Elliot For The Mail On Sunday 01:36 23 Apr 2017, updated 12:15 23 Apr 2017

  • The Queen is an enthusiastic home baker and has collected her favourite recipes
  • The book includes 39 of the most popular foods served at royal garden parties
  • President Eisenhower loved The Queen's drop scones and asked for the recipe

Think baking royalty and one name inevitably springs to mind: Mary Berry.

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But it seems the former Great British Bake Off star has a surprising rival: Her Majesty the Queen.

For the Monarch is an enthusiastic home baker, whose favourite recipes are about to be published in a new cookbook.

Top of the list is one for drop scones, which she cooked for American President Dwight D. Eisenhower when he visited Balmoral in 1959. ‘Ike’ and his wife Mamie enjoyed the treats so much that he asked her for the recipe, and she obliged in a personal letter.

Next month that same recipe will have pride of place in the new book, Royal Teas, alongside 39 other recipes for the most popular foods served at Buckingham Palace garden parties.

In her letter to President Eisenhower, the Queen gave a recipe for enough drop scones, also known as Scotch pancakes, to feed 16 people. And she added a couple of personal tips, suggesting ‘I think the mixture needs a great deal of beating while making and shouldn’t stand about too long before cooking’, and: ‘I have also tried using golden syrup or treacle instead of only sugar and that can be very good, too.’

The Queen, aged 33 at the time and expecting her third child, Prince Andrew, made the scones on a griddle at Balmoral as a teatime snack.

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But Jacky Colliss Harvey from the Royal Collection Trust, which is publishing the new book, said: ‘We believe President Eisenhower liked them because they were close to American breakfast pancakes and they made him feel at home.’

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She added: ‘The idea for the book started with the garden parties and afternoon tea. 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.

‘Tea is the quintessential British meal. 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.’

How to make treats like a monarch

Her Majesty’s Drop Scones

1 free-range egg

2 tablespoons unrefined caster sugar

1 teaspoon unsalted butter, melted

250ml full-fat milk

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

240g plain flour

2.5 teaspoons baking powder

1½ teaspoons cream of tartar

100g clarified unsalted butter

In a bowl, sieve flour, bicarbonate of soda, cream of tartar and sugar. Add milk and egg, whisk until smooth then add warm melted butter.

Pass through a sieve to remove lumps. If necessary, thin with more milk. It should be a dropping consistency, thick enough to retain shape on a griddle.

Heat griddle (or non-stick frying pan) over medium heat, and grease with clarified butter. Using a spoon or ladle, pour batter on griddle.

Cook one side then flip with a palette knife to cook the other. Do not let them over-cook. Serve warm with butter and preserves.

Palace’s Perfect victoria sponge

Two, 20cm/8in cake tins

3 free-range eggs

150g unrefined caster sugar

150g unsalted butter, softened

150g self-raising flour, sieved

½ teaspoon of vanilla essence

For the buttercream:

150g unsalted butter, softened

220g icing sugar, sieved

¹/³ split vanilla pod

Preheat oven to 180C (350F, gas mark 4). Grease tins with butter and line bottom with baking paper.

In a bowl, cream sugar, vanilla essence and butter until light and fluffy. Add beaten eggs, a little at a time to avoid curdling. Fold sieved flour until combined.

Divide the mix evenly between tins and smooth. Place on the middle shelf of oven and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and skewer comes out clean. Remove from oven, cool slightly before turning out on a wire rack.

For the buttercream, cream butter with sugar and seeds from split vanilla pod until pale and fluffy.

Once cakes have cooled, spread a layer of buttercream on top of the first cake, then add a thick layer of jam, before placing second cake on top of jam. Press down gently and dust top with icing sugar.

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The recipes in the book were selected by Royal chef Mark Flanagan and Royal pastry chef Kathryn Cuthbertson from the dishes regularly offered by the Queen at private functions and to the 30,000 annual guests at Buckingham Palace garden parties.

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They include recipes for carrot cake and another garden-party favourite, Victoria sponge, named after the Queen’s great-great-grandmother.

Mr Flanagan, who has worked for the Queen for 15 years, has previously said: ‘At any large event we are always conscious of trying to make sure we uphold people’s expectations when they come to Buckingham Palace. For a lot of people, it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

‘Certainly from the kitchen side of things we try to encourage everybody to make sure nobody goes away saying, “Wasn’t it amazing… but the food wasn’t up to much” – that’s not what we’d like.’

Savoury recipes in the book, whose proceeds will help conserve artworks owned by the Queen, include brioche crayfish co*cktail buns, egg mayonnaise on toast points, wild mushroom vol-au-vents, quail scotch eggs and miniature game pies.

Meanwhile, sweet treats include Yorkshire rhubarb creme brulee tartlets, cherry madeleines and the poshest Jammie Dodgers most people will come across: sables aux confiture. More exclusive recipes from Royal Teas will be published in The Mail on Sunday’s You magazine on May 7 – the day before the book is published, priced £14.95, or £12.95 via the Royal Collection Trust.

The Queen takes on Mary Berry with 1959 drop scones recipe (2024)

FAQs

The Queen takes on Mary Berry with 1959 drop scones recipe? ›

But "drop scones" in parts of the UK, in particular Scotland, where Balmoral castle is situated, are more like American pancakes than typical scones. Drop scones are thicker than American pancakes, and a little smaller.

Are drop scones the same as American pancakes? ›

But "drop scones" in parts of the UK, in particular Scotland, where Balmoral castle is situated, are more like American pancakes than typical scones. Drop scones are thicker than American pancakes, and a little smaller.

Why do you put eggs in scones? ›

Large Egg - The egg helps bind the ingredients together and increases the richness and flavour. Unsalted butter - Has to be cold to create flaky layers within the scone.

Do you have to put baking powder in scones? ›

As well as the raising agent in the flour, baking powder adds a bit of lift to scones. Baking powder is a convenient choice as it is a ready-mixed leavening agent, generally made of bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar (usually some cornflour too).

What are scones made of? ›

A scone (/ˈskɒn/ SKON or /ˈskoʊn/ SKOHN) is a traditional British baked good, popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is usually made of either wheat flour or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often slightly sweetened and occasionally glazed with egg wash.

What are American scones called in England? ›

A Biscuit (U.S.) Is a Scone (U.K.)

Both baked goodies use flour, fat, liquid and a leavening agent. The main differences are that scones tend to have less butter (because you'll add butter to it when you eating it — or else, clotted cream or jam) while American biscuits tend to have more butter and light layers.

Why are American scones different from English scones? ›

British scones are more closely related to American biscuits. While a British "biscuit" is what we would call a crunchy cookie! Sometimes made with raisins or sultanas, British scones are on the plain side compared with American scones, which are typically heavily flavored and topped with a drizzle or glaze.

What to avoid when making scones? ›

5 Mistakes to Avoid When Baking Scones
  1. Using anything but cold ingredients. The secret to the flakiest scones is to start with cold ingredients — cold butter, cold eggs, and cold cream. ...
  2. Only using all-purpose flour. ...
  3. Overmixing the dough. ...
  4. Not chilling the dough before baking. ...
  5. Baking them ahead of time.
May 1, 2019

Which flour is best for scones? ›

Use all-purpose flour for a higher rising scone that holds its shape nicely, both in and out of the oven. To make more delicate, lower-rising, cake-like scones, substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour. Reduce the liquid in the recipe by 1 to 2 tablespoons, using just enough to bring the dough together.

How long should you rest scones before baking? ›

Recipes for scones sometimes provide a make-ahead option that involves refrigerating the dough overnight so it can simply be shaped and then popped into the oven the next day. But now we've found that resting the dough overnight has another benefit: It makes for more symmetrical and attractive pastries.

Can you put too much baking powder in scones? ›

Additionally, using too much baking powder can give the finished product a bitter taste, as baking powder has a slight alkaline taste. It is important to follow the recipe carefully and use the correct amount of baking powder to ensure that your cakes and cookies turn out as desired.

Is baking soda or baking powder better for scones? ›

You can use baking soda if you've added an acidic ingredient to the dough (e.g. buttermilk, vinegar, lemon juice). Use baking powder if you have not added anything acidic.

How unhealthy is a scone? ›

For it turns out that scones are … fattening. A Food Standards Agency (FSA) report has found that the average scone contains 408 calories, with the best – sorry, most fattening – clocking up a remarkable 756 calories and 39.2g of sugar.

How do you make scones rise higher? ›

To ensure taller scones, start with a thicker dough disc and place the scones on a tray with sides, allowing them to slightly touch one another. This arrangement encourages the scones to push against the pan and each other, promoting height.

What is the most popular type of scone? ›

What Are the Most Popular Scone Flavors?
  • Traditional plain scones. Plain scones are a classic and simple option that can be enjoyed with butter, jam, or clotted cream. ...
  • Blueberry scones. ...
  • Chocolate chip scones. ...
  • Cranberry scones. ...
  • Lemon scones. ...
  • Cinnamon scones. ...
  • Cherry scones. ...
  • Almond scones.
6 days ago

What is another name for American pancakes? ›

A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter, and then cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan.

What are American pancakes called in England? ›

What the English call a pancake is what Americans would call a crepe, and American pancakes, which are fluffier and more leavened, are called "American pancakes." (Scottish pancakes, on the other hand, are fairly close to American pancakes.)

What is the American version of a scone? ›

There are quite a few videos online where British (or Commonwealth) people try American Biscuits and Gravy. They always say that American's just call scones "biscuits", and they usually confirm that understanding after they try the recipe.

What do the French call American pancakes? ›

we cal them crepes.

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