The late Queen Elizabeth may have been the longest-serving British monarch with access to the most lavish and exotic cuisines imaginable, yet when it came to satisfying her sweet tooth, she favoured something decidedly ordinary and distinctly British. Throughout her 70-year reign, the late monarch undertook more than 200 visits to Commonwealth countries alone, which would undoubtedly have exposed her to an array of delicacies served at formal dinners.
However, when it came to her preferences, Elizabeth would choose a beloved English favourite that countless Britons have come to cherish - one that she enjoyed every day from childhood. Darren McGrady, who served the Royal Family for 15 years as a chef preparing meals for all the senior members of the Firm, disclosed what the late monarch's preferred afternoon indulgence was.
In a YouTube video, he discussed the annual summer garden parties, explaining: "With 6,000 people at each garden party that's a lot of food, and fortunately, the royal chefs only have to cater for the royal tea tent."
He continued: "The [late] Queen was served jam pennies in the nursery as a little girl, she's had them for afternoon tea ever since.
"Simple, just bread and jam with a little butter - usually strawberry jam. We'd make the jam at Balmoral Castle with the gorgeous Scottish strawberries from the gardens."
The former royal chef revealed that sandwiches were always cut into a circular shape, never triangles or squares, owing to an age-old superstition that pointed food would bring misfortune upon the monarchy.
A circular cutter was used to stamp out round portions from the centre of the bread, which led to them being referred to as pennies "after the size of the old English penny".
According to Owen Hodgson, another firm favourite of the late monarch was a tuna mayo sandwich.
The former royal chef previously told The Telegraph that Elizabeth had a great fondness for tuna and mayonnaise sandwiches, which were typically generously buttered and served with thin slices of cucumber and a sprinkle of pepper.
Jam pennies recipe
Ingredients
Method
1. Cut the crusts off the sliced bread and put to one side for breadcrumbs or bread pudding.
2. Stamp out little rounds of bread with a scone/biscuit/pastry cutter.
3. Spread the crust-less sliced bread "pennies" with the butter on one side only, just as if you were making normal sandwiches.
4. Spread the jam of your choice over one side of the buttered bread and then sandwich together with another buttered slice.
5. Arrange on a nice plate and serve with a pot of tea
