Queen Elizabeth II's Pancake Recipe Is Even Better Than American Ones According To A Former US President

Sep 20, 2022

It's no secret that Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, lived a healthy lifestyle over the course of her more than seven-decade reign as monarch. From breakfast to lunch to snacks and all the way to dinner, Her Majesty followed a balanced diet from the age of five. After all, she wouldn't have lived until the age of 96 if she had eaten everything she wanted. 

But Her Majesty had to follow certain techniques to avoid getting poisoned on the table. 

It isn't just the queen that is kept safe through these clever techniques but all members of the royal family, including Prince Charles, Prince Williams and Kate Middleton. They are all kept secure from being poisoned at functions. 

Major royal events, dinners and other important occasions need a lot of planning and execution — everything from the guest list down to the food needs to be organized meticulously. It is imperative that safety is on top of the list to make sure that important attendees are guarded well. 

The New York Post reported that a documentary that aired on Britain's Channel 5 explained that after the chef had prepared all of the dishes, one plate was chosen at random for the queen to eat. She never had an assigned plate, so it could never be tampered with.  

Speaking on "Secrets of the Royal Kitchen," the Sun's royal correspondent Emily Andrews said: "After everything is plated up, a page chooses at random one of the plates to be served to her majesty. So if anyone did want to poison the monarch they'd have to poison the whole lot."

There are also strict rules that govern how guests need to act around the queen during these events. Andrews added: "You do not sit down until the queen sits down. When she starts eating, then you can start eating."

"Traditionally, you'd have to have finished eating by the time the queen would finish eating. In years gone past, courtiers would be there desperately trying to eat their food quite quickly," she continued.

The queen had a personal menu created for her, so she oversaw everything that happened in the kitchen, as per the New York Post. 

Elizabeth's former chef, Darren McGrady, worked for the royal household for 15 years. "The Queen has a royal menu book that is completed by the chef. The chef does three days' menus and that gives us enough time to get all the produce in and prepare it." 

McGrady also said that Elizabeth banned certain items from her Buckingham Palace kitchen, saying: "We can never serve anything with garlic or too much onions." 

The former chef revealed that the queen preferred to stick to traditional "British and French" dishes and wasn't willing to be adventurous when trying new dishes. She would instead eat the "same dishes week in and week out." Her taste was starkly different from her husband, Philip, who would "get excited about new ingredients."

While it seemed like the queen's techniques to keep her safe from being poisoned and choices of a royal menu set her apart from the common man, she was more like a normal person than one imagines. 

The Daily Post reported that despite the queen having her choice of lavish rooms to eat her meals in, she generally chose to eat her evening meal in the comfort of her own living room, as she enjoyed nothing more than a TV dinner. "She has her dinner off a tray looking at the television. She likes it. It's homely and cozy and it's comfortable," royal biographer Lady Colin Campbell said.

Former royal chef Darren McGrady told The Telegraph that Queen Elizabeth II liked starting her day with a pre-breakfast consisting of hot earl grey tea and biscuits, followed by her actual breakfast, which consisted of either toast or cereals. On some occasions, Her Majesty liked to have some toast and marmalade. 

Queen Elizabeth II's favorites for lunch were grilled Dover sole or Scottish salmon served with spinach and zucchini as part of her high-protein and low-carb diet. Her majesty also loved eating a simple salad with grilled chicken. But McGrady said Her Royal Highness had a "no starch rule."

"When she dines on her own, she's very disciplined," McGrady said.

"No starch is the rule."

The queen considered having tea "a must" in the afternoon. Royal biographer Katie Nicholl said cucumber sandwiches, fruit cake, and more earl grey tea are part of the menu. 

Every day for dessert or afternoon tea, she had a slice of her favorite chocolate biscuit cake. In fact, the queen brought one of these cakes with her wherever she went to be sure she never missed out on her favorite food!

Her dinner didn't have much difference from her lunch, but the fish was replaced with very well-done meat. Again, the queen had a "no starch rule" for dinner. 

And the queen shared something in common with another beloved British (but fictional) celebrity — James Bond! She loved a good martini and had one with every dinner. To finish off the day, she had a glass of champagne.

But if there's something the queen didn't like on her plate, it was anything that had garlic in it, McGrady said in a YouTube video. 

According to McGrady, the queen also didn't like munching on fast food, but she certainly had a guilty pleasure, just like most of us. Following her death, her recipe for "drop scones" — also called Scotch pancakes, resurfaced through a thread on the discussion website Reddit. 

It was the same recipe the queen gave to then-US President Dwight Eisenhower in 1960 as part of a letter Her Majesty had sent him. Apparently, the queen promised to give Eisenhower the scone recipe during a visit to Balmoral in 1959, so he belatedly sent it to him five months later after realizing she forgot to send her one. And as it turns out, the scotch pancakes are similar to the ones in the US, only smaller.

"Dear Mr President,

Seeing a picture of you in today's newspaper standing in front of a barbecue grilling quail, reminded me that I had never sent you the recipe of the drop scones which I promised you at Balmoral.

I now hasten to do so, and I do hope you will find them successful," part of the letter read. 

Meanwhile, you can check out the ingredients for Queen Elizabeth II's pancake below: 

4 tea cups flour

4 tablespoons caster sugar

2 tea cups milk

2 whole eggs

2 teaspoons bicarbonate soda

3 teaspoons cream of tartar

2 tablespoons melted butter

Per Queen Elizabeth II's recipe, it is important to first beat the eggs, pour the sugar in and about half the milk together before adding flour. Then, they are mixed well together before adding the remainder of the milk as required as well as the bi-carbonate (baking soda) and cream of tartar. And finally, you fold in the melted butter. 

Then, it's cooked in a dry pan on a stove, just like regular pancakes. 

Did you know that making pancakes date back to as early as 600 BC? And as early as 1445, the British already loved pancakes – even starting their own pancake race in Olney, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. But in Scotland, it used to be part of a tradition to make pancakes before Lent so that "forbidden foods" won't go to waste. 

Those who have already tried Queen Elizabeth II's pancake recipe shared in the same thread that it tastes better than the American version of pancakes. Others said it goes well with honey, syrup, or jam, depending on one's taste. And if there's one thing for sure, it's that Eisenhower fell in love with her scones (or pancakes), so we're here to say that if you haven't tried it yet, maybe it's time to gather all those ingredients so you could try making some yourself! Not to mention, people on the internet can't stop talking about how delicious it tastes! Royal pancakes, anyone? 

Have you tried Queen Elizabeth's pancake recipe? How did it taste? Let us know what you think, and pass this on to a friend who loves pancakes!