On Her Majesty's 挟む Service: Buckingham Palace's famous garden parties are cancelled this year, but you are cordially 招待するd to have one in your OWN garden - with help from a 最高の，を越す 王室の chef

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Scones, 挟むs, 日光 and a chance to 雑談（する） to her 支配するs, it's no wonder the Queen loves hosting her 年次の summer garden parties.?

The 集会s, at Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, have been taking place for 160 years with the 王室の Family throwing open their gates to the 広大な／多数の／重要な and good of 地元の communities, who feast on 20,000 挟むs, 20,000 slices of cake and 27,000 cups of tea.?

This year, sadly, all four garden parties have been cancelled. Palace sources say the Queen, who looks 今後 to the events more than any other 王室の occasion, was '深く，強烈に disappointed' they couldn't take place.?

A 王室の Garden Party with Sarah Rainey as she tries out Her Majesty's favourite 扱う／治療するs

The 30,000 guests ― whose gilt-辛勝する／優位d 招待s were sent out earlier this year ― have been 招待するd to …に出席する next year's parties instead.?

But there's no 推論する／理由 not to enjoy the lovely 天候, with a 王室の tea party in your own garden.?

There's even help on 手渡す from the Palace chefs, who have been 株ing their recipes for tea-time classics on the 王室の Family's 公式の／役人 Instagram account.?

I called on 王室の chef Darren McGrady, who cooked for the Queen for 11 years, for his step-by-step guide to making an afternoon tea Her Majesty would love.?

SCONES WITH JAM FIRST... THEN CREAM?

'These are the Queen's fa vourite,' says Darren. 'She has them for tea every day, wherever she is in the world: plain one day; fruit scones the next'

'These are the Queen's favourite,' says Darren. 'She has them for tea every day, wherever she is in the world: plain one day; fruit scones the next.'?

To make ten 王室の scones, mix 420g plain flour, 70g granulated sugar and 4 teaspoons of baking 砕く in a bowl, before 追加するing 110g 軟化するd butter and rubbing it between your fingers until the mixture turns into 罰金 breadcrumbs.?

Next, make a 井戸／弁護士席 in the middle and 追加する a beaten egg and 95ml milk.?Use a metal spoon to bring the mixture together and then dig in your 手渡すs.?

This 行う／開催する／段階 is messy and I ended up with flour all over my party dress and clumps of dough wedged between my fingers. 'It's important you don't knead it,' Darren explains.?

'You want the scones light and fluffy. Once the dough has come together, turn it out on to a floury worktop and roll it to around 2.5cm 厚い.'

削減（する） circles using a 5cm 切断機，沿岸警備艇. Put them on a baking sheet a few centimetres apart, 小衝突 the 最高の，を越すs with egg yolk and bake the scones for 15-20 minutes at 180c.?

'When they're ready they'll be golden brown on 最高の，を越す, 会社／堅い on the outside and gorgeously soft in the middle.'?

Now for the 議論の的になる bit. Jam or cream first? 'The Queen is always jam first, followed by a 層 of delicious clotted cream,' Darren says.?

The Queen's favourite jam is made from wild strawberries (fraises des bois), 選ぶd from the gardens at Balmoral 城.?

I've had to make do with a jar from my 地元の supermarket, but I did manage to get my 手渡すs on some clotted cream ― and the combination is truly mouth-watering.?

CORONATION CHICKEN ROLLS

The 重要な is to 削減（する） them to just the 権利 size. 'There's a 抱擁する 焦点（を合わせる） on everything 存在 tiny ― just one bite,' explains Darren

橋（渡しをする） rolls ― small, soft, fingershaped rolls ― were a favourite of the Queen Mother, and 定期的に make an 外見 at garden parties, filled with 載冠（式）／即位（式） chicken, which has been on the menu since the Queen's 載冠（式）／即位（式） in 1953.?

The 重要な is to 削減（する） them to just the 権利 size. 'There's a 抱擁する 焦点（を合わせる） on everything 存在 tiny ― just one bite,' explains Darren.?

'The Queen is very particular about this. She wants everyone to feel at 緩和する ― so, if you've just popped a 挟む in your mouth and turn around to find the Queen behind you, you don't have to spend ages chomping away.'?

His recipe, which makes six 部分s, 要求するs 450g boneless, skinless chicken breasts ― which are poached in a large pan with an onion, four sticks of celery, a bay leaf and 1.4 litres of 冷淡な water.?

The next bit is 平易な: mix 230g mayonnaise, 125g yoghurt and 60g 二塁打 cream together with a tablespoon of curry paste, a teaspoon of sugar, the juice of a lime and a handful each of diced red pepper, diced red onion, diced mango, diced pineapple and diced tinned apricot, before seasoning.?

The curry paste makes the mixture 有望な yellow and it smells fragrant and spicy. I finish by cutting the chicken into bite-size pieces and stirring these into the mix.?

I've bought brioche rolls, which were the closest I could find to 橋（渡しをする） rolls, so I slice each in half and dollop a generous serving of 載冠（式）／即位（式） chicken inside.?

I don't bother making 地雷 any smaller, I'm ありそうもない to be interrupted by anyone ― let alone a 王室の ― and they're far too tasty to 削減（する） in two.?

SHORTBREAD FINGERS?

Darren ― who worked at Buckingham Palace from 1982 to 1993 ― remembers baking this shortbread for Lady Sarah Chatto, Princess Margaret's daughter. Sieve 225g plain flour, 115g cornflour and 115g icing sugar into a bowl. 削減（する） 225g unsalted butter into pieces and rub it into the 乾燥した，日照りの mixture until it forms a ball. Then dust a rectangular mould with flour and 圧力（をかける） the ball of dough into it until it's around a centimetre 厚い. Tip the shortbread out on to a tray lined with baking paper, prick it all over with a fork and bake at 180c for 20 minutes. Next 削減（する） the shortbread into fingers, only going a third of the way. It's important to do this while it's hot, as it means it will snap apart easily when it 冷静な／正味のs. Finish with a dusting of granulated sugar.?

PIMM's FRUIT COCKTAIL?

'[Drinking] in the 王室の テント, it's just not the done thing ― you don't want people getting tipsy at the Palace,' says Darren.

No garden party would be 完全にする without a glass of Pimm's ― but 王室の 集会s are, 公式に, 乾燥した，日照りの 事件／事情／状勢s.?

'Even in the 王室の テント, it's just not the done thing ― you don't want people getting tipsy at the Palace,' says Darren.?

Instead, during the day, guests are 申し込む／申し出d tea (usually Twinings Earl Grey) or iced coffee, made with coffee which is 供給（する）d by London-based merchant H.R. Higgins. But at 6pm, when the party's over and the guests have gone home, Her Majesty can be 設立する sipping on something a little stronger.

If it's not her trademark gin and Dubonnet, it's almost invariably a glass of Pimm's and lemonade ― made to a special 王室の recipe.?

Darren explains: 'She likes the gin-based Pimm's No. 1, with lemonade; but the 利益／興味ing bit is the garnish, which makes it more like a fruit cocktail than a drink. 'It's made with oranges, lemons, cucumber, 造幣局, strawberries, cherries and borage [an edible garden 工場／植物].'

I dutifully put every fruit I can find in the fridge into my jug of Pimm's ― and even forage in the garden for some borage, which gives it a fresh, and rather herby aftertaste.

CHOCOLATE SPONGE CAKE

Although chocolate doesn't always make an 外見 at garden parties ― 'it's 普通は warm, so you 危険 it melting and going on the ladies' dresses'

The Queen is a 'chocoholic', says Darren, and both her go-to cakes ― a no-bake chocolate 薄焼きパン／素焼陶器 cake made with Rich Tea 薄焼きパン／素焼陶器s, and a sponge recipe dating 支援する to 1899 which she has on her birthday ― are flavoured with chocolate.?

Although chocolate doesn't always make an 外見 at garden parties ― 'it's 普通は warm, so you 危険 it melting and going on the ladies' dresses' ― there are always large cakes on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議するs in the tea テント, so guests can 削減（する） a slice of whichever they prefer.?

This chocolate sponge recipe is Her Majesty's favourite. I start by 素早い行動ing two whole eggs and six yolks together with 115g granulated sugar, and placing the bowl over a pan of hot water so it heats up.?

I 素早い行動 until it （テニスなどの）ダブルス in 容積／容量 before 追加するing 55g melted butter, and 55g plain flour and 30g cocoa 砕く, sieved together.?

Next, I spoon the mixture into a lined, greased 20cm cake tin, and bake it for 20 minutes at 180c.?

While the cake cooks, I make the topping and filling, by melting 570ml 二塁打 cream with 450g dark chocolate.?

Once this, and the cake, have 冷静な／正味のd, I slice the sponge horizontally into three and spread it in between each 層, befor e topping with yet more chocolatey icing and chocolate curls.?

It's decadent and 要求するs an 極端に 甘い tooth ― something, it seems, Her Majesty and I have in ありふれた.?

CUCUMBER SANDWICHES

An afternoon tea classic, cucumber 挟むs sound simple ― but, made によれば the 王室の recipe, they're the fiddliest dish on the menu.?

First, the bread. It must be brown (white is used for egg salad, ham and 情熱 or beef and horseradish), 削減（する） wafer-thin, crusts off and lightly buttered.

Next, the cucumber, which is 削減（する） with a vegetable peeler, rather than a knife, to give perfectly thin, 平等に sliced, pieces.?

Darren explains: 'Start by peeling the whole cucumber. Keep going with the peeler, slicing the flesh in long, thin （土地などの）細長い一片s, until you get to the seeds. Turn it over and peel it again?from the other 味方する. Then, lay the （土地などの）細長い一片s over the buttered bread and 削減（する） them to size.'?

The 挟むs are finished with a ぱらぱら雨 of 黒人／ボイコット pepper ― never salt, as it pulls the moisture out and?makes the cucumber chewy. They're then sliced into thin, dainty fingers.?

They are utterly delicious ― crisp and fresh, and a lovely contrast to all the 甘い dishes. They aren't the Queen's favourite 挟むs, however.?

These are a Palace 創造 called 'jam pennies', made from white bread, butter and jam, and 削減（する） into circles the size of old English pennies.?

'They're what the Queen and Princess Margaret used to have in the nursery,' Darren explains.

'When she's on her own for tea, she likes a small plate of them.?

'But they're not for garden parties ― people 推定する／予想する a bit more than a jam 挟む.'

STRAWBERRY SWISS ROLL?

The mixture is meant to be light, fluffy and 十分な of 空気／公表する, so it's important not to over-（警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域

This teatime 扱う／治療する is 悪名高くも difficult to make, but a must for a 王室の spread.?

I 素早い行動 eight egg yolks with 320g granulated sugar before 倍のing in four whipped egg whites, 160g potato flour ― a thickener 類似の to cornflour ― and four more whipped egg whites.?

The mixture is meant to be light, fluffy and 十分な of 空気／公表する, so it's important not to over-（警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域. I 注ぐ it into a greased, lined スイスの roll tin and bake the sponge at 180c for 10-15 minutes. It's ready once it springs 支援する.?

Once 冷静な／正味のd, I spread it with a 厚い 層 of strawberry jam (leftover from my scones) and 570ml 厚い cream, whic h I've whipped to soft 頂点（に達する）s.?

Even Mary Berry struggles with the next bit but, going ever-so-slowly, I manage to roll the sponge up into a tight spiral, with only a few 割れ目s, and a 自由主義の dusting of icing sugar saves the day once again.?

I ぱらぱら雨 on some strawberries, slice it into wedges and it's ready to serve.

RASPBERRY TARTLET?

These tartlets are a garden party 中心的要素. They’re also 平易な to cheat, as you can buy the pastry 事例／患者s ready-made from the supermarket

The Queen loved these little tarts as a child, and they were often made when she and Princess Margaret had been raspberry-選ぶing at Balmoral.?

Today, they’re a garden party 中心的要素. They’re also 平易な to cheat, as you can buy the pastry 事例／患者s ready-made from the supermarket.?

The tart 事例／患者s are then filled with pastry cream, made by mixing 115g sugar, 35g flour, a teaspoon of vanilla 抽出する, a pinch of salt and four egg yolks together in a bowl, then 追加するing 375ml warm whole milk and 素早い行動ing it over a bowl of boiling water until it reaches the consistency of 厚い custard.?

If this sounds like too much hassle, you can also use whipped cream, flavoured with vanilla 抽出する.?

The final touch is to 最高の，を越す each tart with 上昇傾向d raspberries ― and, Darren’s secret tip, ‘小衝突 the berries with melted jam to give a lovely 向こうずね’.