Throughout the Covid era, the Royal Family shared recipes made by their Royal Pastry Chefs. One of those recipes was the Queen’s fruit scones, which traditionally would be served at Buckingham Palace every summer. Posted on the Royal Family Instagram page, it read: “Every year at Garden Parties across The Royal Residences, over 27,000 cups of tea, 20,000 sandwiches and 20,000 slices of cake are consumed! The Royal Pastry Chefs are happy to share their recipe for fruit scones.” The Queen’s fruit scone recipe 500g plain flour 28g baking powder 94g butter 86g sugar 2 whole eggs 140ml buttermilk 100g sultanas (cover in hot water and leave to soak for 30 minutes) 1 Preheat oven to 180C. 2 Mix the flour, baking powder, butter and sugar together in a bowl until a crumb is formed. 3 In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and buttermilk together. 4 Add the liquid to the crumb mixture. 5 Continue to mix the dough until it is smooth. 6 Add the sultanas and mix until evenly distributed (optional). 7 Remove the dough from the bowl, flatten the dough and cover. 8 Leave to rest for approximately 30 minutes. 9 Roll out the dough to a thickness of 2.5 cm and cut to desired shape. 10 Rest the scones for another 20 minutes. 11 Gently egg wash the top of the scones. 12 Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. 13 Cool before serving with jam and clotted cream. What the recipe fails to tell us though, is what goes first? Jam or cream? The great scone debate We’ve previously talked about the long-running (and often heated) debate and asked our official English foodie in the office, Matt Preston, to weigh in. “It’s always jam first in Australia given the lower butterfat content (and the resulting increased instability) of the cream used here compared to the denser clotted cream traditionally used in Devon and Cornwall,” he said. But what about Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II? Well, according to Darren McGrady, a former chef who worked for the Royal Family for over 10 years, the Queen prefers jam first. He tweeted: “The Queen always had home-made Balmoral jam first with clotted cream on top at Buckingham Palace garden parties in the royal tea tent and all royal tea parties.” Tea, anyone? More Buckingham Palace favourites: The best Eton mess cheesecake The Queen’s Victoria sponge recipe Our Aussie version of Her Majesty’s favourite chocolate biscuit cake