Darren McGrady was the personal chef to Queen Elizabeth for 15 years, as well as Princess Diana and Princes William and Harry. The chef posted a video on his channel Youtube on how to recreate a royal afternoon tea at home and what types of sandwiches would be offered at Buckingham Palace.
The chef mentioned the garden parties that would be organized there, with 6,000 people present.
But he only had to deal with the royal tea tent and there was a basic sandwich that always had to be on the menu. This is the “jam penny”, a jam sandwich that was served to the Queen when she was little and has been eating since then for afternoon tea, confided McGrady.
He said the timeless recipe was “just bread and jam with a little butter, usually strawberry jam“.
“We made jam at the castle of Balmoral with beautiful Scottish strawberries from the gardens“.
In the video, he then cut the toast into circles, adding these mots: “They were called pennies, after the size of the old English penny.“
Other popular fillings for afternoon sandwiches include tomato and cheese, and cucumber with fresh mint cheese.