Royal Teas ─ Seasonal Recipes from Buckingham Palace

What could be more quintessentially British than a spot of afternoon tea? It’s a hallowed tradition that’s taken particularly seriously at Buckingham Palace, where for more than a decade Royal Chef Mark Flanagan and his team have prepared an afternoon tea that reflects the best of this venerable tradition across the seasons, from springtime picnics to sophisticated summer garden parties and festive Christmas teas.

Royal Teas, the follow-up to A Royal Cookbook, shares Flanagan’s recipes for a variety of tantalizing tea-time treats, including sweet and savory pastries, cookies, and show-stopping cakes. Each recipe is reproduced with clear instructions and a table to convert measurements to the ones you are most familiar with and beautifully photographed with the tableware, floral arrangements, and other decorative items that adorn the royal table throughout the year. Organized by season, the book is also a testament to the Royal Kitchens’ commitment to sourcing fresh, local ingredients, from the mulberry trees in the Palace Gardens whose berries are harvested and made into deliciously syrupy jam to the beehives that provide the year-round honey used in honey sponge cake.

The first official tea-time cookbook from the Royal Collection, Royal Tea invites readers to take a break in the day to indulge in a Royal Family–tested sweet treat—well-behaved corgis welcome!

Mark Flanagan is Royal Chef at Buckingham Palace.