Harvest Royal Recipes

Hello, I'm Michael Buerk.

Welcome to a brand-new series of

Royal Recipes.

This time, we're at Westonbirt

House,

formerly a grand country house,

now a boarding school which has

played host to

royal visitors for over 100 years.

In this series, we're delving even

further back in time to reveal over

600 years of royal food heritage.

You play Anne Boleyn...

..and I will play Henry VIII.

And we've been busy unlocking the

secrets of Britain's food archives,

discovering rare and unseen recipes

that have been royal favourites

through the ages...

..from the earliest royal cookbook

in 1390...

It's so precious, so special, that

I'm not allowed to touch it.

..to Tudor treats from the Court of

Henry VIII.

I can't wait for this. One, two,

three...

We'll be exploring the great

culinary traditions enjoyed by the

royal family, from the grand to the

ground-breaking,

as well as the surprisingly

simple...

I did think that was going to be a

disaster!

Whoo!

..as we hear from a host of royal

chefs...

Prince Philip would walk past or

pop his head in and say,

"What's for dinner, what are we

having?"

Oh, yeah - it's not just a normal

kitchen.

..and meet the people who provide

for the royal table.

If it's OK for the Queen, it's OK

for everyone.

Welcome to Royal Recipes.

We're gathering in the royal

harvest today, and celebrating

the different kinds of food produced

on the royal estates up and down the

land.

Much of it graces the tables at

meals, from grand royal occasions

to private family get-togethers.

Today in the Royal Recipes kitchen,

top chef Paul Ainsworth uses poetic

license with a fruity cake recipe.

It just says in there, "Serve with

cherry sauce!"

Not very helpful, is it?

I'm going

to do the best I can.

Doctor Matt Green visits Dyrham

Park, an estate with a 400-year-old

royal connection.

Deer have been in these valleys for

hundreds of years.

Is that what the "Dyr" bit means?

"Dyr" means deer.

Deer, OK!

And former cook to the Prince of

Wales, Carolyn Robb,

cooks up a right royal pudding.

His Royal Highness, Prince Charles,

was very keen on everything being

home-grown.

Whatever was in season was what was

on the menu for the day.

We start our celebration of the

Royal harvest with the dish served

up for a prince's birthday bash.

I'm here in the Royal Recipes

kitchen with Michelin-starred chef,

Paul Ainsworth. What is it this

time?

So, Michael, we are going to be

doing lamb with raspberry sauce!

Now, this is a version of a dish

served at Prince Charles's 50th

birthday party at Highgrove, private

dinner,

cooked by a lesser-known chef called

Anton Mosimann.

No...

What's your version?

A legend

of our industry.

I'm going to sort of try and do

Anton proud and do a version of what

I think might have been served on

that birthday.

So, Michael, what I've got here is a

saddle. OK?

OK.

Now, you're probably used to

having best end or the cutlets, the

rack.

Yeah.

That's what that is, but

we've boned it out.

So we're going to season it very

liberally all over.

And your butcher would do that?

Absolutely. You'll get saddle of

lamb in any butcher.

Mmm-hmm.

OK.

So we'll go straight in, like

so.

Wahey!

Nice and sizzling.

Yep.

Add a little bit more of that lovely

lamb fat, OK?

And then we're just going to move it

so it doesn't stick on the bottom.

Yeah.

And then we're just going to,

basically, caramelise that all the

way around, so it's a

lovely...starts to kind of go a

little bit crisp.

Mmm, mmm.

OK.

While we're doing that I'm going to

add in some butter, now.

The butter is just going to add more

flavour.

Here, we're going to add some

rosemary, some thyme and some

crushed garlic.

Turn your heat down. Now, look at

that, just caramelised beautifully.

Wow!

It was a private dinner, this

50th birthday party, hosted by

the then Camilla Parker-Bowles.

Right, OK.

And it rather marked the

time of her coming out of the

shadows, year after Princess Diana

had died.

Yeah.

Quite a few of the royals at this

dinner but not, interestingly,

the Queen and Prince Philip...

Oh, really?

..whether that was

because they didn't want, at that

stage, to put the royal seal of

approval on that relationship...

Right.

..I don't know, but, private party,

but obviously a big party.

So, what's next?

So now we're

just coming to the end of

caramelising this.

See how I've got that lovely

gorgeous, even colour, going all the

way around?

Yeah.

So now, that, we take off, we turn

the heat off, OK,

and that goes into our tray, like

so.

Yeah.

Now, what do I do with this?

If you

could take that to the oven.

The oven's been preheated at 180.

Yeah.

That is going to go in there

for about 15-20 minutes.

OK.

OK?

Remembering we want this nice and

pink.

But only 15, 20 minutes cooking?

15,

20 minutes, that's it, that's it.

OK, Michael?

Yeah.

Good, and you

should find

next to the rested lamb, another

little present for you.

Oh, yeah, I've got it.

Oh, it's been resting, it's been

resting for quite some time,

because it's, the pan itself is

pretty cool.

And look, look what I've found -

the fairies at the bottom of the

garden have left some potatoes.

Pommes boulangere.

Oh, really?

Yes.

Now, what does that mean?

Well, baker's, bakers...

Baker's

potato.

Yeah.

Called pommes boulangere because the

bakers would finish baking all the

bread, turn their ovens off, and

then for dinner they would slice

potatoes with onions, stock,

place it in the oven, and just use

the residual heat to cook it, and

then that's where pommes boulangere

came from.

Oh, right.

They look nice, beautifully browned

off at the top.

Now, Michael, in this pan here, I've

just turned the heat on,

I'm going to make us a really nice

dark lamb gravy.

OK? So in here, Michael, I've got

the bones from the saddle.

Chopped them up, we've roasted them

off.

We have a mirepoix of vegetables,

which is carrot, leek, celery and

onion, some thyme, some rosemary, a

little bit of bay leaf, some garlic,

and some white peppercorns.

Next, glug of white wine.

Oh, yeah!

White wine with red meat?

Absolutely.

Now, I often get asked that question

and whenever we do lamb sauce we

always make it with white wine, and

the reason being, it's nice and dry,

bags of acidity, which works really,

really well with the lamb. And also,

lamb's quite a strong flavour -

we don't want that kind of rich, red

wine in there.

No.

What we want to do is reduce that

right down. So we're burning

off the alcohol and just left with

those wonderful tannins of the

wine, giving us that nice acidity.

OK.

Next, lamb stock, obviously, so

goes naturally.

So now I'm also going to add in

there some veal stock.

Why? You've got lamb stock there

already.

We've got the lamb stock, but what

we get from the veal stock is body,

and that's coming from the gelatine,

out the bone.

It was a private dinner but

obviously a pretty grand occasion.

According to the newspaper reports,

Camilla Parker Bowles actually wore

a diamond necklace that had belonged

to her great-grandmother, Alice

Keppel...

Right.

..who'd been the mistress of Edward

VII.

Right, OK.

It's amazing, the, sort

of, continuity.

Yes!

"The continuity there," he said

delicately!

Actually, Prince Charles is now the

oldest Prince of Wales.

Right, OK.

Because Bertie, who

became Edward VII -

Alice Keppel, his mistress - he

became king at 60.

Right, OK.

And Prince Charles is a

decade older than that already.

Yeah.

Yeah.

OK, how's it going?

Lovely.

Really important tip here, Michael.

Mmm-hmm.

Can you see that on the top?

Well,

yeah, a bit of scum on the top.

Yeah, and that's fat.

Right.

So, what you do, just put your

ladle into the middle,

work it to the outside, and then

just skim it off like so,

all the way around.

Now we're just going to sieve it

into this pan.

Goodness!

We haven't stopped the cooking. See

how it's gone straight into a

rolling boil like that?

Yeah.

So this is where my spin comes in

on this raspberry sauce.

We're going to add raspberry

vinegar.

Raspberry vinegar?

Yeah, raspberry vinegar.

Never heard of that. Well, it's just

raspberries and vinegar, is it?

Yeah, absolutely.

So, just infuse into...

You can buy

this in the...?

Yeah, get that

easily.

You didn't put much in?

No.

Little bit more.

Mmm-hmm. I thought so.

Little bit of butter.

Oh, of course.

It's just going to give it a

wonderful glaze.

Mmm-hmm.

Fresh raspberries.

Yeah.

Just going to put those in.

You're

just dropping them in, you're

not crushing them in any way?

Just

dropping those in, and now I just

want the heat of the sauce just

to slowly break them down.

I'm just going to let that, those

raspberries just sit there and

infuse into that lamb sauce.

It's very much the Scottish

national fruit, isn't it?

Yes.

Do you know, in the '50s,

they used to have trains bringing

raspberries down from Scotland that

they called the Raspberry Specials?

The Raspberry Specials.

Yep, yep,

yep.

Ever seen these before? Have a

taste.

Ooh!

That's mustard.

Mustard.

And very

strong flavour.

Really strong flavour.

VERY strong

flavour!

It's not a, kind of, you know, "I

half-think it's mustard."

Mustard

greens. OK?

And they're very, they're a

Brassica, very much like kale,

grown in this country and absolutely

delicious.

They're terrific.

We're going to

keep it really simple, little bit of

oil,

little bit of butter, salt, pepper,

done.

Into the pan like so, seasoning in

straight away, Michael.

Yep.

Actually...

It's really quite hot.

Yeah?

What happens, as well, when they

cook down like this, they

actually do...the heat of the

mustard mellows slightly.

Ah, right.

And just a little splash...

..not much, of water, just to steam

it. Just wilt them down, like so.

Yep.

Done.

You know, Prince Charles raises

organic lamb at Highgrove and

apparently supplies some of the

local butchers -

something that was really not public

knowledge until quite recently.

Right, OK.

Yeah.

Oh, it looks good, doesn't it?

Beautifully pink.

So, plating-up time.

See how they've cooked down?

My new

favourite

vegetable that I hadn't heard of

ten minutes ago.

Take that beautiful piece of lamb,

see how the raspberries have just

basically just broken down?

Yep.

But we've got that lovely dark

richness of the sauce.

OK?

The sauce does look good,

doesn't it.

It does, doesn't it?

You've done a good job on that.

And now we're just going to...

Look at these, beautiful pommes

boulangeres

potatoes, and there you have it.

Lamb with raspberry sauce and

boulangere potatoes.

Let's go.

Yes!

Let's go.

Mmm.

You've got the richness of the lamb

cut by the acidity of the

raspberries and the taste of the

raspberries.

It's not something I would have

thought of.

It does work.

Do you know, after they had...

..this dish...

..they got up and danced to Abba?

I wonder if it was...

Dancing Queen,

I expect!

Yeah!

Which is

more than I'd ever be able to do

after this!

A classic joint of British lamb

with a distinctive, fruity twist -

a home-grown delight fit for the

royal table!

One type of meat that was, for

centuries,

the preserve of royalty and the

nobility is venison.

Originally exclusive hunting

grounds,

deer parks became a feature of many

royal and aristocratic estates.

Matt Green has been to Dyrham Park

near Bath to find out more.

For over 1,000 years, there were

more deer parks in Britain

than any other part of the world.

At one time, no royal or nobleman

who was worth his salt could

possibly be without one.

But setting up your own deer park

wasn't a simple process.

It required a royal sanction.

Historian Neil Stacey tells Matt

more.

So, why did you need an official

license for a hunting park?

Well, the Kings from Norman times

claimed sovereignty over hunting, so

if you wanted a private park in

order to hunt,

you needed a licence from the king.

Otherwise it was illegal?

Yes, it was. It was a case of

having a park so that you could keep

other people out.

Right.

Nobody else could hunt in your park,

and for that you needed a licence.

So the penalty which is in here is

£10...

Mmm.

..which in today's money is about

£11,000.

So it was a hefty fine if anyone was

hunting in Dyrham Park without

permission.

Mmm.

That was the...

Bankruptcy!

It would break the bank of most

poachers in a very serious way.

Indeed.

Henry VIII granted Dyrham Park a

licence in 1511.

It was a major status symbol,

allowing its owner, William Denys,

to fence in 500 acres solely for

hunting deer.

It was the great Council of England

who were issuing,

and each of their departments would

have required a bit of a fee.

But whatever was paid doesn't appear

in the records,

cos that sort of money doesn't.

It could take a number of weighty

bribes to get a licence approved.

It's an amazing sort of document

here. It's beautifully preserved.

It is.

And wonderful kind

of hand, the scripture it's in.

Absolutely, and with gold leaf in

the tag.

And that's real gold in there?

That's real gold in there,

and the Great Seal Of England with

the king on it,

sitting in Majesty with the orb and

sceptre.

To have a licence showed that you

were in touch with the Royal Court.

And possibly a few gentry neighbours

thought, "Well,

"I wish I had one of them."

Noblemen used their parks for

hunting deer and the meat was very

highly prized.

So Neil, where are we?

We are on the site of the hunting

lodge...

The hunting lodge?

..which was

converted into farm buildings.

It was here, this was the site,

because it has a stunning view.

It was the place the great and the

good gathered to watch the hunt.

In the Tudor era, being offered

venison was a mark of great

generosity,

even affection. It seems a little

odd today, but back in 1527,

a smitten Henry VIII sent Anne

Boleyn the carcass of a deer he'd

killed on the hunt.

So would Henry VIII himself have

hunted here?

We can't say. I think it's unlikely.

William Denys was close to him,

there's no sign that Henry VIII

didn't like him,

and it would not have been a

friendly thing for the king to come

and visit him with his entire court.

Right, cos it would bankrupt you.

It would bankrupt, yes.

Deer have been an important feature

of Dyrham Park for centuries.

Dale Dennehey is the man responsible

for looking after them.

So here we have a quintessential

park view.

Yeah.

In the distance, watching us

very closely, a herd of deer.

This could have been a scene 500

years ago, you know,

with the trees and the landscape

and the deer,

then sheltering under there.

They are a wild herd, contained.

It's an historic part of the site

and we want their condition to

always remain tiptop.

We want the deer to remain here

forever, because the history of

Dyrham is all...

It's a Saxon name. Deer have been in

these valleys for hundreds of years.

Is that what the "dyr" bit means?

"Dyr" means deer.

OK.

Just as in the 16th century,

these deer are an important source

of food for the estate.

Venison itself is quite a high

status food.

Actually, it was the meat of kings

and aristocracy years ago.

Today, it's for everybody.

For everybody, yeah.

And it's a

really, really healthy meat.

I look forward to tucking into some

later.

Yeah, definitely! Go to the tearoom.

I won't say that too loudly, in case

they hear.

Once, venison and deer parks could

only be appreciated by kings and

nobility.

Now both can be enjoyed by

all of us.

The royals pride themselves on

eating home-grown produce,

like British asparagus.

Queen Victoria loved it so much that

her gardeners at Osborne House even

managed to cultivate it for her to

enjoy at Christmas.

What are you cooking now?

So, we're doing a beautiful

Crown Of Asparagus.

Asparagus, royal favourite down the

generations.

Absolutely, with some gorgeous

Cornish crab

and some rapeseed mayonnaise.

And it's very similar to a recipe in

a recent Buckingham Palace cookbook.

Ah, OK. So we've got the white meat

and the brown meat and that's what

we're going to get on with first.

OK.

We're going to make a mayonnaise,

OK?

Now this is a test of a chef,

isn't it...

One egg.

..making a decent

mayonnaise?

Yeah, it's been known to be tricky,

but...

Yeah, yeah.

..if you know

what you're doing...

Not when you're doing it.

No,

absolutely!

So we're just going to whisk this

egg, Michael, OK?

This stage we call the sabayon

stage, and what that is...

Sabayon?

Sabayon stage, so what

we're doing, we're adding some

vinegar,

white wine vinegar, to one egg.

We're going to add in a little bit

of Dijon mustard.

Dijon mustard rather than English

mustard?

I know, I know.

I know people use

English mustard in mayonnaise,

don't they?

The Dijon mustard, to be fair,

is, it's a bit milder...

Yeah.

..and it has a nice acidity. And I

love English mustard,

but we've got to remember, this is

the star of the show and the

asparagus and the crab are very

light.

So you'd prefer something weak and

French?

No, I meant, you know...

..more delicate, more delicate.

Yes, more delicate, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

OK.

All right? So we're going to

whisk that together like so.

Yeah.

Now I'm ready for you to help me

here, Michael.

OK.

In that jug is equal quantities

of rapeseed oil and vegetable oil.

OK?

Why two oils?

Two oils, one, rapeseed now in this

country is being produced on a big

scale, and it's absolutely

delicious.

Yeah.

OK, and secondly, it's very

strong, and again, crab, asparagus,

we just want to let it down a little

bit with the vegetable oil.

Not too much taste in the oil.

Not

too much taste. That's it, lovely.

And you now start to see it going

velvety and thick.

It's looking really good, honestly,

you'd almost think it had come out

of a bottle.

Sometimes...

It's a long job.

It is a long job, yeah.

But it's worth it, isn't it? Because

mayonnaise really, really makes...

You're just enjoying seeing me

working like this.

I am, actually.

Can we swap in a second?

Now, come on, you're fitter than me!

Could you do this with a machine?

You could, but I've got my very own

Michael Buerk standing by,

so why would I want the machine?

OK.

Last bit, last bit, keep going,

all the way, all the way, the lot.

All of it.

There we go.

Fantastic.

That's your lot, I'm

afraid.

And look at that, mayonnaise.

I'm just going to move that to the

side,

grab our bowl here and now we're

going to add some beautiful,

sweet white crab meat, which comes

from the claw.

The white meat is lovely.

Lovely, lovely and sweet.

So you've put some lemon zest in?

Yeah.

And the juice as well?

Now I'm going to add some seasoning,

OK?

A bit of salt, sea salt, of

course.

Not much, cos you've got that lovely

soft kind of salt that

comes from crab naturally, anyway.

A little bit of cracked black

pepper.

Some chives...

Yep.

Mayonnaise, just a couple of

dollops.

I do not want to let it go too

runny.

And that looks delicious,

doesn't it?

Right, so now we're going to add the

crab into this piping bag.

Yep.

Get that all down to there and we'll

come back to that in a second, OK?

So, these, we'll move over here, and

now we're going to come to the

crowning glory, which is the

asparagus.

Now, tell me about asparagus.

This is a great British ingredient,

isn't it?

A great British ingredient, Michael,

you're absolutely right -

something we grow so well in this

country.

Traditionally, the total season is

from St George's Day to the summer

solstice, so what's that?

Right.

April the 23rd to June the 21st?

Yeah, that's absolutely spot on.

And

that's the long season.

It's interesting, isn't it? We've

got the kind of climate where we

can't grow everything.

No.

But the things we do grow are really

top-quality stuff.

Really tasty.

You would not believe

how quick it grows.

Like, in a day, it can grow up to as

much as one and a half inches, two

inches.

Really?

In a day!

Good gracious.

It's incredible.

Why's it so

expensive, then?

It's only around for a very, very

short while.

For someone growing asparagus,

it's only a very short time for them

to make any kind of money.

I mean, people say it's very good

for hangovers.

Yeah.

People say it's an

aphrodisiac.

But I don't know whether there's any

truth in that.

Perhaps that's why it's royal food,

do you think?

While we're going around here, I'll

tell you how I've cooked the

asparagus.

So, what I've done is in boiling,

salted water, OK,

we've blanched it for about 45

seconds.

We then take it out

and refresh it into ice water.

Now, the reason we do that, Michael,

is to, one, stop the cooking, but

also, as well, that'll keep that

really nice, vibrant colour.

It does look fantastic.

Yeah.

Yeah, but it's fiddly, isn't it?

It is fiddly.

I mean, imagine doing

it for a royal banquet.

And with your hourly rates, this

would be a very expensive dish,

wouldn't it?

Yeah, you wouldn't want

me making this!

No, no, no, no.

Last one in.

Now, this will push it against the

sides.

Yeah, yeah. Whoa!

All the way.

Oh, that's wonderful,

isn't it?

OK? Like that.

Now, with a teaspoon...

Oh, well done, Paul. You've got a

delicate touch for a big man.

"For a..."!

I like to say I've got the Midas

touch.

Well, yeah, yeah.

And there we go.

Now, what happens

now?

Asparagus crown. That now goes in

the fridge for about an hour.

An hour.

All right?

OK.

OK?

And out there should be another one

for you to bring back and for us

to plate up.

OK!

Here we go.

OK, Michael?

Yep.

How's it looking?

Sir Paul, I can offer you the crown.

Thank you very much.

Where shall I put it, down here?

Just there, thank you very much.

So we're just going to get our...

..beautiful Crown Of Asparagus.

Ooh, now be careful here, you don't

want to leave half of it...

Straight

onto the plate, like so, OK?

Yep.

Now, we leave that ring on and we

just do some nice finishing touches

now, OK?

We're just going to put a nice wedge

of lemon on the side of the plate,

like so.

Yeah.

Now we're going to get some of those

lovely chives, just to

finish over the top, like that.

Bit more lemon zest.

This is my kind of dish, actually.

Do you like this?

I really like it,

yeah, I like the fresh tastes.

Yeah. OK?

Love crab, love asparagus.

Rather you than me!

Oh... Oh!

And just finish that...

That looks terrific, Paul.

..with some brioche.

I did think that was going to be a

disaster then.

You know that lovely rapeseed oil?

Yep.

Just like that.

Be careful, though.

Just down the

side so it's just running off that

asparagus.

That does look brilliant.

And, Mr Michael Buerk...

..your Crown Of Asparagus.

Aw! I think it's a shame to spoil

it.

It is!

But...

I'm sure you won't be feeling

too guilty for long!

No. You do it.

Please, no, after

you, go on.

You sure?

Please. Yeah,

it's for you.

Shall I go down the...?

Yeah, go for

it.

A bit of the asparagus...

That's it.

A bit of the crab.

Whoa!

It's not easy to eat, this,

actually.

How's that?

Oh, that's...

Oh, it's lovely. And the

difference in the textures...

Mmm.

..and the explosion of taste.

Mmm!

It was Louis XIV, the Sun King Of

France,

who said that asparagus was the food

of kings.

Mmm! So you can't have any.

I knew that was coming!

Freshly harvested asparagus,

wonderful produce home-grown

for the royal table,

wherever it may be.

The royals are known to take food

with them when they travel.

Former royal chef Carolyn Robb

recalls one excursion where she used

produce from the royal harvest to

knock up a classic British pudding

in a very unlikely setting.

Having spent more than a decade as

cook to the Prince of Wales,

Carolyn Robb is adept at creating

the finest meals,

using fresh seasonal produce from

the Royal Gardens.

Today I'm making apple and cinnamon

crumble with a blackberry cream.

This is a real classic British

dessert.

His Royal Highness, Prince Charles,

was very keen on everything being

organic, everything being

home-grown.

Whatever was in season was what was

on the menu for the day.

Puddings made from fruit from the

royal harvest are a favourite of the

Prince.

Blackberries and apples are some of

the finest fruits of the British

autumn...

..the perfect time of year for a

warming pudding.

When the apples are this big,

you only need a couple.

For the filling, Carolyn coats the

diced apples in butter,

sugar and cinnamon, and cooks them

over a high heat for about five

minutes.

Bramley apples are very tart, but

cooking them like this,

caramelising them slightly, just

adds a lovely level of flavour.

I've cooked in a lot of different

kitchens

in palaces and castles all over the

world.

They were all very different, but

the ones that I liked the most were

the homely kitchens.

Nearly there.

The apples are all cooked now,

so I'm just going to add in a little

bit of finely grated lime zest.

This smells absolutely

wonderful.

Over the years, Carolyn has

concocted this crumble in some

far-flung corners of the world.

I remember making it on a royal tour

in Bhutan,

and the King of Bhutan was coming

for dinner.

We had apples from Highgrove that

I'd taken with me,

as well as some of the wonderful

cream from the dairy at Windsor.

Now I'm going to make the apple

crumble topping.

I've got some butter, oats, and some

plain flour,

muscovado sugar, a little bit

more cinnamon.

Then I've got a few pecan nuts

here. This is optional.

Some people like nuts, some don't,

but I just love the flavour that

they add,

so I'm just going to pop in a couple

of those,

and then I always like to put a bit

of vanilla in, too, so...

This is a vanilla bean paste, so

it's quite concentrated,

so we just need a couple of drops.

And that's done.

This has got a few little chunks in

it,

which makes it all the nicer when

it's cooked.

Simple deserts like this, made with

the fruits of the Royal Gardens,

are sure to be a winner.

Carolyn pops the individual crumbles

into a preheated oven at

180 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

And while they're baking, she

prepares a blackberry cream.

For many years, when I was making

crumble,

I always used to just mix the

blackberries in with the apple.

And then one day I decided it would

be nice to try something a little

different, so that's why I now puree

them and put them in with the cream.

These cook down quite quickly.

The only thing to be careful of is

that the liquid doesn't all

evaporate and then they don't burn

on the bottom of the pan.

But they smell delicious, and,

interestingly, when they cook,

they turn from being black to a

beautiful dark red colour.

Carolyn's blackberries are cooked

with sugar,

water and a little vanilla,

until soft.

Then they're blended into a puree.

I'm keeping my hand over the top so

I don't get covered in blackberry

puree!

That looks fine. Now I'm going to

rub it through a sieve to get rid of

any pips that are in there.

I think it's really worth

doing this extra little step,

just to get the pips out.

There we go, that's looking good.

Mmm. That's delicious, but I think

it could do

with just a little more sugar.

The puree is cooled in the fridge

before Carolyn drizzles it over

whipped cream.

Crumbles are ready now. They're

smelling absolutely delicious.

I'm getting a little bit of a scent

of cinnamon,

the lovely toasted pecans and

obviously the lovely caramelised

apple smell, too.

I'm going to present it on a wooden

board.

I've just got some blackberry leaves

that I picked in the garden earlier.

I always like to try and make things

as pretty as I can.

There. I think that's a dessert

fit for a king!

Many types of British fruit are

highly regarded all over the world -

there's even a long history of

harvesting cherries here.

And many of them are grown in Kent,

which has been known as the Garden

of England for over 400 years.

Cherry orchards were established

here back in 1533 by fruiterer to

Henry VIII, Richard Harris.

Today, a cherry stone's throw from

the original Tudor planting,

is Brogdale Farm, home to the

National Fruit Collection.

Michael Austen, a retired fruit

grower,

knows a thing or two about cherries.

His family has farmed these soils

since the 1800s.

This area here is right in the

centre of the North Kent fruit belt,

and it's an ideal soil, quite close

to the sea,

so you don't get the very heavy

frosts you do further inland.

These Kentish orchards boast the

widest variety of fruit in the

world.

The whole cherry collection is

roughly 320 varieties.

The role of the National Fruit

Collection, as with all collections,

is conserving the old varieties and

stopping them from dying out.

The Royals are keen supporters of

the National Fruit Collection.

In recent decades, the Prince of

Wales even helped save it.

Prince Charles helped keep the

collections going when funding was

withdrawn in 1989, and thanks to the

Duchy of Cornwall,

the money was put up to buy the farm

to keep the collections on site and

keep them going.

He actually visited the farm in

1993

to make sure his money's been spent

well.

It helped to keep the collections

going

and keep them in this one place.

Prince Charles is well-known for his

love of fruit trees.

There are many planted in his

gardens at Highgrove.

But he's not the only royal to have

a particular liking for cherries.

Back in the 17th century,

Queen Anne claimed cherries to be

the finest of all fruits,

but it was a Tudor king who was the

driving force behind cherry

production here.

Right, so this is the Flemish Red

which was brought in by

Richard Harris,

who was fruiterer to Henry VIII.

And Henry VIII was instrumental in

trying to revolutionise fruit

growing, and he brought in a lot of

varieties from the continent

to resurrect the fruit industry in

this country.

A bit on the sharp side.

Probably not everyone's taste.

Probably much better

if they're cooked in a pie.

For Henry VIII, growing cherries

wasn't just about eating them.

During the Tudor period,

fruit was an expensive luxury,

and his orchards were an expression

of his wealth and status.

His love for cherries helped make

them the fruit of choice among the

elite - a trend that continued into

the 19th century.

Right, this is Turkey Heart, which

is a Victorian variety.

And you'll see we're now getting

into a much darker cherry,

and much sweeter.

There was a great deal of interest

in everything horticultural in

Victorian times,

and a tremendous amount of new

varieties of all fruits were

produced through the era, and some

of these varieties carried on into

the 20th century, but now are

considered either too small or not

heavy enough yield to be a

commercial variety these days.

Many of the cherries enjoyed by the

royals throughout our history have

been grown here at Brogdale.

They're still hand-picked, just like

in the days of Henry VIII.

It's a very difficult crop to

harvest mechanically,

so you've got to pick it by hand and

when you're picking the fruit,

you've got to be very careful with

it and make sure you take it with

the stalk on, because if you plum

it, or pull the cherry off without

the stalk, it'll go rotten very

quickly.

These cherries here...

..are absolutely delicious.

Lovely sweet flavour, plenty of

juice...

..and really fantastic.

Nothing like a good Kentish cherry!

Cherries still feel a real luxury.

Yes.

So it's great to know that they

can grow in such abundance here.

Super, super delicious, and guess

what?

We're going to do our old friend

Mildred.

Mildred Nicholls?

Mildred Nicholls,

her cherry cake.

Mildred Nicholls joined the kitchen

staff of Buckingham Palace in 1907,

as seventh kitchen maid.

And she was there for 12 years,

got all the way up to third kitchen

maid, and she left this recipe book.

And here it is, cherry cake.

Yeah.

And this is what you're going

to do?

It's what I'm going to do...

OK.

..to the recipe. And we're just

going to do the cherry sauce,

quite...

Cos it just says in there,

"Serve with cherry sauce".

So I'm just going to do...

Not very

helpful, is it?

No, I'm going to do the best I can

to do Mildred proud.

Yep.

Right, Michael, in here...

Cream, butter and sugar?

Absolutely.

That's what she says.

Just basically

dissolving the sugar into our nice

soft butter.

OK, what we're going to

do now, Michael,

is separate four eggs, OK?

So, I'm going to put the yolks into

this bowl and give you the whites to

whisk up to stiff peaks for me,

please.

OK.

So, like so, we're just going to

separate our eggs.

Oh, we've got a double yolk-er,

Michael, look at that!

I think that means we're going to

need to one less egg.

Hmm!

So, in there...

..is two.

Economical, that's you.

Another double yolk-er!

I know about this, because I've got

twins and I looked it up previously.

Yeah.

The chances of getting

a double yolk-er are 1,000 to 1.

So we've been VERY lucky today.

Well, more than very lucky.

If it's 1,000 to 1 to get one

double yolk-er,

two double yolk-ers, it must be a

million to one.

Yeah.

Mustn't it?

Yeah. I told you,

it's me and you.

Yeah, I'm the mathematician, and

you're the cook.

Yes.

Get on with it!

Right, if you could whisk those up

for me, Michael...

OK.

..into stiff

peaks.

Now I'm going to just basically fold

these rich yolks

into our creamed sugar and butter.

SHOUTS: How stiff do you want your

peaks?

Stiff!

That is absolutely perfect, thank

you.

Brilliant.

You are getting very good at this,

Michael, very, very good.

Just going to put some of our

egg white into our mix.

Not all of it?

Not all of it, I'm

going to fold a little bit in at a

time.

Just before we do fold it in, I've

just added in some breadcrumb, OK?

Would you normally use breadcrumbs?

No, you wouldn't. In Mildred's book,

a lot of the recipes are stale

biscuits or breadcrumb,

and that's because after 1918, flour

was rationed,

so this was actually a great way of

kind of bulking the recipe and

giving you that, kind of, cake mix

texture.

Yeah, 1918, end of the First World

War, rationing.

Applied to Buckingham Palace as much

as everybody else.

OK, what now?

Now, those moulds next

to you Michael,

they're called savarin moulds.

Mmm-hmm.

They're brilliant moulds for cooking

cake recipes like this, because you

see the hole in the middle?

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah...

When you're finished.

Sorry, sorry,

sorry.

Basically, the heat will rush up and

will give you a lovely

cooking temperature right the way

around your cake.

Consistent across the whole cake?

Consistent, right the way.

Yep.

Mmm-hmm.

So we're just going to get our

piping bag.

Yep.

Put in our cake mix.

With the bag, you've got far more

control

of getting it in nice and neat.

Now, before I put this cake mix in,

you'll see with these savarin

moulds, Michael, I've brushed them

with butter and then I've lined them

with some of that breadcrumb and

that's also going to give us a nice

texture on the outside of the cake.

Bit of crunch?

Bit of crunch, and

you got the butter.

Now we're not going to go all the

way to the top,

we're just going to go round.

It's going to rise, is it?

Yes,

because we've got

that egg in there.

Not

short-changing us then?

No, I'm not short-changing you.

Hmm...!

Would I, Michael, would I do that to

you?

Hmm, I think you might, yeah.

And you see, at this stage, do not

be alarmed...

It does feel like it's quite,

almost, the texture...

Coarse.

..of

it is quite coarse.

Yeah.

That is the breadcrumb.

OK.

But like I say, that's what, you

know,

Mildred was working with what she

had, you know,

so she didn't have any flour,

so it was a brilliant way of

utilising up ingredients that

would otherwise go as waste.

What are you doing that for?

So, just evening the mix out.

OK.

Now, if those could go in the

oven, please.

Yeah.

180 for 25 minutes.

180, 25 minutes, OK.

Right, cherry sauce time.

Ah, now, the business!

Do you like cherries, Michael?

I

love them.

And, you know, if sayings are

anything to go by,

they are the ultimate luxury fruit,

aren't they?

You know, you "cherry pick",

something's "the cherry on the

cake..."

..and all that kind of stuff.

"Life's a bowl of cherries."

Cherries. Now this sauce is really,

really simple.

So, cherries...

Whoa!

..like so.

That pan was hot!

Little bit of brandy.

This is cherry...

Is that cherry brandy?

Cherry brandy.

Do you remember... You won't, you

were too...obviously, not even born,

but Prince Charles, when he was

under age,

went into a pub and tried to order a

cherry brandy.

Right.

When asked afterwards why,

he said it was the only drink

he could think of.

Well, I couldn't imagine him

ordering a pint of lager!

So in here we've got one star anise,

some sugar, some cherry brandy,

nice full heat, because those,

they're morello cherries, all right?

So they're nice and juicy, nice and

soft.

Very juicy.

Then I'm going to add a

little bit of thyme.

Why?

Because thyme works with so

many things, and it's brilliant with

fruit, and it's absolutely gorgeous

with cherries.

Right, little splash of water.

Mmm-hmm.

Right, while that's cooking away,

that's going to take about ten

minutes...

..I've got two surprises for you

today,

but I'm only going to reveal one

now.

I know what one is.

Well, we hope it's...

..cakes!

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It'd be a bit of a...

If it's a turkey!

We're really stuffed!

OK.

You're on fire.

I am.

Now, over here, we've got some

cinnamon and some sugar whisked

together.

We're just going to take one of them

into the sugar, all over,

round like that, and that just adds

another texture.

Lovely flavour of that cinnamon,

cherry.

Mmm.

So we're just going to...

Great

combination.

..shake it off and that's going to

go into the middle of our plate,

like that.

So, next, we're going to come back

to our cherries.

Now, could you pass me a lemon,

please?

Yep.

And the reason for that, we've got

a lot of sweetness in there,

we just need to add a little bit of

acidity, always, just to cut it.

Now, the thyme's done its job so

we're just going to lift that out.

Thyme out!

Michael, stop!

Look at it.

Oh, yeah.

So we're just going to take some of

our cherries and spoon...

The cherries are still quite whole,

aren't they?

Yeah, and you want

that.

Aren't you tempted to, kind of, poke

them down?

Put some in the outside.

Yeah, we can poke them down, but

they're very hot!

Yeah.

You've got asbestos fingers,

come on.

It's OK, I'll burn myself for you.

Bit more of that sauce.

Yeah.

OK?

Yeah.

We're still going.

Yep.

Ooh, some Devon cream!

CORNISH clotted cream!

Cornish clotted cream...

On top, like so.

That looks terrific.

But we're not finished.

Oh, you mentioned...

You know I have

two surprises for you?

I thought

you'd forgotten the other one.

This is Mildred's knife.

Really?

Yeah.

"Green & Son Cutler,

"to Her Majesty Windsor."

And then, even on the heel, right

here on the handle, "Pastry maid".

That's amazing.

Isn't that amazing?

That's Mildred's knife, over 100

years old.

Over 100 years old.

Wow. Go on.

OK.

Use it to cut her

cake.

Cherry, clotted cream, beautiful

cake.

That lovely cinnamon sugar.

Let's have it.

This is a taste of Edwardian

England, isn't it?

That's good.

It's lovely, isn't it?

Mmm! Love the cherries!

Cream goes well, but...

..it's got real texture.

That's a lovely, lovely combination.

I think Mildred really deserved her

promotion to third kitchen maid,

don't you?

Oh, in my mind she was

THE kitchen maid!

Well done, Mildred. Join us next

time for more Royal Recipes.

Goodbye.