Royal Chef Darren McGrady
Princess Diana’s personal chef Darren McGrady has announced that he holds the key to Prince William’s Royal Wedding cake recipe. When many are speculating about the ingredients of Chocolate Biscuit Cake, McGrady offers the true recipe in his cookbook Eating Royally that’s published by Thomas Nelson.
“I was thrilled to learn that Prince William had chosen the Chocolate Biscuit Cake recipe from my book Eating Royally: Recipes and Remembrances from a Palace Kitchen, for his wedding cake because it is also his grandmother’s favorite cake,” says McGrady. “I used to prepare it for both of them when they had tea together. The Queen would request the cake in the menu book for Sunday tea when she knew her grandson William would be joining her from Eton.”
For those planning Royal Wedding watching parties, the former palace chef provides the top cake recipe along with other favorites of the beloved prince and his family. Within the pages of Eating Royally Darren McGrady presents many of the recipes he served the Royals. Filled with artifacts, personal notes, photographs and never-before-seen memorabilia, it is much more than a cookbook. It’s an opportunity to see how the Royals really live and to eat the exact recipes that have graced the tables of Windsor, Balmoral, Kensington, and Buckingham Palaces, and now the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
“Afternoon tea at Buckingham Palace consists of two types of sandwiches, scones, a plate of small pastries (e.g. chocolate éclairs, raspberry tartlets) and a large cake for the Queen to cut a slice from with her Earl Grey tea,” reflects McGrady. Being Her Majesty’s favorite, Chocolate Biscuit Cake appears on the menu at least once a month. While she may enjoy other cakes for tea, as soon as tea is over she has no desire to see them again. The remaining cake is dispatched to the staff dining room the following day.
“When afternoon tea includes Chocolate Biscuit Cake, the rules are different. Her Majesty loves this cake so much that she takes a mental picture of how much she is sending back to the kitchens each day. It is the only cake that returns again and again to the royal tea table each day until it is gone. I remember her on one occasion instructing her Page to call the kitchen to ask who had been eating her cake.”
Darren McGrady began working for the Royal Family as a pastry chef and quickly moved up the ranks to serve as Princess Diana’s personal chef until her death in 1997. He also served as personal chef to Queen Elizabeth II and Princes William and Harry for 15 years and has cooked for five U.S. Presidents. He is now a chef, author, culinary consultant, event planner, and public speaker living in Dallas, Texas. McGrady has donated all royalties from Eating Royally to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation. For more information, visit theroyalchef.com.
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