Former royal chef reveals the 'secret' drink members of The Firm take on their travels - and the recipe for Queen Elizabeth II's favourite dessert
According to her former chef, the monarch - who died in September 2022 - and the rest of the Royal Family were fond of a 'secret' palace drink that was bottled up so they could bring it on their travels around the world.
In a video posted on his YouTube channel, former royal chef Darren McGrady, revealed the beverage was a Lemon Refresher that palace chefs brewed every month and stored in recycled tonic water bottles in the fridge.
Darren, who spent 11 years working for the Queen Elizabeth, revealed the drink was not only 'loved' but 'needed' by members of the royal household as one ingredient was a 'natural purgative'.
H explained: 'Epsom salts are a natural purgative, they help keep you on the throne, and so when members of the royal family needed a little help they reach for this delicious homemade refreshing lemon refresher.'
The chef revealed that the drink was non-alcoholic and similar to a lemonade but 'a bit more tart.'
It included citric acid, tartaric acid, lemon juice and zest, Epsom salts, and boiling water.
After stirring all the ingredients together, the chef revealed it has to be refrigerated before being served chilled and diluted in water.
Lemon Refresher
(Makes about 1 qt - to dilute)
4 cups sugar
2 TBS Epsom salts
1 tsp citric acid
3 tsp tartaric acid
6 lemons, juice and zest
5 cups boiling water
Extra water for diluting
Method:
Place the sugar, Epsom salts, citric acid, tartaric acid, lemon juice, and zest in a bowl and whisk them together.
Bring the 5 cups water to a boil and pour it over the lemon mix, whisking until combined.
Refrigerate until cold and decant into screw-top bottles. Keep refrigerated.
To serve, dilute 1/4 cup of the lemon refresher with 2 cups of water over ice or to taste.
www.theroyalchef.com
Darren revealed a similar lemon beverage was first created by the Egyptians thousands of years ago, and it was made 'popular by the French street vendors in the 1600s before finding its way to the USA in the 1800s'.
He added: 'The royal family would travel all over the world and take this Lemon Refresher with them to Sandringham, Windsor, Balmoral, Holyrood Palace and even on the royal yacht Britannia too.'
In another video, the chef revealed that the late Queen loved a certain 'rich chocolate dessert' which she first tried during a trip to Australia.
During a visit to Government House in Melbourne, she was served Chocolate Marquise at a dinner party and loved it so much that she asked the chef for the recipe so she could bring it back to the Royal Britannia chefs to make for her - something Darren claimed she 'never does'.
He explained: 'She wanted the chefs in the kitchen to make this and put it on the menu so she could serve it to her guests too.
'Chocolate Marquise is really, a rich, chocolatey, fluffy, velvety, creamy mousse, then it's frozen, but it doesn't freeze solid, it freezes quite soft.
'So for us in the kitchen, when I was cooking for the Queen it was fantastic because we could make them up, put them in the freezer and if the Queen had a surprise guest and she wanted to serve a pudding then we could just go in the freezer, bring out the Chocolate Marquise and it sliced perfect.
'So with a little fruit or a little coffee creme anglaise to garnish we had the perfect dessert, ready for Her Majesty.'
For the dessert, Darren used 60 per cent dark chocolate, as he claimed the Queen 'loved dark chocolate, the darker the better'.
He then added unsalted butter, sugar, cocoa powder, egg yolks, brandy, and double cream to the tasty mixture.
He said: 'Then I'm going to pour this into a one pound loaf tin and I've lined it with plastic wrap, that's cling film across the pond, so it'll just be easier when it comes out.'
It comes after the palace's fromer chef revealed Princess Diana's favourite breakfast - and it's a 'super healthy' one loved by influencers.
According to the former chef, the late mother of Prince William and Prince Harry began eating the nutritious meal of overnight oats after discovering on a trip to Switzerland in the 1990s.
In another video shared to his YouTube channel, Darren said the simple hearty breakfast was what the princess ate 'everyday' or on 'most mornings' at Kensington Palace.
He added that it was 'healthy and packed with protein and nutrients' - much of the reason why modern-day celebrities and influencers have gone crazy for it.
A-listers such as Cameron Diaz, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Victoria Beckham have all championed the meal in recent years.
Chocolate Marquise
Serves 8
1 1/4 cups (200g) dark chocolate (60% cocoa is best)
1/2 cup (100g) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
2 TBS cocoa powder
3 egg yolks
2 TBS brandy
1 1/4 cups (300ml) heavy/double cream
Method:
1 1lb loaf tin, lined with plastic wrap/cling film
Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg yolks, brandy and cocoa powder.
Cream until combined.
Melt the chocolate in a separate bowl, set aside.
Whip the cream to soft peaks, set aside.
Whisk the butter cocoa mix into the melted chocolate and carefully fold in the cream until combined.
Spoon into prepared loaf tin (or individual lined ramekins) and freeze overnight.
This dessert will keep in the freezer for three months.
www.theroyalchef.com
Overnight oats is a no-cook dish that requires preparing oatmeal by soaking it in liquids such as milk or juice, and other ingredients such as fruits, nut butters and nuts overnight in the refrigerator.
Nutritionists have labelled it one of the healthiest breakfasts to exist due to properties such as lessening the risk of diabetes, reducing cholesterol, and the risk of obesity.
In a caption accompanying the clip, Darren shared his special recipe that included blueberries and fresh walnuts.
He began by explaining that Princess Diana was 'looking the best she ever did' during the days he cooked overnight oats and other meals for her.
'She was now eating healthy - her go-to breakfast was something called overnight oats,' said Darren.
He added: 'Now, today overnight oats is popular. Everybody is eating them but they date back to 2012.
'That's when you couldn't go on social media without seeing a recipe for overnight oats. But Princess Diana was eating overnight oats almost 20 years earlier in 1993.'
The top chef revealed that Diana stumbled upon the dish in Switzerland, where she was introduced to the intriguing breakfast for the first time.
'They were actually called bircher muesli and they were invented by a Swiss nutritionist who thought they were really, really good and all the ingredients were super, super healthy' he continued.
Overnight oats was reportedly invented by Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner around the 20th century so his patients could enjoy a healthy and easy meal.
Darren joked that the late princess stole the recipe and returned to Britain where she asked the expert chef to make them for breakfast 'everyday'.
He added that while oatmeal could be enjoyed hot, eating them cold placed the dish on 'another level' and made them taste 'amazing'.
Next he talked viewers through his personal recipe, one seemingly similar to what he cooked for the late royal princess herself.
'Start off by steeping the oats - that means adding a liquid to them. I use rolled oats.
'Don't use the quick oats or anything like that' he warned. 'The rolled oats in my opinion are the best'.
Darren showed the camera a silver bowl of uncooked oats, and afterwards poured a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice inside it.
'Cover them [the oats] with plastic and then put them in the refrigerator and leave them overnight... overnight oats.'
He produced the results of nightly soaked oats which appeared to have swelled up with each grain now clinging to each other.
The expert chef stirred the contents together and then reached for his next ingredient - a pot of yoghurt.
He opted for the dairy snack due to its high protein content, and then for a sweet kick he added a drop of honey.
'With the raw honey just do that to taste,' continued Darren.
'If you like it really, really sweet then obviously put a little bit more in but not too much'.
Finally he added half a honey crisp apple, the juice of one lemon, one cup of fresh blueberries and a 1/2 cup of toasted walnuts.
'So there are many different things you can add into the dish now' he explained.
'Los of different fruits, all the berries and the strawberries... chia seeds are really popular now too.
'This is the classic traditional dish that Princess Diana had for breakfast every morning.
'I have to admit when I was making this for Princess Diana every morning at Kensington Palace it was so good, I actually used to double the recipe so that the chef got it too' he joked.
He presented the concoction in a medium-sized tumbler with a silver panel which was now overflowing with creamy oats.
A few blueberries and chopped walnuts made for the perfect garnish to his completed recipe.
'Well there you go! It's so much cheaper than buying it ready made at the store' he concluded.
Darren McGrady's OVERNIGHT OATS
Serves 2:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 TBS raw honey
1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/2 honey crisp apple
1 lemon, juice only
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
Add the orange juice to the oats, stir and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night. Stir in the Greek yogurt, honey (to taste) and lemon juice.
Grate the apple and add to the oats and fold in. Add half of the blueberries and stir. Spoon into a serving dish and decorate with the remaining blueberries and walnuts.
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