Victoria Pryor has some wonderful memories of the Queen - and some wonderful recipes to help celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. Mary Kemp finds out more.
June; the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, parties and, of course, a celebration cake. When thinking about this article, the cake was the priority.
The next question who could help me? Someone in Norfolk with royal connections who makes the most amazing cakes of course! There is only one lady I know who fits the bill: Victoria Pryor, the Queen’s goddaughter.
Victoria and her husband John own the Picnic Fayre delicatessen in Cley, a culinary Aladdin’s den. That’s where, with her understated skill and knowledge, she makes fabulous cakes, without any fuss or gadgetry. The most important utensils in her kitchen are her wooden spoons and bowls.
Victoria’s mother, Margaret Rhodes, was the Queen’s first cousin, best friend, and bridesmaid. Listening to Victoria, as we stood in the kitchen in Cley making cakes, she shared wonderful, private photos of the Queen and her mother together.
She told stories of her mother enjoying summers with her cousins the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret and the Queen Mother.
In 1941, aged 16, Margaret Rhodes, who was a Bletchley girl, was sent to finishing school in Oxford and then secretarial college in Surrey. Her home became Windsor Castle, where she was reunited with the princesses, who had been evacuated from London during the Blitz. In her later years, Margaret returned to Windsor where she lived in the grounds of Windsor Castle. She remained a close friend of the Queen and was a bridesmaid at her wedding.
Some of Victoria’s own happiest memories are of summer trips to Balmoral, and barbequing in all weathers. Smiling as she recalls some of the presents she received from her godmother such as the complete set of Winnie the Pooh books and the game Twister, Victoria also explained royal etiquette and how members of the family referred to Her Majesty. "Mummy called her Lilibet but we call her Ma'am,".
Victoria recalls many occasions when she and John would be invited to Sandringham for tea or lunch when the Queen was in Norfolk. She then tells me with a smile how her mother would come to see her but would never stay with her, always staying at Sandringham, as it was much more comfortable!
Victoria doesn’t advertise her royal connections, or her Bowes-Lyon lineage. John and Victoria were married in 1999, and one of her proudest possessions is a photo taken at their wedding with the Queen, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. This hangs discreetly in the shop.
Here are the three recipes Victoria created for the Jubilee celebrations; a quiche full of Norfolk asparagus with a hint of Binham blue cheese in, then two delicious cakes; a gluten free blood orange cake and a raspberry and lemon cake. They are all made by hand but if it is easier, make them in your mixer.
Norfolk asparagus quiche
The pastry
225g plain flour
100g cold, cubed butter
A pinch of salt
2 egg yolks
Cold water
Rub the flour and butter together until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the salt and egg yolks, with enough water to bring the pastry together. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for a good hour.
Grease an 8-inch fluted flan tin and pre heat the oven 200C, fan oven 180C, Gas mark 6.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry and line the flan tin, prick the base with a fork lay a sheet of grease proof paper over the pastry and fill the base with baking beans, cook for 10 minutes before removing the beans, then another 5 minutes until the base is lightly golden.
The filling
A knob of butter
1 large leek – finely sliced
1 red onion finely diced
Melt the butter over and gentle heat and soften the leeks and onions
The topping
2 bunches of asparagus tips
5 cherry tomatoes cut into quarters
100g Binham Blue cheese chopped into small pieces
The savoury egg custard
350 ml double cream
3 eggs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Whisk and season.
Finishing the quiche
Spoon the softened onions and leeks evenly over the pastry base, pour over the egg custard, then arrange the asparagus and tomatoes on the top. Cook for 15 minutes.
Serve warm with a fresh salad.
Blood orange almond cake
This wonderful gluten-free cake can be served as a cake or a dessert with crème fraiche. If you cannot find blood oranges, you can use large plain, medium-sized oranges.
Butter and line an 8-inch deep cake tin. Pre heat oven 200C Fan oven 180C, Gas mark 6.
6 eggs
500g caster sugar
Zest of 2 blood oranges
200ml veg oil
1 tbsp gluten free self-raising flour
425g ground almonds
Whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy, stir in the oil and orange zest, then gently fold in the flour, until smooth and totally combined. Pour into the prepared tin and cook for 1 hour
The Blood Orange Drizzle
4 blood oranges cut into small pieces
The juice of 2 large oranges
100g caster sugar.
Place all the ingredients into a saucepan, bring the pan to the boil then gently simmer for approximately one and a half hours until thick and jam-like.
Once the cake has cooked, remove it from the tin, then using a skewer make holes in the top of the cake and pour the warm drizzle over it.
Jubilee Raspberry and Lemon Cake
500g Lurpak or softened butter
500g caster sugar
500g self-raising flour
7 large eggs
The zest of 3 lemons
The juice of 1 lemon
200g fresh Norfolk raspberries
Grease and line the base of a 12-inch round cake tin. Pre heat the oven to 180C, fan 160C Gas mark 6.
Beat the sugar, butter and lemon zest until light and fluffy,
Sift in the flour, add the eggs and lemon juice and mix, mix, mix. Carefully, using a spatula, fold in the raspberries.
Spoon the cake mix into the prepared cake tin and bake for 45 minutes.
For the drizzle
Juice of three lemons
120 g caster sugar
100g fresh raspberries
Place all the drizzle ingredients in a pan and boil for six minutes.
Once the cake is cooked, remove it from the tin, and, using a fork, make lots of indentations and cool.
Once the cake has cooled pour the hot drizzle through a sieve evenly over the top of the cake, then leave to let the flavours to soak in.
