King Charles chooses official ‘Coronation Quiche’ to mark historic day - recipe and how to make it

King Charles and Camilla have personally chosen a recipe for the official “Coronation Quiche” in celebration of the Big Lunches being held to mark the coronation.

The royal couple shared the recipe which includes spinach, broad beans and tarragon, on the royal family’s official Twitter account.

Former Buckingham Palace chef Darren McGrady said the King’s choice came as “no surprise” because he loves anything with eggs and cheese.

Mr McGrady, who worked for the late Queen for 15 years, said he had made quiche for Charles many times.

He tweeted: “It’s no surprise that the King Charles III has shared Coronation quiche to celebrate his Coronation. His mother, The Queen loved chocolate, but The King loves anything with eggs and cheese.

“Made this for him many times... especially with salmon he’d caught in the river Dee.”

The recipe is crafted by royal head chef Mark Flanagan and was chosen by Charles and Camilla in collaboration with him.

Buckingham Palace said the quiche was chosen because it worked as a sharing dish, can be served hot or cold, and suits a wide variety of dietary requirements.

The Palace added that it can be easily adapted to suit different tastes, is delicious and is not too complicated to make or too costly or hard to source the ingredients.

In a video posted on social media, a palace chef dressed in a white uniform, embroidered with the late Queen’s EIIR cypher, was shown making the quiche.

The royal family’s website described it as “a deep quiche with a crisp, light pastry case and delicate flavours of spinach, broad beans and fresh tarragon”, and it can be eaten hot or cold "with a green salad and boiled new potatoes".

The Coronation Big Lunch aims to bring neighbours and communities together to celebrate the coronation on 6 May. Camilla has been patron of the Big Lunch initiative since 2013.

For the late Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, Coronation Chicken was invented to feed the foreign guests who were entertained at Buckingham Palace after the ceremony.

How to make the ‘Coronation Quiche’

To make the “Coronation Quiche”, the ingredients you need and a step-by-step guide of what you need to do is listed on the Royal Family’s website.

For the pastry the ingredients are:

• 125g plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 25g cold butter, diced
• 25g lard
• 2 tablespoons milk
• Or 1 x 250g block of ready-made shortcrust pastry

The ingredients for the filling include:

• 125ml milk
• 175ml double cream
• 2 medium eggs
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon, 
• Salt and pepper
• 100g grated cheddar cheese,
• 180g cooked spinach, lightly chopped
• 60g cooked broad beans or soya beans

The method:

1. To make the pastry:

Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl; add the fats and rub the mixture together using your finger tips until you get a sandy, breadcrumb-like texture.

Add the milk a little at a time and bring the ingredients together into a dough. Cover and allow to rest in the fridge for 30-45 minutes.

2. Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the pastry to a circle a little larger than the top of the tin and approximately 5mm thick.

3. Line the tin with the pastry, taking care not to have any holes or the mixture could leak. Cover and rest for a further 30 minutes in the fridge.

4. Preheat the oven to 190°C.

5. Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper, add baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes, before removing the greaseproof paper and baking beans.

6. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C.

7. Beat together the milk, cream, eggs, herbs and seasoning.

8. Scatter 1/2 of the grated cheese in the blind-baked base, top with the chopped spinach and beans and herbs, then pour over the liquid mixture.

9. If required gently give the mixture a delicate stir to ensure the filling is evenly dispersed but be careful not to damage the pastry case.

10. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until set and lightly golden.