Since the Queen’s passing there has been so much interest in this recipe that it has gone viral. It was included in a letter that Her Majesty sent to President Eisenhower after he and his wife, Mamie visited the Queen at Balmoral in 1960. Here’s the Queen’s original recipe –

Ingredients

4 teacups flour

4 tablespoons caster sugar

2 teacups milk

2 whole eggs

2 teaspoons bicarbonate soda

3 teaspoons cream of tartar

2 tablespoons melted butter

Instructions

“Beat eggs, sugar, and about half the milk together, add flour, and mix well together, adding the remainder of milk as required, also bicarbonate and cream of tartar, fold in the melted butter.”

Her Majesty also advised in her letter that “when there are fewer, I generally put in less flour and milk but use other ingredients as stated. I have also tried using golden syrup or treacle instead of only sugar, and that can be very good too.”

Per the queen’s advice to the 34th president, “the mixture needs a great deal of beating while making and shouldn’t stand about too long before cooking.”