For the Coronation of King Charles III, different cooks from throughout the UK provided recipe ideas for Big Lunches, street parties and celebrations. From Coronation Crown Scones to a Coronation Roast Rack of Lamb – simply delicious!

And let us not forget the famous Coronation Chicken, which was created by Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume to celebrate the Coronation of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

For our Embassy’s King’s Birthday Party (KBP) this June, we will showcase some of the very best British recipes, cooked by our Swiss chef Timo and inspired by Coronations past.

In the Timo’s Recipes section, you will find Timo’s top KBP recipes, which you can make at home!

We would like to thank our food sponsors for the KBP, who are helping us provide the very best of British food:

Nairn’s Oatcakes

Chutneys and Jams provided by Wilkin and Sons Tiptree distributed by TODA

Fish & Chips and smoked salmon provided by Doerig and Brandl

Sustainable food packaging provided by Colpac

Cheese provided by British Cheese Deli in Zurich

We will be serving you a great range of summery British drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, with thanks to our sponsors:

Gusbourne Estate providing sparkling wine distributed by Real Wines

Brew Dog and Spitfire beers, distributed by Amstein SA

A Royal favourites Scottish whisky tasting provided by The Whisky Experience

Tanqueray London Dry Gin supplied by Diageo

DASH Water distributed by Siradis

Afternoon tea and ice tea provided by Higher Living Teas

Royal Flush sparkling fermented tea distributed by Real Drinks

We will also be serving you some delicious non-alcoholic cocktails, from Lyres and Artisan Drink’s Mixers, kindly provided by Orakei.

Coronation Chicken

You will need:

• 6 tbsp mayonnaise

• 2-3 tsp mild curry powder (lemon-flavoured, if possible) , to taste

• ½ tsp ground cardamom

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 2 tbsp mango chutney

• 500 g sliced roasted free range chicken breast

• 150 g blanched green asparagus tips
  

Mix the mayonnaise, curry powder, cardamom and chutney together and season with black pepper.

Arrange the chicken on a plate, drizzle with the sauce and garnish with the asparagus tips.

Scones

You will need:

• 350g flour, plus more for dusting

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 85g butter, cut into cubes

• 3 tbsp caster sugar

• 175ml milk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• A squeeze of lemon juice

• A beaten egg, to glaze

• Jam and clotted cream, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°c.

Tip the self-raising flour into a large bowl with ¼ tsp salt and the baking powder, then mix.

Add the butter, then rub in with your fingers until the mix looks like fine crumbs. Stir in the caster sugar.

Warm the milk, add the vanilla extract and a squeeze of lemon juice, then set aside for a moment.

Put a baking tray in the oven. Make a well in the dry mix, then add the liquid and combine it quickly with a cutlery knife. It will seem pretty wet at first – don’t worry about it!

Scatter some flour on to the work surface and tip the dough out. Dredge the dough and your hands with a little more flour, then fold the dough over 2-3 times until it’s a little smoother. Pat into a round, about 4cm deep.

Take a 5cm cutter and dip it into some flour. Plunge into the dough, then repeat until you have four scones. You may need to press what’s left of the dough back into a round to cut out another four.

Brush the tops with a beaten egg, then carefully arrange on the hot baking tray.

Bake for 10 mins until risen and golden on the top.

Eat just warm or cold on the day of baking, generously topped with jam and clotted cream. If freezing, freeze once cool. Defrost, then put in a low oven (about 160C/140C fan/gas 3) for a few minutes to refresh.

Welsh Caerphilly Pie

For the pastry, you will need:

• 175g plain flour

• A pinch of salt

• 85g butter, cubed

• 2–3 tbsp cold water
  
  

Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and add the cubes of butter.

Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs with no large lumps of butter remaining. Try to work quickly so that it does not become greasy.

Using a table knife, stir in just enough of the cold water to bind the dough together. You should always start with 1-2 tablespoons and add more if absolutely needed (shorter pastry will have a better texture, though can be a bit crumbly to work with).

Gently knead the pastry on a clean work surface until it just comes together. Handle the pastry gently and as little as possible, just to bring it together to a smooth dough.

Alternatively, roll out the dough and line the tin, resting the pastry case in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking.

For the filling, you will need:

• 50g butter

• 500g leek (about 2), trimmed and sliced

• 3 eggs

• 75ml single cream

• 75ml milk

• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

• 50g Caerphilly cheese, crumbled
  
  

For the topping, you will need:

• 50g Caerphilly cheese, crumbled

• 85g fresh white breadcrumb

• 50g hazelnut, roughly chopped

• 2 tbsp chopped parsley

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

Roll out the pastry and use to line a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Prick the base with a fork, and line with baking parchment and baking beans.

Bake blind for 12 mins, then remove the beans and parchment. Return to the oven for a further 5 mins until pale golden. Reduce oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Melt the butter in a large pan and, when foaming, add the leeks, cover and cook on a low heat for 20 mins until soft. Leave to cool.

Beat together the eggs, cream, milk, mustard, Caerphilly and some seasoning. Evenly cover the base of the pastry case with the leeks, then pour in the egg mixture. Bake for 25 mins.

To make the topping, combine all the ingredients. Remove the tart from the oven and sprinkle the topping evenly over. Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 mins until golden brown.

Did you know?

To mark the UK’s different national days and cuisines, Timo has cooked some delicious meals in the past year, videos of which can be found on our official YouTube channel.

For Timo’s Leek and Caerphilly pie video, follow this link.

Throughout his remarkable life of public service, His Majesty King Charles III has been dedicated to climate action and promoting sustainability. Therefore, one of His Majesty The King’s top four priorities is sustainability.

It has been important to our Embassy to reflect this at the first King’s Birthday Party in Switzerland for several decades.

As such, we have taken a number of steps to promote sustainability in our event, including:

• Using sustainable food packaging from our sponsor Colpac

• Renting decorative plants from Bern’s ‘Stadtgrün’, located just a few 100 meters from the British Residence, rather than buying cut flowers

• Buying the majority of our vegetables which will be used at the event from local grower ‘Buchholz – Natur von buur’

• Selecting fresh fish with proof of origin and via a company which emphasises sustainability from our sponsor Doerig and Brandl

This year we are putting a real emphasis on celebrating what being quintessentially British means across all the nations of the United Kingdom. This is especially so through our sporting addition to this year’s KBP: Croquet!

Did you know that Wimbledon began its life as the All England Croquet Club until 1882?

Running on the lawns adjacent to the marquee, we are very pleased to welcome Neil Thomas and his team from the Zurich Croquet Club who will be teaching beginners the finer points of the game, and the more expert among us some new tactics!

The Zurich Croquet Club was officially formed in 2016 and unites beginners to tournament players on an international basis. https://croquet-club-zurich.ch/

“Croquet is tough. People play for months because the rules are so bizarre. Those crazy English!” - Jane Kaczmarek, US actress

Nothing says British Summer Garden Party more than a Barber Shop a cappella group!

And to celebrate the King’s first official Birthday Party (KBP) we are thrilled that we have Fitzwilliam Barbershop from Fitzwilliam College Cambridge.

Founded in 1994, Fitzwilliam Barbershop has grown to be one of Cambridge University’s foremost groups, with members drawn from across the Cambridge colleges. They perform frequently across the UK, including at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Voice Festival UK, to critical acclaim including winning the prestigious Ward Swingle Award for Originality.

The group is committed to strengthening ties overseas and is thrilled to join us for the KBP and introduce Switzerland to their wide-ranging repertoire, including barbershop classics, folk song arrangements and reinventions of modern hits!

The British Embassy Berne is also delighted to welcome the Swiss Jazz Ambassadors (the name says it all!) who will be serenading us with a modern classic jazz!

Freshly back from a USA trip, the Jazz Ambassadors have their origins in Bern’s historical jazz scene combined with the Bernese Symphonic Orchestra. We are very much looking forward to hearing them in the Residence garden.

We are very grateful for the support of the B.H.M.S. Business & Hotel Management School and IMI International Management Institute Switzerland.

B.H.M.S students will assist us during the event in the kitchen, getting the chance to work directly with Chef Timo. IMI students will assist us during the event in the service section.

Receiving such support for our event from young, talented students from throughout Switzerland reflects His Majesty King Charles III’s key priorities of youth, community and diversity.