Princess Diana Loved This Dessert So Much A Royal Chef Tricked The Queen Into Serving It

Iconic and endearing, Princess Diana continues to evoke tenderness and fascination from royal fans around the world, despite being gone for over 25 years. Whether by continuing to inspire fashion moments or still thrilling folks about her eating habits, crown enthusiasts delight in all things Diana. Longtime royal chef Darren McGrady delivers the inside scoop in the food department by sharing his trick to make sure Princess Diana was served her favorite dessert when she was visiting the Queen. McGrady always offered the Queen a choice of at least two options for pudding — and if Princess Diana was visiting, he would make sure to select one item the Queen might not particularly fancy, so that Diana would be fortunate enough to finish the meal with crepes soufflé d'abricots.

Contrary to its name, crepes soufflé d'abricots is not made of individually formed thin crepes. It instead relies on a fluffy crepe-like batter that incorporates whisked eggs whites at the last minute and is then slid into a super hot oven, allowing the pillowy batter to puff up in true soufflé-style during a quick stint in the oven. The crepe soufflés are then stacked two-high and adorned with apricot jam that has been boiled and strained to remove any bits of fruit, yielding a honey-like apricot sauce that coats the elaborate dessert.

Though the ingredients — including eggs, milk, butter, sugar, flour, and cream — sound somewhat pedestrian, the method of creating crepes soufflé d'abricots is anything but. The batter can be whisked together a bit in advance, but the magic of incorporating the whipped egg whites into the mixture can only be done at the last moment to keep the air in this decadent treat. The mixture is then poured into ring molds, which as Julia Child advises must always be well-buttered, and crucially heated prior to pouring in the batter. This is so the soufflés start cooking as soon as the batter hits them. For royal-worthy results at home, make sure to avoid common soufflé mistakes like not keeping the ingredients chilled, not properly separating the egg whites, and not using a pristinely clean bowl.

This ethereal and golden-brown dessert is fairly straightforward to accomplish (and doesn't require much more than standard ingredients you likely have on hand). If you prefer fruits other than apricot, you could easily swap in other flavors like strawberry, raspberry, or peach. Princess Diana liked this dessert so much that, as the story goes, she often asked for seconds. If you'd like to try other foods that Princess Diana enjoyed, consider starting your day with the now-popular overnight oats that she often requested for breakfast.