Celebrating our rich tradition of British Baking

Richmond Maids of Honour

Our British baking tradition is rich in history and this English baked tartlet is said to date back to the time of Henry VIII. Apparently, he found Anne Boleyn and her Maids of Honour eating these little delicacies. It is rumoured that Henry liked them so much that he took the recipe and insisted that it was locked in a box at Richmond Palace in London. 

The Original Maids of Honour shop in Kew serves these little cakes today and is well worth a visit to sample their secret recipe

Whatever the story, Grandma had a version of the recipe and it's easy to make. 

Richmond Maids of Honour

8oz/225g Puff Pastry or Shortcrust Pastry

8oz/225g curd cheese

2 eggs

1oz /25g caster sugar

1 lemon grated zest and juice

1 oz ground almonds

1 tbsp currants

A little apricot jam

Preheat the oven to 400F, Mark 6, 200C. Roll out the pastry thinly and with a 3 ½ inch cutter cut out little circles and place in a tartlet tins. Chill for 15 minutes. Combine the curd cheese, caster sugar, lemon rind, ground almonds and currants in a bowl. Beat the egg and egg yolk together and add this to the mixture. Mix thoroughly until everything is well blended. Smooth a small amount of the jam into each pastry case and then fill each about 2/3rds full of the cheese mixture. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 25 minutes. The mixture should puff up and turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. When cool, you can decorate with a light dusting of icing sugar. 

This recipe makes approximately 24 tartlets.

Meryl’s tip : You can get curd cheese in many of the large supermarkets as well as some local cheese shops. Enjoy a real traditional bake from the past with these Maids of Honour.