Duchess of Cornwall shares her bespoke recipe for a Victoria Sponge – with a twist

Camilla celebrates return of in-person Poetry Together tea parties

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The Duchess of Cornwall has shared her personal recipe for a classic Victoria Sponge cake to celebrate the return of Poetry Together tea parties.

Camilla, 74, posted a photo on the official Clarence House Instagram page of herself holding her Victoria Sponge cake, along with ingredients and instructions for fans to make it themselves.

Her recipe revealed that she sometimes swaps out the usual jam and cream filling with lemon curd or Nutella for an interesting twist on the traditional dessert.

The caption read: “In celebration of the return of Poetry Together tea parties this year, the Duchess has shared her recipe for a Victoria Sponge for young and old(er!) alike to enjoy after reciting a poem by heart together.

“Launched by Gyles Brandreth in 2019, the Poetry Together initiative aims to unite people of all ages through the power of poetry – and not forgetting plenty of tea and cake!”

A version of the recipe posted on the Poetry Together website adds: “The Duchess loves poetry. And chocolate, too. You can make a chocolate version of the Poetry Together cake if you like.

“Simply omit the vanilla essence and add one tablespoon of cocoa powder to the basic ingredients.”

The initiative connects schools with local care homes and sees pupils and residents memorising the same poem. They will then recite the poem in front of an audience and celebrate with a tea party afterwards.

The recitals take place any time from National Poetry Day, which falls on the first Thursday of October.

This year marks the return of in-person poetry recitals and tea parties for the initiative, which was forced to hold them virtually last year due to coronavirus restrictions.

The website said: “In the middle of Lockdown #2 in the autumn, poetry champions still found time to organise their recitals, Wasting no time in shifting online, poetry video recordings and virtual tea parties began to zoom in from all over the country.

“In the end, almost 300 schools and care homes signed up to give their pupils and residents a chance to celebrate connection, language and creativity in a time of difficulty.”

Camilla is a prominent supporter of literacy projects across the UK and is the royal patron of the Royal Society of Literature.

When Poetry Together first launched, the duchess attended one of the tea parties and recited the opening lines from “Matilda” by Hilaire Belloc with four children from Knightsbridge School.