Prince William hasn’t shied away from discussing the kitchen disasters he’s had in the past. Although he makes a "good breakfast" and a "mean steak", he admitted in his and Kate’s engagement interview that trying to impress her with "fancy" meals at university inevitably ended with her "taking control" after something burnt or overspilt.
He’s consistently praised his wife as a "very good cook", but when it comes to chocolate brownies it seems she didn’t get things right straightaway. During a visit to the National Federation of Women’s Institute (WI) on 8th September to commemorate the third anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s passing, he revealed he’s a brownie connoisseur.
Sampling one with WI members in a video shared by Hello!, the Prince declared, "I know my brownies" and Kate affirmed he’s "very fussy" about them - and about one ingredient in particular.
"Do you put nuts in them?" he asked the woman who made the brownie he was eating. When she confirmed she didn’t, he replied, "Never put nuts in a brownie".
Laughing at how seriously her husband of 14 years takes this baking rule, the Princess of Wales told everyone, "I had to learn the hard way."
Clearly there has been at least one occasion in the past where Kate whipped up a batch of chocolate brownies with nuts in, only to find that William isn’t a fan. After learning of his "fussy" preference for this treat, though, she’s likely perfected a nut-free brownie recipe.
Walnuts are one of the nuts most commonly added to brownies and whether or not to add them can be quite a divisive subject.
Given that Kate "had to learn the hard way", it suggests that she naturally went to add them and thus might be a fan.
Meanwhile, Prince William’s baking rule places him firmly on the other side of this chocolate brownie divide. When it comes to another foodie debate, Kate takes Queen Elizabeth’s approach - as revealed at a Big Tea Party to celebrate the National Health Service’s 75th anniversary.
As reported by The Telegraph, when eating scones with clotted cream and jam, the Princess of Wales explained she "always [does] jam and then cream". Scones are a key part of British Cream Teas and Afternoon Teas, but in Cornwall the method is to add the jam first, whilst in Devon the cream comes first.
The late Queen is said to have taken the same approach as Kate and it’s very appropriate that the Princess does it this way, as she is Duchess of Cornwall. As well as seemingly baking her own brownies at home at Adelaide Cottage for her family, the senior royal famously marks children’s birthdays with a homemade cake.
Speaking to baking legend Dame Mary Berry in 2019 on the festive special A Berry Royal Christmas, Kate said, "It's become a bit of a tradition that I stay up 'til midnight with ridiculous amounts of cake mix and icing and I make far too much. But I love it."
All three of her children have spring/summer birthdays - as does Prince William - so she might have hung up her birthday-cake-making apron for another year. Though King Charles’s birthday is in November and who knows if she might create a cake for her father-in-law.
