Today (6th May 2023) is the Coronation of King Charles III. Whether you’re having a street party or just watching it on the TV, you should have coronation food and drink at the ready. The bank holiday weekend is the perfect time for some quintessentially British treats, and why not take the stress out of cooking by using the best air fryer to make them?
Air fryers can tackle a variety of cooking and food preparation tasks. These handy kitchen gadgets can crisp up fried chicken, make juicy steaks, create flaky salmon and even bake cakes – and these are just a few of the best foods to cook in an air fryer.
If you have an air fryer in your kitchen, save yourself some time and energy this bank holiday weekend by using it to make your coronation food. I’ve found the best coronation recipes to try in the air fryer, including Victoria Sponge, scones, coronation chicken and quiche.
How to make Victoria Sponge in an air fryer
Victoria Sponge is a classic, and yes, you can make it in an air fryer. Air fryer cakes are really having a moment and if you’re strapped for time this weekend, you can easily make a Victoria Sponge in as little as 15 minutes using your air fryer.
The best recipe I’ve found is from Hari Beavis on Instagram, who teamed up with Lakeland to create a special air fryer cake recipe. As seen in her Instagram reel, Beavis simply mixes her ingredients together, pops it in a tin and puts it in her air fryer… and the results are pretty amazing.
For this Victoria Sponge air fryer recipe, cream together 200g butter and 200g caster sugar before mixing in 3 eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Once that’s combined, mix in 225g self raising flour. Once you’ve made your cake mix, pour it into a greased cake tin. Turn on your air fryer and if your air fryer has a cake setting, select that option. If not, set your air fryer at 200° for 15 minutes. As it’s cooking, whip double cream for your filling. Once your cake is cooked and cooled, cut it in half, sandwich strawberry jam and cream in the middle before putting the other half on top and decorating with strawberries.
If you’d prefer to make cupcakes rather than a whole cake, you can make these easy Victoria Sponge cupcakes from Currys. For the cupcakes, mix 100g butter with 100g caster sugar before adding 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and ½ tablespoon milk. Once that’s combined, add 100g self raising flour. Pour your mix into your cupcake cases and bake them in the air fryer at 160° for 20 minutes. Once they’re done, decorate with jam and cream as your topping, like a scone!
How to make quiche in an air fryer
Cookware brand Tefal has an incredibly simple recipe for coronation quiche. The coronation quiche (which consists of spinach and broad beans) was specifically chosen by King Charles III as the signature dish for the coronation celebrations… and you can easily make it in an air fryer!
For the quiche, line a tin that fits in your air fryer with 250g shortcrust pastry (opt for ready made to make your life easier!). Cook the pastry in the air fryer at 150° for 5 minutes. As that’s cooking, beat together 125ml milk, 175ml double cream, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon of tarragon and season with salt and pepper. In the pastry tin, scatter over 100g grated cheddar cheese, 180g cooked spinach and 60g cooked and chopped broad beans. Pour your wet mixture into the tin and cook it in the air fryer at 60° for 10 minutes. Leave the quiche to cool before popping it out of the tin.
How to make scones in an air fryer
No British picnic or afternoon tea is complete without a scone. Scones take little to no time to bake so they’re the perfect treat to quickly whip up in an air fryer. A great recipe I’ve found (which can also be easily adapted to a dairy free recipe) is from Laura Nightingale on Instagram.
To follow Laura’s recipe, mix together 125g self raising flour and 12g butter in a bowl so it has a consistency of breadcrumbs. Add 20g sugar, 60ml milk and 1 egg to make a dough. Roll out your dough on a floured surface and cut them into circles. Put your scones in the air fryer and brush the tops with milk. Cook in the air fryer at 200° for 7 minutes. Once they’re cooked and cooled, cut them in half and top with jam then cream… or cream then jam depending on your preference!
How to make coronation chicken in an air fryer
Finally, this coronation chicken air fryer recipe is the easiest to make on this list. The main reason being is because you don’t really need to add the ‘coronation’ flavour until after the chicken is cooked, so you can just use your favourite air fryer chicken recipe!
For this recipe, start by making the best air fryer chicken. Once your chicken is cooked, shred it with two forks before adding it to the coronation flavouring. To make your coronation flavouring, mix 6 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 2-3 teaspoons of curry powder, 1-3 tablespoons of sultanas, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of mango chutney and season with salt and pepper.
