T is for Tea Time Magazine

 

Tea Time Magazine is an amazing resource for afternoon tea lovers.  It is published every two months and there are several special editions each year.  Among the magazine's features are a tea events calendar, a page titled Necessary Things with products to enhance your tea, tea favorites, china patterns for your table, and two or three complete afternoon tea menus complete with a tea sommelier with recommendations for complimentary teas.  There is always a gluten-free scone recipe and often a how-to in pictures if a particular dessert is a bit challenging.  The articles range from the history of tea and historic places to take tea to recommendations from tea buyers and blenders.  There is a complete resources section in case any of the china or other items on the tea tables strike your fancy.  Is it any wonder it's my favorite magazine?

S is for Scones

 

Whether it's an afternoon tea at a posh venue or at home or a cream tea in a tearoom, there will always be scones.

There are usually two types - plain and rich.  Rich scones have raisins or today, a variety of dried fruits or other additions.

I've always used the Be-Ro cookbook recipe for scones.  Be-Ro is a food manufacturing business with products such as flour and baking powder and later a variety of other products.  Thomas Bell, the founder, developed the world's first self-rising flour.  My Mum had the Centenary Edition of the cookbook which I believe is from 1975 as Be-Ro was founded in 1875.  I currently have the 41st edition which, sadly, is only available in the UK.  I was fortunate to have a UK friend order and send me a copy.

I also highly recommend Mary Berry's recipe for scones which you can find here.  

Oven temperature 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7 is 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Scones are traditionally served with a berry (no pun intended!) jam (strawberry or raspberry) and clotted cream.  Often lemon curd is served as well.

National Tea Day 2024

Posting today because this fits my Tea Time A to Z.

Established in 2016 and falling on 21st April, National Tea Day celebrates the nation’s love of tea spanning two centuries and with 60 billion cups consumed annually in the UK.

National Tea Day’s slogan is “Brew More. Do More” the aim is to inspire special and heartwarming moments with tea.

R is for Royal Afternoon Tea

I briefly mentioned in A is for Afternoon Tea that adding a glass of champagne makes your tea a royal afternoon tea.  It also increases the price considerably (from as much as £15 to £30 depending on the venue).  So, unless it's a really special occasion, I'd save the champagne for another time.

However, this really does look delightful, doesn't it?

Q is for Quirky

 

quirky

ˈkwər-kē

ADJECTIVE
unusual in especially an interesting or appealing way

Yesterday's Peter Pan Afternoon Tea definitely falls into the quirky category and here are a couple more.  Clicking on the photos will give you more detail.

Currently at The Lanesborough (London SW1X), the Queen Charlotte, a Bridgerton story, a special event until May 15th - (the menu is covered in F is for Finger Sandwiches)

Currently at The Franklin (London SW3), Haute Couture, inspiration from the rich tapestry of Parisian couture houses

Formerly at The Franklin, Alice in Wonderland

Also formerly at The Franklin, Frida Kahlo

Formerly at Aqua Shard (London SE1), Mary Poppins

While I would love to attend (or have attended) any one of these afternoon teas, it certainly gives me inspiration for planning a themed evening at home.  Naming sandwiches, cakes, drinks, and other items from book details sounds like a lot of fun!

P is for Peter Pan at Aqua Shard

 

Aqua Shard's afternoon tea is inspired by the adventures of Peter Pan on the island of Neverland.  Drawing on popular motifs from J. M. Barrie's much-loved novel, the tea is a fitting tribute to the author and his fictional characters.  Innovative treats are served on a custom-made tea stand inspired by Captain James Hook's pirate ship, the Jolly Roger, which symbolized pirate ships in the 18th century.

To start, guests will enjoy a savoury selection of finger sandwiches with a creative twist, including a chicken sandwich topped with crispy bacon wrapped in paper denoting the four ‘Lost Boy Rules’, and an ‘Enormous Mushroom Chimney’ - mushroom-shaped bread inspired by the mushroom stools ‘of charming colour’ in Neverland. The ‘Codfish’ Captain Hook cod brandade croquette is named after Peter Pan’s nickname for his nemesis and will arrive complete with carefully crafted pastry hook.

Moving into the sweet section of the tea, quintessentially British warm scones will be hidden within a special treasure chest, accompanied by sweet apricot marmalade (or ‘mammee-apples’) as well as coconut clotted cream.

The sweet confections include a Tinker Bell Cookie, Peter Pan's Secret Hollow Tree Entrance (a chocolate log cake), Tick-Tock the Crocodile (a sweet dessert of raspberry and rooibos jelly with a crocodile gummy), and Hook's Perish Cake (lime green Victoria sandwich with coconut), all drawing on popular motifs from the book.

A delightful tea - read the book before you come to enjoy all of the motifs.

O is for Orange

 

Oranges don't feature too prominently in afternoon teas.  Only in the US would you find a piece of fresh fruit, on its own, on an afternoon tea tiered server.  It's just not done in the UK.  Orange would be confined to a macaron flavor, or as a complimentary flavor in a small cake or pastry, or as I recently found, in Orange Chantilly Cream.

I have to give you a little background here.  Ever since I became a Great British Baking Show lover, I have learned that there are more than a dozen types of pastry cream - whipped cream, chantilly cream, crème anglaise, Bavarian cream, cremeux, pastry cream, crème légère, diplomat cream, mousseline cream, chiboust cream, almond cream, and frangipane.

Yesterday, as I was watched Jos Atkin's Festive Afternoon Tea at the Savoy on You Tube, she showed us a Christmas Spice Cake with Orange Chantilly, Candied Lemon and Orange, and Winter Spices which she proclaimed to be delicious.  It looked like a great holiday treat which could even be modified to gingerbread, still with the orange chantilly cream on top.

It's the one on the far right in the photo above

Chantilly cream, crème Chantilly, or crème de Chantilly, is a sweetened whipped cream of French origin made with heavy cream, sugar (no less than 15%), and vanilla flavoring.  Orange Chantilly cream comes when you substitute ¼ teaspoon of orange blossom water for the vanilla flavoring.

Source:  Baking like a Chef, How to Make French Chantilly Cream

You can find all the details here.