Poet-Tea

See what I did there? ......quite.
Today is World Poetry Day, so a good excuse for one of my favourite poems by one of my favourite poets.

Tea- Carol Ann Duffy

I like pouring your tea, lifting
the heavy pot, and tipping it up,
so the fragrant liquid streams in your china cup.

Or when you’re away, or at work,
I like to think of your cupped hands as you sip,
as you sip, of the faint half-smile of your lips.

I like the questions – sugar? – milk? –
and the answers I don’t know by heart, yet,
for I see your soul in your eyes, and I forget.

Jasmine, Gunpowder, Assam, Earl Grey, Ceylon,
I love tea’s names. Which tea would you like? I say
but it’s any tea for you, please, any time of day,

as the women harvest the slopes
for the sweetest leaves, on Mount Wu-Yi,
and I am your lover, smitten, straining your tea.

(image source)

Luck of the Irish afternoon tea!

Well, Top of the afternoon to you!
Just had a lovely afternoon tea for St Patrick's day inspired cakes..
Guinness and chocolate cupcakes and a traditional Irish fruit loaf- an orange marmalade BarmBrack.. and of course some very strong tea!


The deliciously rich and moist Guinness cupcakes is taken from this recipe by Gizzi Erskine, who adapted her recipe from Nigella.. So take your pick on which to follow. I slightly changed the measure of cocoa powder, doubling the amount and substituting milk chocolate instead of plain. It didn't affect the rich malty chocolatyness one jot. Place the very liquid mixture into 2/3rds of the cupcake cases and bake for 20 -22 minutes. It makes enough for about 24 cupcakes.The Guinness 'foam' is made from combining cream cheese, icing sugar and double cream.. just whip it up till you get the right frothiness!


I love these vintage china plates- the one below is a midwinter 'fashion shape' from the 50's white rose pattern.


The Barm Brack is very similar to the Italian pannetone or Welsh, fruit cake bara brith, and very easy to whip up.
Start by soaking 2 cups of mixed fruit, raisins,currants,sultanas in very strong tea(I used Earl Grey for added flavour) leave for a couple of hours. Grease a loaf tin or 8 inch tin. In a large bowl, mix 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar with 1 egg, beat well together and 1/2 a cup of orange marmalde and teaspoon of cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg. Strain the soaked fruit and add this to the mixture. Fold in 2 and 1/2 cups of plain flour and 1 teaspoon of bicarb of soda. Keep folding till it all comes together. I added large tablespoon of natural yogurt and some more marmalade right at the end! Dollop into the pan and bake at 180c for 45 mins or until a knife comes out clean.
Serve warm with some jam or butter. Oh my goodness it's so good! Also have it toasted the next day, please.



Now, will you have another cup of tea, you will? Go on.. you will....

Mother Knows Best

I'm sure you haven't forgotten it's Mother's Day on Sunday.. or maybe you have! If so, don't despair, The Golden Afternoon Tea Company has created a very special Mother's Day afternoon tea to save the day. Mothers are great aren't they? always there with pearls of wisdom and words of advice or offering tea and sympathy. I still think if I swallow chewing gum, it will stick to my heart! What words of wisdom did your mum pass on to you?

With this in mind, we give you the Mother Knows Best afternoon tea!



MENU

'Don't leave the crusts' afternoon tea cucumber sandwiches- we've left the crusts on to make sure our hair curls!



'An apple a day' cinnamon and apple scones with plum jam and clotted cream



And don't forget to Eat your Greens! a Golden Afternoon Tea Company speciality-
Courgette cake.. much nicer than spinach.


That should keep Mum happy..

Drop us a line if you need a helping hand spoiling your mother with our afternoon tea!


pic from here and here and here

Something for the weekend- Bake.

Sachertorte and Lemon Tea

A fancy chocolate cake for afternoon tea? ooo yes, that will do nicely, thank you.
A couple of weeks ago it was my Granny's 99th birthday (look out for some pictures soon) and as I was doing the catering, I thought I would try my hand at baking a Sachertorte, seeing as it was one of my late grandfather's favourites. The picture above is a leftover slice!
Sachertorte is a crazy rich and intense chocolate cake covered in more chocolate and layered with apricot jam so it becomes more and more fudgey the longer you leave it. The cake was discovered by accident in 1832 in Vienna, Austria and as all these things the recipe is a closely guarded secret.. Luckily, as I didn't fancy put any pastry chefs into thumb screws, I just had a quick peruse on the interwebs and thought I would give Mary Berry's recipe a go as it did seem less complicated than others!

Ingredients:
For the cake-
140g/5oz plain or dark chocolate (I used dark for even more of a chocolatey hit)
140g/5oz soft unsalted butter
115g/4oz caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
5 free range eggs, seperated
85g/3 oz ground almonds
55g/2oz plain flour

For the Ganache and filling:
6 tbsp apricot jam
140g/5oz plain or dark chocolate
200ml/7oz double cream
25g/1oz milk chocolate (or more plain chocolate if you don't have)



Preheat the oven to 180c and grease 23com/9 inch cake tin and line the base with baking paper.
Melt the chocolate by placing small pieces (or those handy chocolate dots) in a bowl placed over a pan of simmering hot water. Don't let the water boil too ferociously as this will do funny things to the chocolate. Stir it occasionally to speed up the melting. When this is done, pour the chocolate into another bowl to cool down. You can fill the sink with cold water and put it in there to speed the process up, or in the fridge. But don't forget it!
Whilst this is happening, cream the butter and sugar together in a processor or with a wooden spoon and elbow grease! When it's light and creamy (like clotted cream) add the cooled down chocolate and vanilla extract, and mix in. Separate your eggs, this is a messy job, I sloosh them between the shells so the whites drain away, fold the yolks into the mixture and then add the ground almonds and flour.
In another bowl, whisk up the whites till they are forming peaks and then add one third to the mixture. Stir this with wild abandon. And then with the rest of the eggs, fold in as gently and delicately as you can, it's all about keeping the air in apparently. It takes a fair bit of patience, but just look at it as meditation and be zen like!
Dollop the mixture into the tin, smooth the surface so it's evenly spread and pop it in the oven for 40/45 mins. Have a peek around the 35 minute mark and check it's done by seeing if you press down gently with your finger and it bounces back. The cake, not your finger.


Once the cake is cold, slice in half and spread with the apricot jam between the layers, spread the rest of the jam over the entire surface and sides of the cake. Leave this to set while you make the ganache.
Heat the cream in a pan until it's hot but not boiling, again break the chocolate into small pieces and place into the bowl and stir until gooey chocolate loveliness. Leave it to cool, but make sure it is still pourable.
To coat the cake, pour the ganache on to the centre of the cake, it should run nicely and then smooth it over the entire cake. Leave it to set.

If you want to decorate use, melted white chocolate and write Sacher for an authentic touch, or just swirl it around a bit.. Or place fresh raspberries on top.. the world is your lobster. We don't advise using shellfish.

The cake is AMAZING the next day, and even better the day after as the cake become super moist and fudgey as it soaks up all the jam. Serious yums..So if you bake it today, it will be perfect for Sunday afternoon tea.

A cup of fresh lemon tea compliments the rich chocolate hit.. Use a light tea with slices of lemon in. If you want to serve it like the Hotel Sacher, squidge a dollop of cream on the side (none of that aerosol stuff, mind).. Imagine you are in Vienna and about to go waltzing..




(picture from here and vintage postcard here)

He said YES - a leap year proposal and afternoon tea in the woods!

Yesterday, the 29th of February was just the most exciting day chez Golden Afternoon Tea Company- we actually pulled off the Marry Me special leap year proposal afternoon tea ! Well, I didn't do the proposing, that fell to the lovely Kim! I received an email from her, after having been told about this blogpost by a friend who knew she might be proposing to her beau. Luckily, as it was all organised at the last minute and leap day was almost upon us,she didn't have time to change her mind and took the leap.
Here is an excerpt of their story as sent to me by Kim-
'So, the story is that we've been together 11 and a half years and almost 7 years ago we were going to get married but lost momentum. We were living in Greece and didn't want to cause a minor climate catastrophe in the name of our marriage getting everyone out to Greece. What was meant to be 1 year in Greece turned into 6 so the wedding just never quite happened. Now we have beautiful baby alice and we're back living in the UK so i have been pestering him to get married, but he now claims that it's cool to have a kid out of wedlock and he has jokingly said that i would need to ask him to marry him since he's already done it (because of the cold feet last time). So we'll see. If he says no, it will still be a nice way to show him i think he's great, but he might well say yes.. whatever the outcome, it will be fun, a 'will you marry? tea' in the woods'

Absolutely thrilled to get involved(just call me cupid!) I packed up the van with cakes and tables and teacups and off I set to woods very near their home and set up the proposal tea table in a secluded spot surrounded by silver birches. It's a favourite part of their walk, as Kim told me the late afternoon sun always catches the trees beautifully. I was just hoping the sun would put in an appearance in time for the proposal!



Kim and I were full of excitement, laughing away at the crazy goings on as we set everything up, at one point she turned to me and said 'what am I doing?!' But there was no going back now!!
Also present overseeing her mum's big moment was Kim and Tim's gorgeous little girl, Alice.. a serious contender for cutest baby ever! Here they are just before Tim arrived.

Once I had set the tea up, I lurked in the bushes to make sure there were no last minute visits from any passing dogs, Kim went off to meet Tim. I had a tummy full of butterflies so can't imagine how she was feeling.. Tim's laughter filled the air as he came round the corner ( I knew I should have brought my false beard, still hiding in the undergrowth at this point) it was wonderful to hear. Off I snuck, leaving them to it!


Dear reader, he said YES! Apparently he was thrilled and shocked and stunned, there were even a few tears!




Kim and Tim are just the loveliest couple, it was all terrific fun, and such a privilege to be involved in a momentous event such as this! When I rejoined them, they were both beaming with joy..


I love this one, my camera was being rubbish- so is terribly blurry but here is the whole family, Alice and Festi the dog included!

The afternoon tea menu included mini heart shaped victoria sponges, passionfruit cupcakes, scones and cucumber, smoked salmon, brie and cranberry finger sandwiches, all served with teapots brimming with earl grey and peppermint tea for mummy Kim! Even Festi got a sandwich.

So if this has inspired you to take the plunge and propose, don't wait another 4 years - just do it! Or any fella who needs a hand in planning a proposal, drop us a line!

This song was playing on the radio as I drove home, and was the perfect soundtrack to the day!
Wishing you lots of happiness Kim, Tim and Alice.. CONGRATULATIONS!






Thanks to Kim for some of the pics and also Anna and the Ring for her blog post.

Marry Me Afternoon Tea Giveaway

Hello lovelies,
As I'm sure it won't have escaped your notice, 2012 is a leap year and we all know what that means.. it's the one day that us girls get to seize the day and can stop all the faffing around and pop that delightful question.

So to celebrate this, we are offering the chance to win a very special tea for two- a Marry Me Afternoon tea, to help set the mood for your romantic proposal!

You will win our scrumptious afternoon tea, English Rose menu that includes sandwiches, scones and the nicest cakes possible, all beautifully laid out with vintage china in a setting of your choice; your home or a park- if this spring-like weather holds.

We'll even provide a bottle of fizz to celebrate because, of course the answer will be YES!


We are collaborating with the wonderful and super talented Rose Tinted Days to offer a free engagement shoot at a later date.. Marvellous.

To throw your name in the hat, please pop over and like our Facebook page and leave a comment or heart on our tea for two picture ( secrecy will be of utmost importance) and email goldenafternoontea_at_hotmail.co.uk with some information about you and your love!
Please note we can only cover the London area for the Marry Me afternoon tea. Winner will be announced on Monday 27th.

Oo I feel like Cupid!



(cherry blossom pic by Thomas Bowles, see here for more of the shoot and rosetinteddays)

Blog relaunch!

Well hello, here we are again!
How've you been?

Thought it was about time I kickstarted the old blogarooo and filled you all in with our adventures and madcap goings on in the world of the Golden Afternoon Tea Company- life has been very exciting I can tell you..

Pull up a chair, we've got something very exciting to get us up and flying again..

A Big Top Tea Room.

On the 10th of July do come along to the Lewisham People's Day and you will find the Golden Afternoon Tea Company doing what we do best in the Big Top Tea Room. As part of Lewisham borough's biggest festival, we will be serving delish homemade cakes and tea in our vintage teacups to the crowds.

There will be jiving,tangoing, ukeleleying and allsorts going on in the tea room big top, with Spitfire Bounce taking care of the 1940's swing dancing, the Brockley ukelele orchestra and I can't wait to see The Cockney Awkestra , they have human coconut shys and mass knees up to Mother Brown. Seriously just how much fun can there be under one tent?

 We'll be there in our retro aprons, teapots at the ready, there will even be a couple of  Nippies, as if they've come straight out of a Lyons Tea House!

Come along and say hello, there will be so much to do with 3 other stages and a flashmob dance to
Walking on Sunshine with Katrina and the Waves.  And if that doesn't deserve a slice of cake, I don't know what does!

Have a look here for all the info about how to find it plus it's absolutely free!

peonies and patriotism

Can you believe I bought these gorgeous peonies in Ikea?  You never would, would you?

There were sulks round Farley Mansions as I had so far managed to have gone peonie-less in the very short peony season but hurrah, on a trip to Ikea to stock up on bottles for elderflower cordial, there they were.. and reduced to 50p a bunch. Most were overblown or rotten but with eagle eyes I found four bunches of gorgeousness. Bargain? I think so..  They were called Blomma which I imagine in Ikea language means bloom!

Did you watch the match? We had a world cup tea of cheese and chive muffins and cake for second half, no sucking oranges at half time though, just a couple of g and t's to steady the nerves.

I couldn't take the strain, so had busied myself making England football world cupcakes- and what is the best suited to the team colours- Red Velvet of course, patriotic eh?

Seemed to do the trick anyway, may the football madness continue a pace. Shall I send a care package to South Africa?

Elderflowers and confusion at the chemists.

Have you noticed that there is a whole ton of elderflower blossom everywhere? I have been longing to concoct some cordial and finally got round to it last week.

Our local park has been brimming with the starry white flowers and I went to do some 'pruning'.


Returning home with armfuls, it was only then I checked the recipe and read it called for citric acid. So warning to you all, before you pick - get some in. You can buy citric acid online or try your local chemists as I did...
However what I thought would be a simple purchase turned into rather a mission as the first chemist had just run out apparently and refused to tell me when they were going to get some more in. Odd, I thought. Trekking on to the second chemist, they too were devoid of the stuff. I was exasperated and cried 'oh no where can I find some,i've been all over' (ever the drama queen) .The lady asked me what it was for and I explained to which she replied 'oh well you seem genuine' and reached under the counter and brought out a box!  It would seem that it is used for nefarious doings which made me think how could the first chemist obviously assumed that's what I would do. What a cheek..

I guess I do live the wrong side of the tracks, where they might not be used to  Tom and Barbara Good Life behaviour!

There are lots of recipes on the internet, but as I couldn't really work out how much elderflower I had.. I just winged it, but mainly based on this one.
So if you have a large bowlful of elderflowers- say an armful when picked, this should work.

To make the sugar syrup bring 1 and 1/2 litres of water to the boil with 1 kg of caster or granulated sugar, stir to check all the sugar has dissolved.
Whilst this bubbles away,  clean the flower heads by shaking any bugs off and removing any sign of brown flowers, I also gave them a quick dunk in a bowl of water.
I got a great tip through twitter from Easton Walled Gardens to pick the heads when they are fabulously fragrant and heavy with pollen! Don't you love it?

Pare two unwaxed lemons with a veggie peeler and then slice up the fruit and place with the rind in a the bowl of elderflowers.

Pour over the sugar syrup and stir in 50g of citric acid. Simples.

Cover and leave to stand for at least 24 hours, some recipes advise 48 hours, which is what I did as I had also forgotten to get any bottles.

The house was wonderfully scented with lemony fragrance.
Strain through muslin or a new jay cloth and pour in to sterilised glass bottles. Wash and rinse the bottles and place in a warm oven for 15 minutes. Using a jug and a funnel pour into the hot sterilised bottles.  Or pour the cordial into plastic bottles and freeze for future use.

Elderflower cordial is such a delicious tipple,dilute with still or fizzy water and garnish with sliced lemon and mint. A summer's day could be magnificent with a cool glass of cordial in your hand, use it with icing sugar to ice lemon cupcakes or try it poured on ice cream.
Or mix up a cheeky cocktail with a shot of vodka, cordial,  lemon juice and soda water, shake it all up in your cocktail shaker and serve with lots of ice. Doesn't that make your mouth water?

Beach Huts and Picnics

So following on from our previous adventures, the Chap and I hotfooted it up to Yorkshire and to our dear friend's birthday celebrations in Whitby. Mrs Lee not only has a fabulous blog full of inspiring finds and mouthwatering recipes but the lucky lady is a proud owner of a scarlet red beach hut called Queenie.

As you can see it was the most glorious day -we were so lucky!
British seasides in the sun just can't be beat and what do you need  for that perfect day on the seaside- why a picnic, of course.
All laid out on a tartan woolie rug,just the right side of scratchy, wicker baskets full of lemonade and ginger beer, and a huge plastic chiller box filled with goodies.. egg and cress sandwiches wrapped in greaseproof paper, sausage rolls,  a homemade pork pie if you're feeling adventurous,  rolls filled with coronation chicken or ham. Loading melamine plates high and trying to avoid the sand from getting everywhere but of course it always does.
A flask of tea to warm you up after a quick dip in the freezing water, do you remember the Lift Lemon tea? oo that was the taste of seaside picnics for me. Shortbread biscuits, punnets of strawberries preferably bought from a roadside table and a dash to the ice cream van returning with 99's and cornettos for all the family. Now isn't that heaven?

Wouldn't you love to be a bathing beauty on one of these cossies?

The Golden Afternoon Tea Company's vintage seaside picnic is one of our most favourite things to do, we have a number of rugs, vintage deckchairs,vintage hampers and picnic sets to hire, all set with our unique china or melamine for the real retro flavour and packed full with deliciousness, sandwiches, cakes and cordials, there's even a little bottle with the sunshine in. Perfect for a day trip to the seaside.

If you're like me and you adore all these vintage beach pictures, the flickr retro beach group is fab for inspiration and you must look through the Beach Bygones blog for lots of gorgeous pictures and interesting finds. You can even buy your own 1950's costume through her online shop, there are some fantastic styles there, just what you need for lounging on the dunes.

Happy picnicking

          We would love to hear some of your favourite seaside picnic memories, what reminds you of sunny seaside days?