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.

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..

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?

Pink Camelias, blue skies and tea..

Isn't it fabulous? The skies are blue and the light is gloriously clear. And it must be spring because I've just had to rescue the first bumble bee that has found it's way inside.

Soon I'll be heading off to enjoy afternoon tea at Beas Of Bloomsbury and despite the chap being missing on stag weekend action, how can you resist the joys of spring to lift your heart?

Finally the world has some colour again and have just been watching a robin build it's nest in our teeny tiny garden.

I picked these camelias from my Granny's garden, and found the duck egg blue vase when from a flea market in Totnes, I love the Art Deco shape. It's by the Candy Pottery studios apparently.

The frills are so perfect! 

Right must fly!

Have a glorious weekend,my dears, full of colour and light!

A very mad afternoon tea..

Last week, Lina and I had the wonderful pleasure of treating ourselves to an Alice in Wonderland afternoon. What joy!  After a madcap farce of broken phones,mistimed trains and wrong bookings finally we met in London's busy West End and headed for the Sanderson Hotel and their specially devised Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea and what magic awaited us..

We sat in a covered courtyard with palms and a little stream trickling away and tucked into a breathtaking array of goodies - when they brought out the vintage mismatched cakestands - it was almost too cute and quirky to touch. But hunger soon won out! 

With hot to cold pineapple lollipops and rainbow finger sandwiches- we were certainly through the looking glass! Each mouthful was accompanied by oohs and mmmms, with practically all of it devoured. Those scones were delectable.

I kept the crackle cupcake and the White Rabbit's chocolate clock for the chap so he didn't feel left out!

Afterwards we headed to the Alice in Wonderland pop up shop in Selfridges and drooled over the counters full of Alice inspired jewelry, hats, knick-knacks and other assorted goodies.

And if you are anywhere near Selfridges, make sure you seek out the Mad Hatter Tea Party windows- absolutely wonderful and fabulous inspiration for the tea party we will be creating for the Mad Hats and Moustaches party on Saturday. 

And we rounded off the day by watching the film which despite having heard less than favourable reports from certain people( stuck my fingers in my ears!) was FABULOUS!! It didn't disappoint at all. As our pal said, it was such a shame we had to re-enter the world of London when it was over. 

We could have stayed in Wonderland forever!

Don’t be late, win an important date!

If you're just a smidgen obsessed with Alice in Wonderland (like our good selves!) then be sure to enter this Miss Selfridge competition, which gives you the chance to win afternoon tea, a shopping spree and more, but best of all you and your friends will get your own private screening of Alice in Wonderland!

Good luck x