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

Sunday Afternoon Musicals.

Finally I have found a way of combining my two most favourite things in the whole world...afternoon tea and musicals!  Since a wee young thing, I have been obsessed with musicals, showtunes,MGM, Fred and Ginger, Judy, and Gene...There really is nothing that cheers the heart as much as spending a Sunday with a wonderful film and a scrumptious tea!

So on the 18th of April, The Golden Afternoon Tea Company will be organising our very first Sunday Afternoon Musical,  and we thought we'd debut with a splurge, the well loved and fun filled,

splurge-tastic  Bugsy Malone!

And as well as watching the film, we will be having a sing-song around the piano to get us in the mood. There will be charleston dancing, a 1920's ' Watch the Birdie' photobooth, cocktails in teacups and of course the most delicious cakes and scones. Too good to miss don't you think?! 

So if you fancy some frolics at Fat Sam's Grand Slam Speakeasy, or the Bethnal Green Working Men's Club  do pop down on the 18th of April, we would love to see you! 

Hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend.

The chap and I filled it with flowers, a trip to the flower market(the car broke down,  was taken pity on and given a free chocolate bar by a local)then Columbia road flower market on Sunday, traipsed around many vintage clothes shops and stuffed ourselves silly with tons of chocs and cake. Bliss..

My friend, Mrs Lee sent me this most gorgeous vintage Easter card, isn't the picture darling? I bought armfuls of these English grown Narcissi, and with the palest pink hyacinths and snow white lilac the house has been filled with the sweetest perfume.

Best wishes for a sweet and fragrant spring for you all.

for all the tea in China

Driving through London town today, I caught a tantalising glimpse of the celebrations for the Chinese New Year, the year of the tiger.  Today was the culmination of the fifteen days of celebration to mark the new year, and the streets of Soho and Chinatown were filled with colour. It reminded me of the vintage stylised illustrations used in  Chinese packaging from the early 20th Century.
  Here are some vividly bright examples... 

 

 

 

 Tea has had just as much if not more importance in the culture and history of China than in ours.

This quote seems to capture what we all mean when, in troubled times, we say 'I'll put the kettle on'!

“Tea induces lightness of spirit, clarity of mind and freedom from all sense of constriction, 

whether mental of physical; and it promotes such serenity that mundane cares fall away 

 so that whatever is strident of exacerbating in daily life can be put out of mind for a while.” 

The Emperor Song Hui Zong

So if you're partial to jasmine or oolong, 

here's wishing you a delicately flavoured and purifying new year!

pictures from here,here and here

pancakes,cupcakes and teaspoons

Happy flippin' pancake day!

There was always much excitement in the Lula house when I was a nipper; coming home from school to find Mother Dearest up to her elbows in floury batter,whisking up a storm.

The flipping would start (I always lived in hope that one would stick to the ceiling) and we would pile them high soaked with lemon juice and crunchy with sugar. Yum yum yum!

As with most things in life, when it comes to the simple things- turn to Delia.

By the way- have you caught any of her Delia through the Decades on the television?

Amazing what a powerhouse of cooking influence she has been, whilst sporting an array of

pudding bowl haircuts!

And the pancake recipe is such a breeze to follow

110g/4oz plain flour, sifted
pinch of salt
2 eggs
200ml/7fl oz milk mixed with 75ml/3fl oz water
50g/2oz butter

This makes 12-14 pancakes.

Sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl,

slowly add in the milk and water mixture whisking all the time to obtain a smooth batter.

Scrape down any floury mixture from the sides and soon the lumps will disappear so it is nice and creamy.

(If you have a mixer this can be made even easier by ditching the whisk)

Melt 50g/2oz of butter and whisk 2 tablespoons into the mixture, the rest use for greasing the pan.

Lightly grease a hot frying pan and using a ladle spoon the mixture into the pan.

Tip the pan so it is completely covered, wait till the underside comes away easily with a flat knife 

and  then the fun really begins..start flipping!

Traditionalists stick with lemon and sugar, but for those more adventurous-

the world is your pancake.

Nutella,stewed apple and icecream, golden syrup or honey..

As I'm sure you know, Pancake day or Shrove Tuesday was the day people used up the rich ingredients, butter, milk and eggs before eating plainer food during Lent.
And sticking with this idea, I have been polishing off the cupcakes leftover from Sunday's Valentine Cinema day like a hoover- oh my poor waistline!
It was another triumph and luckily most of the cakes were snapped up, these were some we forgot to put out,The Chap was meant to take them into work..
Quelle dommage.

 

I picked up this set of teaspoons at the weekend, couldn't resist the gorgeous art deco design. 

Might make a cup of darjeeling to give them a whirl and a stir!

 (pancake pic from flickr)

cup of love

Fill your heart with love and tea.

Valentine's Day tea time to pour love for those you love,

with tea made from rosebuds in a clear glass teapot.

Sweetly fragrant and so romantic.

Rosebud tea is also packed with vitamin C so good for fighting off those February sniffles.

We adore it at the Golden Afternoon Tea Company, you can't help but be filled with joy and love as you sip!

Have you tried 

Pukka's Love Tea

a sumptous blend of rose,chamomile and lavender.

Described as

'Roses and lavender the fragrant symbols of love

with Elderflowers, marigolds, limeflowers and chamomile to relax your emotional heart'

Gosh, I feel more relaxed just reading that! 

Served in a rose painted vintage teacup, that's how to spoil yourself this Valentine's Day.

Oh and your best beloved too!

 

May all your kisses be rose flavoured.

Tootle pip

Lula

Delicious cupcakes for a lovely twosome

A few weeks ago we were delighted to be providing the wedding cupcakes and flowers for two very lovely lovebirds. A long awaited wedding of International variety as reflected in their preference for cupcakes. .. she requested Lavender, and he being a very very tall man of Dutch persuasion didn't mind as long as it was orange! So scrumptiously moist Choccy Orange cupcakes were the match.

We couldn't resist popping in some Vanilla ones with pale pink icing to complement the colours of the flowers.

The flowers were delicate pink spray roses, white tulips, pink avalanche roses and for a splash of that Dutch orange, Cherry Brandy roses. This is a glorious sunset of a rose, the outer petals fading to a gentler shade so it's almost two tone.. we loved it,no kia-ora orange here!

The reception was held in a community hall that was transformed into a winter magic land of wedding with acres of parachute silk and fairy lights and the most giantest big balloon you've ever seen.. apparently one of the relatives blew it up the night before- imagine! must have had lungs of steel.

If you need a space transforming in the London area, drop us a line and we can put you in touch with the clever chap.

It was all go, but made even more fun by the chance to don my feathery chapeau and my red dancing shoes.

Sparkly wishes

With much love from Lula and Lina, we send you this glass of fizz and our best wishes for a delicious 2010!

May your champagne saucer always be brimming,your cakes always rise and your teacup never go unfilled.

Like the champers we are brimming and bubbling with excitement about the coming year and sharing all our prospective adventures into the land of tea parties and vintage passions with you,

and who knows what else the year ahead may hold!

 As long as it's filled with tea parties, laughter with good friends and loved ones, sunny days and golden afternoons,we will be sugar sweet happy.

Happy New Year!

thanks for cake and tea!

Well yes I know at the Golden Afternoon Tea Company, we are the epitome of all things delightful and English tea and crumpets, of course we are! But we couldn't not wish all our friends across the pond and those far from home over here now a very happy thanksgiving now, could we?

And if we didn't have those yankee- doodles to thank, we wouldn't have such wonderful things as

MGM musicals, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, amazingly stylish 50's cars, rock n roll, red velvet cakes and cupcakes(would we still be calling them fairy cakes?!) and oo so many things to make life more fun,glamorous and cooooool!

So in honor of that ( lookee I even spelled it the American way for the occasion!) here is the recipe for Pumpkin and Walnut cupcakes, I promised in this post.

It comes from Lola's Cupcakes via Marie Claire,

and is something truly to be thankful for!

Have a great day y'all.

Ingredients:

450g of plain flour
3 eggs
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice or ginger
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
400g of caster sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons pure vanilla
400g shredded fresh pumpkin
100g of white chocolate curls

For the cream cheese icing:

250g of unsalted butter
1000g of icing sugar
2 teaspoons of pure vanilla paste
500g Philadelphia Cream Cheese

Method:

Slice open the pumpkin, remove the seeds and chop the pumpkin into smaller chunks.  Then grate 400g of pumpkin chunks.

Sift together the plain flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and allspice. Add the walnuts now too as this will stop them sinking to the bottom of the cupcake.

Measure the sugar, oil and vanilla into a large size bowl and stir to combine. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition.  This is the wet mixture.

Add the majority of the dry mixture to the wet and stir until just combined. Add the remaining dry mixture very slowly until all incorporated.  This will result in a very thick batter.  Do not overbeat!

Fold the pumpkin and white chocolate curls into the batter with a large wooden spoon.

Pipe or spoon the mixture into cupcake cases about 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees, until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick comes out clean, which should take between 20 and 25 minutes.

Finish the cooled cupcakes with generous helpings of cream cheese icing, dusted with cocoa powder and decorated with chocolate shreds

(original recipe found here)

late pumpkin post, vintage style!

Well Halloween has spooked it's way back into the night and it was all so quiet round our way..hardly a ghoul or a ghost to terrify us in exchange for some sweet treats and goodies, well we did have an adorable black cat and a what looked like a squished tomato! But the pumpkins were finely turned out on the doorstep casting their ooky glow, and I made some darn fine cupcakes with their insides.

Recipe to follow later

Even the pooch was admiring the pumpkins.

So even though we're a bit late for this years halloween decorations, I have been all a buzz thinking of vintage style decorations with a few pumpkins and gourds.

Lina and I were at a wedding yesterday, a bright and clear Saturday, and they were filled with russet and rich red berries and flowers.

Looking for inspiration turned up these..

 Am loving these ones covered in gold leaf...

fabulous finishes

And these vintage tins perfect for a rustic style.

from wishpot

And a soft and elegant look.

from the knot 

 

from Brides

embellish 

And always Martha turns up the goods, how gorgeous is this filagree  style, would take a lot of patience though!

Would be perfect for our The Golden Afternoon Tea Company Autumn menus.

 

That reminds me, my pumpkins really should come in now shouldn't they?

*sigh*

Till next year my pretties!