Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea - Sanderson Hotel, London

Dear readers,

As one may have noticed, I am a great fan of Afternoon Tea! I love having a selection of different treats, which I can nibble in whichever order I please. However, many Afternoon Tea menus are similar, so, whenever I come across a different menu, I have to try it!

Firstly, we were given a selection of interesting teas which we were allowed to smell to make a choice on our selected brew. These included Mint Choc Chip, Apple Pie, Rhubarb and Custard and Strawberries and Cream. I chose a Strawberries and Cream tea, which had a pleasant subtle sweetness.

The quirky crockery perfectly matched the innovative and unusual menu - mine had a zebra on a circus pedestal!

The top tier of the platter held a small carrot meringue on a bed of pea shoots and 'strawberries and cream' marshmallows mushrooms. The carrot meringues were a great idea, but they didn't taste of much. The marshmallow mushrooms were also a great idea but were a little too sweet to eat them all. As I've mentioned previously, I think that marshmallows require a little tartness as their high sugar levels can make them too sickly-sweet to eat!

The second tier consisted of a 'Tick Tock' traditional Victoria sponge cake, a melting mango cheesecake and a matcha green tea and white chocolate mousse served in a dark chocolate teacup. The Victoria sponge was light, creamy and delicious. The melting mango cheesecake was a little disappointing; it had a runny mango centre (like an egg yolk) which was held by an almost-crunchy gel coating. The mango sauce was not tart enough to sit well with the white chocolate flavoured cheesecake. It was too sweet and it had no crunchy base for contrast, either!

The matcha teacup was a quite a treat. The mousse was light and fluffy with a little tickle from the popping candy on top! The last sweet included the famous "drink me" potion. This consisted of 3 layers including a passion fruit jelly, coconut panna cotta and an exotic fruit foam. This was a fine fusion of tropical flavours which was far too small a portion!

The savoury treats included four sandwiches, a savoury olive scone (there was also a sweet fruity scone) and two mini quiches. The olive scone went fabulously with the herb and garlic butter on the side! I used two sides of jam and cream on the fruity scone. The sandwiches, each made with different types of bread, were quite impressive. They were rolled up to look even prettier (see photo below). The sandwiches included smoked Cumbrian ham with wholegrain mustard on sun-dried tomato bread, cucumber and chive cream cheese on spinach bread, smoked salmon and lemon butter on rye bread and egg mayonnaise with watercress on lemon bread. Each sandwich was packed with flavour. I would have definitely ordered more if I had had room!

We'd almost forgotten about the Jelly Wonderland course by the time we had finished everything else. We were very full by this point but we just about found room to try all of the jellies. There were raspberry, pear, green apple and mango and chilli jellies. We tried them all but we only really liked the green apple jelly. The others had very weak flavours and all of them had an unpleasant grainy texture.

Overall, it was a great escape down the rabbit hole with some fun and interesting treats. I would definitely recommend it!

Afternoon Tea at L'Orangerie, Buenos Aires

Vase of roses at the table

Dear readers,

Feliz Navidad [Merry Christmas] from Buenos Aires, Argentina!

Sorry for disappearing for another month, but I have been exploring Buenos Aires trying to find some great food places to share with you all!

Alvear Blend Tea being poured

It may seem a little strange that I went somewhere so English when I am on the other side of the world. I have enjoyed a fair share of Argentine culture here, but I really wanted my boyfriend to experience a little bit of English culture. It's going be a long time before he is able to visit England so I thought that Afternoon Tea at L'Orangerie, Alvear Palace Hotel, would be the perfect way to introduce him to English culture, here in Argentina. I was also curious to see Argentina's version of "Afternoon Tea"!

Kir Royales served at the table

We were fortunate enough to be seated in the beautiful Garden Courtyard. We certainly felt that we were in London. We ate minimal food before our booking, in order to prepare ourselves for the great feast of cakes. Afternoon Tea in Argentina is served between 5-7pm as opposed to 2-5pm in England, so we were desperately hungry by the time we arrived.

Teapot handle mitts

The waiters first served us the Kir Royales which they poured at the table. We ordered the Alvear Blend tea which had flavours of almond, citrus and rose. The waiters poured the tea at the table and the teapots had tiny handle mitts - adorable! I had never seen these before.

Warm pear scones with lemon curd, raspberry jam and orange marmalade

We were given freshly baked pear scones that were still warm, with lemon curd, raspberry jam and orange marmalade (but no butter). Before we came, I read a few reviews about Afternoon Tea at L'Orangerie. They said that the scones here were horrible. We thought, however, that the scones were delicious. They were dense but broke apart easily and had a subtle chewiness and fruitness from the pieces of pear. We didn't leave a crumb!

Plant decoration in the Garden Courtyard

We then started on the collection of sandwiches and cakes. The top plate included a mini salmon bagel, Spanish ham and pear roll, mushroom bun and a ham and cheese roll.

Tea cakes and sandwiches

The second plate included sandwiches of cream cheese and cucumber, turkey and pesto, tuna salad and Spanish ham. I enjoyed most of these, however, two of them were soggy with something that was not part of the filling. I left these uneaten!

The bottom plate included a selection of cakes including a chocolate and pistachio cake, a small round chocolate cake, a mini strawberry pavlova, triple chocolate mousse cake and a nutty-cinnamon pastry similar to baklava.

Struggling to finish the cakes!

We ate everything except for the couple of soggy sandwiches and the last course of cakes which one choose from a cart. We chose a black forest cake and a chocolate mousse cake which we took home in a box.

I felt like a little girl at a tea party. Except for the soggy sandwiches and the lack of butter or cream with the scones, it was the perfect afternoon tea! (The plain round chocolate cake could have been made a little more exciting, too.) I have been to Fortnum & Mason's in London for afternoon tea, and the Alvear definitely beat them in both the service and the quality of the food. I was very impressed that they served the Kir Royales at the table and also thoroughly explained every part of the menu as they served the food.

It may not be an Argentine thing to do here, but, actually, it is mainly Argentines who indulge in Afternoon Tea at L'Orangerie as the tourists are, usually, busy spending their time doing all of the "Argentine" things.

And, finally, despite the excellence of this experience, it was not that expensive. For two people including a glass of sparkling wine (or a Kir Royale), it came to AR$300 (around £50). A few days before this, we ate at a Mexican restaurant for the same money and were fairly disappointed with the food. I would definitely prefer to have the Alvear experience instead!

If you ever have the opportunity to Buenos Aires, I highly recommend that you partake of Argentina's brilliant interpretation of "English Afternoon Tea"!

Christmas Tree in The Alvear Hotel

Afternoon Tea in San Francisco, Japanese Style!

My favourite photo of the Japanese Tea Garden

Among many food adventures with my father, we included a trip to the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. It was rumoured that they offered tea tasting, but to our disappointment, the menu only offered some tea sets, sweets and a small selection of entrées. We decided to stay for a spot of "afternoon tea" despite the limited menu and this is what we ate...

We ordered a Jasmine Tea Set each, one with mochi cakes and one with salty rice crackers.

Jasmine tea with mochi cakes and salty rice crackers

Mochi cakes split in half to share

The bottom of my Jasmine tea cup

We still felt peckish after these bites and it was almost lunchtime so we decided to order a couple of larger dishes to share. We were very intrigued by the sound of the Green tea soup (Nori Ochazuke) and we also ordered the Japanese noodle soup (Udon).

Nori Ochazuke, Green tea seaweed rice soup

Pouring the tea into the rice

The dish is ready to eat!

The Nori Ochazuke arrived in two pieces: the tea in a teapot and the rice, puffed rice kernals and seaweed in an accompanying bowl. We absolutely loved the variety of textures in this dish; crunchy rice kernals, chewy seaweed strips, bouncy boiled rice and a delicately flavoured watery broth.

Udon, Japanese wide noodles in a fish broth

The Udon was served with a fishcake and some sliced spring onions on top. We enjoyed the bouncy texture of the wide noodles but did not find it as exciting as the Nori Ochazuke.

The Tea House inside the Japanese Tea Garden

Iris in the Japanese Tea Garden

Although the menu is limited, the gardens are stunning. It was a great place to play with my camera! I highly recommend a visit here if ever one is in the area.

Homemade Boba Tea

Boba, bubble, tapioca. Whatever it's called, I love it and it's my latest addiction!

There seems to be something satisfying about slurping up a boba through the chunky straw and playing a mini game of oral-squash with your tongue, whilst drenching your taste buds with delicious ice-cold milky tea.

In my search for tapioca pearls, I came across some plain ones in the local Asian market, as well as some dark ones, of which, the packaging stated clearly that their use was for boba drinks, unlike the plain.

I first experimented with the plain large tapioca pearls. I found various recipes on the internet but ended up going along with my own... I boiled the pearls in water with a 1:7 ratio for about 30 minutes. The water became incredibly starchy, so I rinsed the pearls with cold water and boiled them up again, as they were still fairly firm and had formed only a thin translucent layer, which indicated that they were not cooked all the way through. I boiled the pearls for the second time for around 20 minutes.

The water became fairly starchy again, so I rinsed them again with cold water. Although they still had a white opaque inside, they were chewy throughout. They were significantly smaller than the tapioca pearls that I am used to consuming in the teas that I have bought. They also had a soft non-bouncy texture (perhaps overcooked). I stored them over night in a sugar syrup. The following day the texture of the pearls had changed dramatically. They literally disintregrated in the mouth leaving a rather disgusting soggy, grainy texture - fairly unpleasant!

I decided to try the dark pearls that were specifically for the use of boba teas. These were advertised that they "only take 5 minutes". I boiled these for the 5 minutes and rinsed the starchy residues with cold water. These were much more bouncy and chewy and had the consistency that I was looking for! Hurrah!

I am not entirely sure what the recipe should look like for Boba Tea. I made mine up as I went along and it proved to be quite a success!

I brewed one chai tea bag in half a mug of hot water, sweetened it with two teaspoons of honey and set it aside to cool. I then boiled the tapioca pearls for a good half an hour and rinsed them with cold water once they had finished cooking. I combined a generous helping of tapioca pearls with the tea and topped up the glass with ice and almond milk. After a quick stir it was ready to consume!

Most restaurants that serve Boba teas have a vast selection to choose from, with milks ranging from almond to coconut, and teas from black with spiced apple to green with rose. Most restaurants that I have visited also offer many "slushies" to go with the tapioca pearls also. My current restaurant-favourite is probably green tea with rose and coconut milk, but, as with all things in my life, I love variety, so my "favourite" changes frequently.

The beauty of following this simple recipe at home is that you can create it to comply whatever your specifications may be. I wonder what yours would be? Earl Grey tea with lavender, almond milk and honey? Green tea with molasses and coconut milk? Or, perhaps, a coffee with hazelnut syrup and regular milk? And, who says you can't add a drop or two of Baileys to it?! :)

Schlurrrrrrrrrrrrrp!

21st Birthday High Tea at Ciocolat

The day of my 21st birthday finally arrived on Friday December 10th 2010. What better way was there to spend my birthday afternoon other than with a luxury mini tea party at my favourite cafe in Davis - Ciocolat?

We sat down to a beautifully laid table with floral gold-rimmed cups, plates and saucers. We were offered a selection of fine teas to choose from. We were also generously offered a complementary bottle of Champagne to make the afternoon that extra bit special!

The four courses included cranberry and white chocolate chip scones with raspberry preserve, savoury croissants and sandwiches, an assortment of miniature desserts and fresh berries with chantilly cream to finish.

The savoury croissants and sandwiches included wholemeal bread with tomato, mozzarella, basil and olive oil, sliced cucumber and herb cream cheese on white bread and warmed baby croissants with black forest ham and Provolone cheese. Delicious little bites!

The mini desserts included black decadence cake and mini tropical and milk chocolate mousses. The chocolate decadence cake was a definite favourite!

Thanks for a lovely day my beautiful American/International friends!

Cheers!