Time for Tea.....Wimbledon themed tea at The Ampersand

Hello there,

Welcome back to another guest post from Tea With Me and Friends...this week the lovely Becca shares with us her recent Wimbledon themed afternoon tea adventure at The Ampersand in London. Regular readers will know that we love the Ampersand, Pastry Chef Ji Sun is so creative and passionate about developing sweet treats that look and taste amazing! We haven't visited in a while so we were keen to see Jo Sun's latest creation....

Wimbledon tennis themed afternoon tea
Ampersand, London

In the background of this scrummy photo you will see Sam....Becca's sister....and this folks is her first afternoon tea! It was Sam's Birthday and she loves the tennis at Wimbledon so this made a wonderful gift! Let's find out what they thought.

The feast begins with the savoury gougeres....

Savoury afternoon tea treats - Ampersand

Becca said they were delicious and she had forgotten how filling they were. Her favourite was the cheese and fruit chutney, but they were all tasty! The other fillings included Glouster old spot ham; smoked salmon, dill and cream cheese and Coronation chicken (my favourite!). Becca commented on how well filled each gougere was.

Once they had finished the savoury treats Becca and her sister start on the scones...

Afternoon tea scones - Ampersand

Each guest is served two scones - one plain and one white chocolate, served with Devonshire clotted cream & homemade raspberry preserve (this is usually strawberry, but Becca has an allergy). They were served warm and I am pleased to report that Becca dressed her scones in the "right" way....

Scones - dressed the Tea With Me and Friends way!

The scones were a good size....so good that Becca only managed to eat the plain scone....as she wanted to make sure she had room for the sweet treats...

Wimbledon Afternoon Tea - Ampersand, London

This is where the Wimbledon theme really begins....just look at that cute little tennis racket! The treats include a coconut mousse and mango passion fruit jelly tennis ball on a lime sponge tennis court, a ginger bread tennis racket, a strawberry and cream tart, a cute little blueberry white chocolate ganache macaroon and a Pimm's cocktail shot.

Ji Sun has really created a lovely collection here and Becca confirmed that everything tasted wonderful too. She particularly enjoyed the tennis ball....

Sweet treats at Ampersand afternoon tea

In fact, she enjoyed it so much she was still talking about it the following weekend when I saw her next! Most importantly.....Sam also enjoyed her first afternoon tea adventure!

The Wimbledon afternoon tea can be enjoyed at the Ampersand until the 17th July and it costs £32.50 per person or £44.50 per person with a glass of Champagne.

You can enjoy a complimentary glass of Champagne Monday - Friday, when booking the Wimbledon Afternoon Tea Special offer on-line. Take a peek at the Ampersand website for more information.

A huge thank you to Becca and her sister for sharing her latest afternoon tea adventure with us - we love your photos!

Have you tried one of the Ampersand afternoon teas? Which has been your favourite? We'd love to hear from you!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for a little Christmas Cheer....

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea post from Tea With Me and Friends.....can you believe that we are only a month away from Christmas already? This year has flown by in a whirl of afternoon tea and tea bags!

Here at Tea With Me and Friends Towers we might be a little bit obsessed with Christmas (well OK, Rachel is probably much more obsessed than Lorna!), and we do love a well themed afternoon tea. So over the coming weeks we thought we would share with you some of the lovely Christmas afternoon teas that we have discovered.....

Let's start with a look at what super pastry chef Ji Sun Shin at the Ampersand Hotel in South Kensington, London has created.....

Christmas afternoon tea at Ampersand Hotel

This scrummy looking Christmas themed afternoon tea begins with Savoury gougeres filled with such delights as turkey & cranberry, Stilton & apple, smoked salmon & cream cheese and a sausage & pear roll.

This is followed by a warm selection of plain and white chocolate scones, served with Devonshire clotted cream and homemade strawberry preserve.

The sweet treats on offer at the Ampersand this Christmas

Finally it's time for the Christmassey pastries. The selection includes.....mince pies, short bread Christmas trees, mulled wine jelly shots and Dark chocolate mini entremets.

I do love a good mince pie and so its lovely to see this appear with the sweet selection. I also love that little moose on the macaroon.

Christmas afternoon tea at Ampersand Hotel

Christmas Afternoon Tea is available at the Ampersand Hotel in South Kensignton from 1st December - 28th December. The tea costs £32.50 per person or £44.50 per person with a glass of bubbles! To find out more pop along to the Ampersand website.

If you enjoy this afternoon tea during December or another Christmas themed afternoon tea we would love to hear from you! Please get in touch by leaving a comment here or visiting us on Twitter or Facebook!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for a little spooky tea....Ampersand Hotel

Hello there,

Happy Halloween!

Welcome back to another afternoon tea post from Tea With Me and Friends. Last weekend, Lorna and I celebrated Halloween a little early with a visit to the Ampersand Hotel in South Kensington.

Now, if you've popped by our blog before you'll know this isn't our first time to the Ampersand. This is our third or fourth visit to the hotel for a spot of afternoon tea, in fact we first visited this lovely boutique hotel for Halloween afternoon tea in 2013. We love the work of pastry chef Ji Sun Shin and couldn't resist going back to sample the Halloween tea again.....

Halloween afternoon tea
Ampersand Hotel

Now, all the afternoon teas served at the Ampersand follow a similar format of savouries (either open sandwiches or savoury gougeres) followed by scrummy white chocolate scones - however it's the sweet top tier of the afternoon tea stand where Ji Sun lets her imagination and creativity run wild and that's where I want to focus this post.....

Sweet treats - afternoon tea - Ampersand Hotel

Although this tea looks like similar to the Halloween tea that was served last year, there are some subtle differences this year which we all enjoyed.

The sweet treats include a cute orange pumpkin cake, a blackberry jelly skull on a sable breton, a red velvet cupcake and a raspberry, rose & redcurrant blood shot. 

I particularly enjoyed the jelly skull on the sable breton, the combination of the silky jelly on top of the sable breton was brilliant - especially if you chose to put the entire thing in your mouth in one go! The blackberry jelly has an amazing flavour too. Altogether a lovely treat!

You might have noticed this little cutie in the photo.....

I saved my orange pumpkin cake to last as it's so cute and I didn't want to cut it up straight away. Once you take the plunge and cut through the icing, you find a wonderful orange sponge cake inside - which is beautifully flavoured.

Slightly more alarming is the red velvet mini cake, complete with "glass" shard and eyeball....

The red velvet cake melts in the mouth, and is topped with a tangy drizzle of raspberry. Again it's the perfect size for popping into your mouth in one go if you are so inclined! 

Each time we visit the Ampersand we are amazed by the cakes and pastries created by Ji Sun, she creates items that look so pleasing to the eye, yet she never compromises taste. I had the pleasure of meeting Ji Sun earlier this year when she kindly answered some of my nosey afternoon tea questions....take a peek at the post to read more about how she creates her amazing afternoon teas.

Halloween afternoon tea - Ampersand Hotel

The Halloween afternoon tea costs £32.50 per person and is available until the 9th November 2014, to find out more visit the Ampersand website.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna