Afternoon Tea Baking - Pret a Portea high fashion bakes

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends.

I hope you're well today. Have you made any baking related New Year's Resolutions this year? Maybe you'd like to try baking the sweet treats that you try at afternoon tea? Already love baking, but want to try something new? I might just have the book for you!

Pret a Portea - High Fashion bakes and biscuits

Before we go any further I want to assure you that this isn't an ad, I'm not being paid or rewarded for this blog post in anyway. I bought the book when I enjoyed afternoon tea at The Berkeley last year and was so impressed with the recipes that I wanted to share it with you.

'Prêt-à-Portea: High-Fashion Bakes and Biscuits' was published to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the iconic fashion inspired afternoon tea served at The Berkeley and includes 20 recipes and baking techniques from the hotel’s Head Pastry Chef Mourad Khiat. 

I'm a home baker, I follow simple recipes and enjoy what I make but I have wanted to stretch myself a little and this book was perfect. The recipes are really easy to follow and the book contains lots of photos of the process as well as the finished items so you can see what you are supposed to be doing. 

Pret a Portea - High Fashion bakes and biscuits

Inside the book you'll find 20 iconic sweet treats that have been served as part of the Pret a Portea afternoon tea experience at some point in the last ten years. You'll also see what fashion item inspired the sweet treat. 

From the Blueberry sponge handbag inspired by Anya Hindmarch to the rainbow meringue summer mousse inspired by Mulberry, or the red sole and sparkle biscuit inspired by Christian Louboutin....you'll find all of these and more in the book!

My baking from Pret a Portea 

One of the items I decided to try was the pearl pump Sachertorte inspired by Nicholas Kirkwood, which featured a Chocolate Miroir finish. Having not attempted Sachertorte previously I was a little apprehensive when I started.

The recipe was broken down into easy to follow sections, making the chocolate sponge and jam filling first, followed by the chocolate Miroir. The recipe also includes styling details to help you finish your bake in the same way as The Berkeley. As you can see from the images I didn't quite follow the styling details, but I was still very impressed with my wonky finished cakes!

They were so shiny that even Niffler was impressed....

A bit wonky, but very shiny! 

This book also contains the best chocolate Brownie recipe I have ever come across. The recipe is very simple, but results in rich and gooey brownies that you will love!

I might have made these once or twice since buying the book....

The book is jam packed with scrummy photos, so even if you don't want to bake the cakes you'll probably spend several blissful hours drooling over the cakes!

As I said, this isn't an ad....but if you are looking for an easy to follow book which will up your baking game then you might enjoy this one!

Do you have a favourite baking book? I'd love to hear all about it - leave me a comment!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel

Time for.....a Blooming Great Tea Party!

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends, we hope you're feeling tea-riffic today.

Today is a special post as we are talking about Marie Curie's Blooming Great Tea Party campaign which takes place in June in order to raise awareness and funds for the amazing work that Marie Curie nurses do. Marie Curie holds a special place in our hearts, as Lorna and I have experienced first hand the care and support that their nurses provide to families.

We cannot thank enough the nurses who helped us when our Dad passed away six years ago. The care they provided overnight to our Dad meant we could rest a little easier at night time, but they also supported each of us too, being a shoulder to cry on and just making sure we were ok. They really helped us in a particularly dark time.

Marie Curie needs funds to keep providing this service though, and that's why the Blooming Great Tea Party campaign is really important. All you need to do is hold a tea party - however big or small - and collect donations while enjoying a spot of tea and cake with friends, family, colleagues, neighbours....or anyone who loves cake! It doesn't matter how much you raise, all donations are important....

£20 pays for…an hour of nursing care for a person living with a terminal illness in their own home

£180 pays for…a Marie Curie Nurse to look after someone with a terminal illness for a full nine-hour shift through the night.

Lorna and I have enjoyed holding Blooming Great Tea Parties with our friends and family - our favourite was a vintage themed party. We had lots of fun, ate cake and raised money - what a great afternoon!

So why not get your friends together between 23rd - 25th June and throw a Blooming Great Tea Party. All the information you need, including how to get a fund raising pack can be found on the Marie Curie website.... if you fancy baking some scrummy goodies read on for some of our favourite recipes.

Lorna's Scrumptious Scones

225g self-raising flour, plus a little extra for dusting
pinch of salt
75g butter, cold (using cold butter helps the fluffiness of your scones)
40g caster sugar

150ml milk
1 egg, beaten

• Preheat the oven to 220C and lightly grease a baking sheet
• Mix together the flour, salt and butter - rubbing the butter into the mixture until you have "breadcrumbs"
• Add the sugar and milk to the mixture and bring together into a dough
• Roll the dough into a circle at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick
• Carefully cut the scones out using a cutter - press about three-quarters of the way through your dough and then tear the rest. It sounds a bit weird, but if you press the cutters all the way down, you seal the sides of your scones….and this hampers the rising! Also try not to twist your cutter!
• Place the scones on the baking tray, brush them lightly with the beaten egg
  Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until they are well risen and golden brown
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool
• Enjoy with lashings of clotted cream and jam

Top tip alert -

Handle the dough as little as possible. You don’t want gluten to develop in your dough and remember.....you want the butter to stay cold before baking – so stop touching the dough!

Rachel's Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake - be warned this makes quite a big cake, perfect for sharing!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer
128g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
113g butter, room temperature
50g caster sugar
110g brown sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
100g mini chocolate chips

Cake Layer

4 eggs

226g butter, room temperature

226g flour

226g caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

200g mini chocolate chips

Lots of chocolate butter cream - make with butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder

To make the cookie layer:

• Line an 8" or 9" cake tin with parchment paper
• Preheat the oven to 170c
• Cream the butter with both sugars
• Add the egg and mix
• Add the flour, baking powder and salt
• Add the chocolate chips and mix until everything is combined
• Spread the dough into the cake tin. The dough should be approx 1/2" thick
• Bake for approx. 15 mins.
• Cool completely in the tin
• Set aside at room temperature until ready to assemble the cake

To make the cake layer:

• Line an 8" or 9" cake tin with parchment paper
• Preheat the oven to 170c
• Cream the butter with both sugars
• Beat the eggs into the mixture
• Carefully add the flour, baking soda and salt
• Add the chocolate chips and mix until combined
• Put into cake tin and bake in the oven for about 45mins
• Allow to cool completely before assembly

Assembly:

• Once cooled, cut the cake in half horizontally
• On your serving plate place the cookie layer at the bottom and top with a layer of chocolate buttercream
• Next place a cake layer on top of the buttercream and add another layer of buttercream
• Add your top layer of cake
• Now cover the whole cake in buttercream, top and sides - this is the messy bit!
• You can then decorate the top - I used chocolate sprinkles and edible gold sprinkles
• Serve with a cup of tea and enjoy

We hope you've enjoyed our recipes and they inspire you to get baking. If you'd like to find out more about the Marie Curie Blooming Great Tea Party campaign pop by their website. If you hold a tea party this June we would love to see your photos!

Finally we'd like to thank all the wonderful Marie Curie nurses out there - you do such an amazing job and provide comfort to so many people.

In memory of Dad

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for....some reading....Eric Lanlard Afternoon Tea - Part 2

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you're having a great day!

Remember at the beginning of the month we shared with you the fab new afternoon tea book from Eric Lanlard and the biscuit bakes we tried from the book.....well today we're back with some savoury offerings!

Eric's book covers everything you'd need to create your own afternoon tea at home, from individual recipes to how to create an afternoon tea menu. This weekend we have a family party and I offered to make some savoury canapes, having picked some recipes from Eric's book.

I opted to make:

Pear, Roquefort and walnut tarts

Brie and red onion marmalade Gruyere eclairs

Tartes flambees

Yes.....I like cheese!!

The recipes in Eric's book are simple and easy to follow, and I am fairly pleased with how each savoury treat turned out...

I particularly liked the brie and red onion marmalade eclairs, which were crisp and smooth all at the same time. The onion marmalade is very tasty and simple to make. The ingredients all work so well together - imagine creamy brie, peppery rocket and sweet onions all on a crisp base.....amazing!

I'm not entirely sure what happened with my pear and blue cheese tarts.....they kind of exploded out of the cases and made a bit of a mess. They tasted good though, and I love that the walnuts look like brains! 

As my bakes were for a family party....I made quite a few....

The recipes were very easy to double.

If you fancy trying some of the recipes for yourself, Afternoon Tea is available to buy now.....don't forget to let us know how you get on!

Thank you for popping by today.

Rachel

Time for....some reading....Eric Lanlard Afternoon Tea - Part 1

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends!

This week I was sent a lovely gift - a pre-order copy of the new Eric Lanlard book - Afternoon Tea. With over 80 afternoon tea recipes for both sweet and savoury treats, the book contains all the cakes, pastries, tarts and biscuits you could wish for! In addition, menu ideas offer the perfect combination of flavours helping you create your perfect afternoon tea adventure at home.

Eric Lanlard's Afternoon Tea 

If you're not familiar with Eric Lanlard (aka Cake Boy) - he is a Master Pâtissier and twice winner of the prestigious Continental Pâtissier of the Year at the British Baking Awards.....he has also baked for celebrities and had several TV programmes on Channel 4.

Therefore when this book arrived in the post I thought I would be in for a treat! As you know from our previous book reviews....we always like to test the books out ourselves....and with this many recipes to pick from I was spoilt for choice! I therefore thought I'd run this review over several blog posts, featuring different recipes in each post......and to start with I would try out some biscuit recipes!

Homemade biscuits from Eric Lanlard's Afternoon tea book

The book itself is very beautiful - full of tea-riffic photography and simple to follow recipes. From information about matching teas and food and how to make the perfect cuppa to suggested afternoon tea menus and so many recipes - it really is a comprehensive book.

The recipes are divided into macarons and choux, savoury tarts, sandwiches and scones, cakes and sweet tarts, patisserie and biscuits and includes delights such as tequila king prawn sliders, brie and red onion marmalade gruyere eclairs, aperol sultana scones (are you drooling yet??), triple marble bundt cake and chocolate ganache hearts to name a few!

From the biscuit section I opted to bake something new and something old.....for the something new I picked Eric's Palets Breton recipe....buttery shortbreads, a traditional biscuit from Brittany. And for the something old I followed Eric's Viennese butter biscuits (a big favourite in my household!)

Baking with Tea With Me and Friends!

Both recipes were simple to follow and included photos of the finished biscuits (there aren't photos for all recipes - but the photos that are included are scrummy!). 

My Viennese butter biscuits turned out really well - light and delicate and they looked just like the photo! They passed the taste test from both me and Joe....and they tasted even better the day after I baked them. 

Homemade Viennese Butter Biscuits - Eric Lanlard's Afternoon Tea

The Palets Breton were a slightly different story.....although they tasted amazing....they really didn't look like the photo in the book.....nor any other photo of Palets Breton that I have seen since I baked them!! I'm really not sure what went wrong.....but they still tasted wonderful!

Homemade Palets Breton biscuits from Eric Lanlard's Afternoon Tea

The biscuits melt in the mouth and I can see how they can be used as a base for other recipes as well as being enjoyed alone....with a cup of tea or coffee!

The book Afternoon Tea will be available from June,  but you can pre-order copies now. Over the next month we'll taste test a couple more recipes - don't forget to pop back and see what we try!

Please note that although we've received a complimentary copy of Afternoon Tea, this hasn't affected our thoughts on the book....and all opinions expressed in this blog post are our own.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel