Afternoon Tea News - Wimbledon themed ARTea, Lancaster London

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - today we're sharing some afternoon tea news with you. With the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament just around the corner Lancaster London has come up with a tea-riffic tennis themed afternoon tea!

Game, Set and Match! Lancaster London has once again ‘smashed’ another ARTea Afternoon Tea, this time in honour of the 131st Wimbledon Tennis Championships, which take place from 3 – 16 July 2017. The iconic hotel is renowned for its innovative afternoon teas, and for the Wimbledon ARTea, available from Wednesday 28 June until Sunday 16 July 2017, the pastry team have gone all ‘OUT’!

As the professionals take to the court to warm up their first and second serves, chefs at Lancaster London will be doing the same! The first round commences with savoury bites of Lancaster London Smoked Salmon and Citrus Cream Cheese Granary Pinwheels; a Warm Tartlet of Goat’s Cheese and Red Onion; and a Sesame Seed Choux Bun filled with Confit Duck, Sun Blushed Tomato and Hoisin Sauce. 

The second round promises to be an exciting one with a tie-break between the Summer Berry and Traditional Scones, served with Homemade Strawberry Jam and Clotted Cornish Cream. 

For the grand final, a tangy Lemon Tennis Ball Tart will be landing on the grass next to a Mini ‘Murray’ Mess and a Centre Court Strawberry Macaron. Wimbledon wouldn’t be Wimbledon without a glass of Pimms, so the Tipsy Pimms Cupcake and Pink Champagne Teacake are the sure favourites to win the crowd’s favour. 

Served in the classic Park Room, which boasts beautiful views of Hyde Park, the Wimbledon ARTea Afternoon Tea is priced at £35 per person, or can be enjoyed with Champagne for £45, and Rose Champagne for £50

I don't know about you, but I think Chef Ben Purton and his team have created an amazing looking afternoon tea feast to celebrate Wimbledon. The Tipsy Pimms cupcake and Pink Champagne teacake sound very tempting!

If you try this afternoon tea during July we'd love to hear all about it!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Afternoon Tea News - time for Wimbledon!

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - I'm not sure where time is flying to this year....but it's already halfway through week two of Wimbledon 2016!

To celebrate the tennis championships I thought I would bring you a roundup of Wimbledon themed afternoon teas....

Let's begin with this colourful afternoon tea from the Soho Hotel in London's West end....

Wimbledon 2016 afternoon tea - Soho Hotel

The sweets in this afternoon tea include a Pimm's jelly pot, English strawberries and cream tartlets, Lemon curd cupcakes and Wimbledon chocolate macaroons. The Soho Hotel are offering a themed Afternoon Tea with the option to upgrade to include a Wimbledon Bellini. Available from 1st - 31st July.

Meanwhile over at the Dorchester on Park Lane, you can enjoy a chocolate tennis racket with your scones as you celebrate Wimbledon...

Wimbledon 2016 afternoon tea - the Dorchester

You need to be quick to enjoy this elegant afternoon tea though, as it's only available until Sunday 10th July.

Tennis balls are a feature at The Terrace at Amba Hotel Charing Cross....

Wimbledon 2016 afternoon tea - Amba Hotel Charing Cross

This fun afternoon tea includes....

Strawberries & Pimms Cup

'Tennis racket' Biscuit '

Tennis court' Chocolate Tarts

Lemon Macaron 'Tennis balls'

This afternoon tea is available until the end of July.

Finally we have this smashing afternoon tea from The Montague.....

Wimbledon 2016 afternoon tea - The Montague 

The sweets on this Wimbledon afternoon tea menu are plentiful and include....

 Strawberry Meringue

Bakewell tart

Pimms jelly

Raspberry macaroon

Chocolate éclair

Honeycomb cheesecake

Pineapple entremets

Pistachio tennis ball

If you've enjoyed a Wimbledon afternoon tea this year we'd love to hear all about it! Leave us a comment below.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

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 something you usually serve...but don't eat!

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends.

So....what do you usually serve and not eat....a tennis ball of course! However, in this Wimbledon fortnight where we have already seen several scrummy tennis themed afternoon teas we have also discovered these Wimbledon Cake Pops which are served at Foxcroft & Ginger.

Artisan bakers and coffee makers Foxcroft & Ginger are launching these fab tennis ball cake pops for the Wimbledon Semi-Finals and Final! These tasty looking tennis balls have a coconut macaroon outer-shell encasing a delicious honey, lemon, almond, and coconut cake inside, with desiccated coconut decoration to resemble the lines on a tennis ball.

These tennis ball cakepops can be found at the Foxcroft & Ginger cafes in Soho, Whitechapel or Dalston, where they are available to eat in or takeaway for just £2.50 each.

Every ingredient used by Foxcroft & Ginger is freshly made in-house, with original recipes tweaked to perfection.  

For more information visit the Foxcroft & Ginger website...but be warned....there is some seriously scrummy treats featured there!

So, over to you - have you visited one of the Foxcroft & Ginger cafes? What did you enjoy? And we'd love to hear from you if you enjoy one of these edible cake pops!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Afternoon Tea News....It's Time for Wimbledon!

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea news post from Tea With Me and Friends.

As you'll probably know if you are a tennis fan Wimbledon 2014 started on Monday 23rd June. The famous tennis championships were founded in 1877 and today attract top players from around the world.

To celebrate Wimbledon 2014 we thought we would take a look at the Wimbledon themed afternoon teas that are on offer, all photos are from the hotels......

First off we have the Wimbledon themed afternoon tea at The Marylebone Hotel which features Pimms jelly and strawberry tarts....

Strawberries & Cream afternoon tea - The Marylebone Hotel

Browns Hotel have crafted some of their delicious pastries to remind guests of the tennis....

Wimbledon Afternoon Tea - Browns Hotel

The Landmark hotel has created a Wimbledon themed afternoon tea which includes delights such as Pimm’s jelly embellished with cucumber foam, classic strawberry and cream meringue tart or the chocolate mousse and earl grey cream.....

Wimbledon Afternoon Tea - The Landmark

The Corinthia Hotel has created an afternoon tea based around tennis terminology, including a Lemon and lavender sable biscuit racket!

Anyone for tennis? Afternoon Tea at The Corinthia

Finally we have the beautifully crafted afternoon tea on offer at The Ampersand Hotel....

Wimbledon Afternoon Tea - The Ampersand Hotel

These are just some of the Wimbledon themed afternoon teas that I have discovered, there are lots out there to be discovered...but be quick as all of these teas will be limited addition!

If you have enjoyed a Wimbledon themed afternoon tea we'd love to hear from you, please get in touch by leaving us a comment!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for Tea.....The Ampersand Chelsea Flower Show Tea

Hello there,

Welcome back to another brilliant guest post here at Tea With Me and Friends - this time we are joined by Jude and her husband who recently visited The Ampersand Hotel in South Kensington. As regular visitors to the blog will know, this is a favourite spot of mine for afternoon tea and I am always keen to hear about the amazing new teas that Pastry Chef Ji Sun Shin creates!

 Jude visited The Drawing Room at the hotel for their rather special Chelsea Flower Show inspired afternoon tea. Now I know this tea is no longer available, but I wanted to share with you how beautiful it looked....

Afternoon tea at The Ampersand Hotel

The tea followed the usual format of a selection of savoury gougeres followed by white chocolate scones, which Jude found just as scrummy as me! But it was that top layer where it all got very creative and floral.....

Chelsea Flower Show Afternoon Tea
Ampersand Hotel

Let's take a closer look at those sweet treats....

Afternoon tea at The Ampersand Hotel

In addition to the wonderful food on offer, Jude also commented on the surroundings of The Drawing Room at The Ampersand - particularly the comfy seats and relaxed ambiance of the lounge. All in all a wonderful experience!

You may have missed the highly creative Chelsea Flower Show afternoon tea....but fear not as Chef Ji Sun has some more wonderful afternoon teas up her sleeve over the coming months! As well as the traditional afternoon tea and vegetarian variety which are always on offer, the amazing science tea is making another appearance between 26th May and 20th June. 

This has been one of my favourite afternoon teas at the hotel and features pastries including Hazelnut, walnut and chocolate cake with mango mousse volcano and chocolate dinosaur, Pistachio macaroon with cherry sauce pipette, Raspberry cake planet and a Citrus cocktail......

Science tea - Ampersand Hotel
Photo from website

Then between the 21st June and the 6th July you can experience the Wimbledon inspired Afternoon Tea.....

Wimbledon tea - Ampersand Hotel
Photo from website

Doesn't that look amazing? 

The pastries are all Wimbledon inspired and include Coconut mousse and mango passion fruit jelly tennis ball on a lime sponge tennis court, Ginger bread tennis racket, Strawberry and cream tart, Blueberry white chocolate ganache macaroon and a Pimm's cocktail shot.

These special chef's afternoon teas are available at £32.50 per person (a little more if you would like a glass of bubbles too), for more information pop by the hotel website.

A big thank you to Jude for sharing her latest afternoon tea adventure with us!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel