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

Time for Tea......Pennyhill Park, Surrey

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you're well today.

A couple of weekend's ago the lovely Lydia visited Pennyhill Park for a spot of afternoon tea with her friends......and lucky for us she took some photos!

Afternoon tea - Pennyhill Park

Pennyhill Park received a Tea Guild Award of Excellence in 2013 and was awarded "Top City & Country Hotel Tea Awards 2012" by the Tea Guild.

Afternoon tea at Pennyhill Park is served in their Ascot Bar or weather permitting on their pretty terraces in the sunshine. On this occasion Lydia enjoyed tea in the Ascot Bar, where a pianist was also playing.

The Traditional Ascot afternoon tea includes freshly cut sandwiches, freshly baked scones with clotted cream and homemade preserves and a selection of homemade cakes and pastries - all washed down by an extensive choice of tea or coffee.

Afternoon tea - Pennyhill Park

Lydia's favourite part of this afternoon tea adventure was the enticing selection of pastries, which included among other things lemon drizzle cake and macaroons.

Afternoon tea at Pennyhill Park is served throughout the year between Monday - Friday you can enjoy tea between 2pm - 4.30pm and on Saturdays and Sundays the seating times are between 1pm - 5pm. Guests can enjoy a traditional afternoon tea for £33.00 per person, or can indulge in the Royal Ascot afternoon tea which includes a glass of Nyetimber Classic Cuvee, English Sparkling Wine for £41.00 per person. For more information about this afternoon tea please pop by the Pennyhill Park website.

We'd like to thank Lydia for sharing her afternoon tea adventure with us and for sharing those scrummy photos!

If you've enjoyed an afternoon tea adventure recently and took some photos of the experience we'd love to see them - please get in touch!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna 

Meet the Executive Pastry Chef.....Cherish Finden, The Langham London

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you're well today.

If you popped by the blog yesterday you'll know we featured the new afternoon tea being served at the Langham London. Today we are meeting the talented creator of this beautiful new afternoon tea feast....executive Pastry Chef Cherish Finden. You might recognise Cherish from the current BBC programme Great British Bake Off - Creme de la Creme where she appears as the firm but fair judge.

Executive Pastry Chef Cherish Finden

Recently Lorna and I had the pleasure of meeting Cherish and I can confirm that as well as being super talented and passionate about afternoon tea....she is also a really lovely person. We're so pleased that Cherish agreed to answer our slightly nosey afternoon tea questions - giving us an insight into the effort required to create such a tea-riffic afternoon tea spread!

Q How long does it usually take you to create new afternoon teas?

About 2- 3months for creating and another 2 months for food tasting and recipe development

Q. Where does your inspiration for new teas come from? 

Mostly I am inspired by the Wedgwood collection and everything I came across interest me for example:

1. the buttery Bloom – it is inspire by the Gerkin Building and Butterfly symbolise new life and to welcome spring
2. Hathaway Rose Victoria sponge – to bring in the classic Victorian feel

Afternoon tea - Langham London

Q. So, what is your favourite part of your latest afternoon tea?

Well I always like a new challenge. The most interesting part is to create - how to balance the flavour, texture, taste, appearance and WOW Bang effect!

Q. Do you enjoy a spot of afternoon tea yourself and have you tried tea anywhere else? 

Yes, I love to appreciate Afternoon Tea. Most of the Top 5 star hotel.

Q. What is your favourite filling in an afternoon tea sandwich? 

Classic-cucumber and cream cheese

Q. The all important question - do you put cream or jam on your scone first?

Jam and then cream - the Cornish way

Afternoon tea scones - Langham London

Q. If you could invite any guest to enjoy afternoon tea with you, who would it be and why? 

It will be a honour to invite the Queen.

The Queen has lead such an interesting life and been a tremendous ambassador for Britain. I would love to to an opportunity to share a cup of tea and a slice of humble cake with the Queen.

Executive Pastry Chef Cherish Finden with some of her tea-riffic
afternoon tea creations!

It was a real pleasure to listen to Cherish talk about her new afternoon tea at The Langham, her passion for creating perfectly balanced sweet treats is obvious as she talks. We'd like to thank Cherish for taking time out of her busy schedule to answer our afternoon tea questions.

For more information about the new afternoon tea at Langham London please visit their website.

Thank you for popping by today,
Rachel & Lorna

Afternoon Tea News - Wedgwood Afternoon Tea, The Langham

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - you may remember that recently Lorna and I attended the fabulous launch for Executive Pastry Chef Cherish Finden's new afternoon tea at The Langham in London. It was a tea-riffic event where we got to sample the afternoon tea treats, meet Cherish in person and hear all about the new afternoon tea creation. As promised here is a little more information about the food on offer....

The Langham, London is delighted to launch its new Langham Afternoon Tea with Wedgwood collection, created by Executive Pastry Chef, Cherish Finden and her culinary team.  The collection is inspired by classic Wedgwood collections, featuring butterfly and daisy motifs, heralding the start of spring and the changing season. 

Langham Afternoon Tea with Wedgwood collection

The palette is prepared with a pre-dessert of apricot and natural yoghurt panna cotta before being greeted by: 

The ‘Paisley Parcel’; a moist chocolate offering enhanced with Kahlua and double espresso. An amaretto taste is also incorporated and the ‘icing on the cake’ represented by white chocolate buttons with a bespoke white and blue paisley Wedgwood design.    

The ‘Butterfly Bloom’ takes inspiration from the Wedgwood collection of the same name, featuring a buttery shortbread tower with salted caramel. Two hand crafted butterflies at its peak represent the bloom of spring and the new florals blossoming.    

Sweet treats - Langham Afternoon Tea with Wedgwood collection

The ‘Yuzu for You’ offers an exciting mixture of the sweetness from the Langham No. 150 chocolate balanced with the acidity of the ‘yuzu’, a citrus fruit originating in East Asia. A kick of chocolate is added with the Langham’s bespoke ‘No. 150’ chocolate. The taste is rounded off with a crunchy chocolate sable. 

The Wedgwood Wild Strawberry comprises of a wild strawberry ‘pâte de fruit’ and pistachio cream macaroon, replicating the ‘Wedgwood Wild Strawberry’ design. The final pastry of ‘Hathaway Rose’ incorporates Lemon Victoria sponge, with a raspberry and jam.   

Pastries are accompanied by plain and raisin scones in addition to delicious sandwiches conceived by Head Chef of The Langham, London Chris King and team. These include Truffled duck egg brioche, Smoked salmon asparagus and rye, Cucumber with cream cheese and chives, Peppered beef pastrami with red Leicester coleslaw and Corn-fed chicken with golden sultana on carrot bread. 

Savoury selection - Langham Afternoon Tea with Wedgwood collection

The new collection is priced at £49 per person, £59 per person including a glass of N.V Laurent-Perrier Brut Champagne and £64 per person including a glass of N.V Laurent-Perrier Brut Champagne Rosé. Available from 6th April with sittings at 1.00pm, 3.15pm and 5.30pm.  For more information about this afternoon tea please visit The Langham London website.

Pop back tomorrow when we'll be meeting Executive Pastry Chef Cherish Finden to find out a little more about how she created this beautiful afternoon tea.....and the most important question of all....which way does she dress her scones?

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for Tea....The William Cecil Hotel, Stamford

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you're having a tea-riffic week!

Today we are joined by the lovely Victoria, who is sharing her recent afternoon tea adventure at The William Cecil Hotel in Stamford. Let's find out about her afternoon tea experience.....

Sophie, Anthea and I, whom had all met through the local branch of the Clandestine Cake Club, decided that a Sunday afternoon treat would be a visit to The William Cecil – a property owned by the Burghley Estate and run by Hillbrooke Hotels.  We were served our tea in the Olympic Bar, which is a nod to the last Lord Burghley’s sporting prowess.  It’s a great place to eat and drink, in civilised surroundings.  I digress…

The William Cecil, Stamford

Afternoon tea for two is £25, but we could easily add another person for £12.50.  Absolutely fantastic value, as we compared our other experiences of afternoon teas up and down the country.  The tea arrived on a three tiered stand and pots of tea, with Teapigs tea, included in the price.

So, the bottom tier had three different types of sandwiches: cheese and pickle, cucumber and smoked salmon.  All were in incredibly soft bread, with tasty fillings and completely crustless; pretty perfect!  There could have been more filling in the cucumber sandwiches, but maybe I’m being fussy.

Afternoon tea - The William Cecil, Stamford

Up to the middle tier, where the warm, plain scones were waiting for us.  Of course, we had the jam or clotted cream discussion, but all three of us agreed that it’s jam first, which we think is the Cornish way.  Whichever way it is, these were delicious and not claggy.  They were deliciously light and fluffy – and didn’t last long on our plates!

Afternoon tea sweet treats
The William Cecil, Stamford

Now to the very top with those sweet treats.  We each started this layer with a macaron, mine was vanilla, Sophie’s was coffee and Anthea’s was strawberry – all were light and very fresh.  Anthea shared her macaron making success (maybe there’s a blogpost waiting there!); we were impressed!  Onto the slice of carrot cake.  Being members of the Clandestine Cake Club, we try to fancy ourselves as Great British Bake Off critics, but there was no criticising here.  We all saved our slab of brownie until last.  Sophie is a brownie baking queen and was disappointed that they weren’t squidgy, but we all agreed that they were delicious.  Not to forget the lemon posset at the end.  A great palate cleanser after all that eating.

A great value afternoon tea, to which we’d all return at some point soon.

Those sweet treats all look rather scrummy don't they! To find out more about the afternoon tea on offer at the William Cecil in Stamford please visit their website.

A huge thank you to Victoria for sharing her afternoon tea adventure with us - we always love to hear where Victoria has been enjoying a spot of afternoon tea! If you have an afternoon tea that you'd like to share with us, please get in touch!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna