Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends! As you know this week we are celebrating Afternoon Tea Week 2015, and last month we were lucky enough to have a sneak peek of the new cake that The Ritz are launching this week.
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| Milk chocolate and almond cake The Ritz |
The scrummy milk chocolate and almond cake was created by Chef Lewis Wilson and we were lucky enough to be shown around the kitchens at The Ritz by Chef Lewis who also agreed to answer our nosey afternoon tea questions.....
How long does it usually take you to create new afternoon teas?
It will normally take about 3 weeks to create a new afternoon tea cake, from the first idea, through to the tasting and trialling process in the pastry kitchen to presenting it to our Executive Chef at The Ritz, John Williams. The new cake we will be launching in Afternoon Tea Week in August, went through between 8 and 10 variations, with different sponges and textures before the final version was approved. We have very high standards at The Ritz, which is great for a Pastry Chef, as we are constantly striving to improve.
Where does your inspiration for new teas come from?
Food is really a passion for me and I love eating out and trying new restaurants and pastry shops. I always book my holidays around cities and places where there are restaurants that I want to try. One of my favourite Pastry Shops in London is Pâtisserie des Rêves in South Kensington, it’s hard to beat their Paris–Brest, and Yauatcha in Soho always has a really beautiful selection of pastries on display (which taste great too!). One of my mentors is French Pastry Chef Philippe Rigollot, who I did a stage with in Lenôtre in Paris – he is very inspirational for me.
What is your favourite part of your latest afternoon tea?
The new Milk Chocolate and Almond cake launching combines the best of flavours and textures – it has chocolate, nuts and caramel. I am very proud of it and hope the guests who come for Afternoon Tea at The Ritz will enjoy it too.
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| Chef Lewis Wilson |
Do you enjoy a spot of afternoon tea yourself and have you tried tea anywhere else?
I recently went on a foodie weekend break to Paris, and tried Afternoon Tea at the Shangri-La Hotel, which was very impressive.
What is your favourite filling in an afternoon tea sandwich?
Coronation chicken! We serve an excellent coronation chicken canapé at The Ritz. I also love the Egg Mayonnaise.
The all important question - do you put cream or jam on your scone first?
Cream! It just seems right to go first.
If you could invite any guest to enjoy afternoon tea with you, who would it be and why?
Yves Thuriès. He has been named a MoF (Meilleur Ouvrier de France) – the very best accolade in France – twice. I would love to hear his knowledge and wisdom over tea – I imagine he has seen everything!
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I'm pleased to see that Chef Lewis dresses his scones the Tea With Me and Friends way....cream first! I'm also partial to a spot of coronation chicken in my afternoon tea sandwiches.
We'd like to thank Chef Lewis for taking the time to answer our questions, it's always great to find out a little more about the afternoon teas that we enjoy. If you'd like to hear more about that scrummy cake, take a peek here.
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| Launching during Afternoon Tea Week 2015.... |
If you enjoy this scrummy cake we'd love to hear what you thought....leave us a comment and let us know.
Thank you for popping by today,
Rachel & Lorna
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