Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends.....we hope you're ready to drool today! We have a rather wonderful afternoon tea adventure to share with you today, as recently the lovely Alexandra treated Rachel to a spot of tea at Coworth Park as a Birthday treat.
Coworth Park is a luxurious country house hotel on the borders of Windsor Great Park. Situated in picturesque parkland, Coworth Park is part of the Dorchester Collection, a beautiful country retreat that we'd wanted to visit for a while. Afternoon tea is served in the Drawing Room, which is located in the main Mansion House and enjoys stunning views over the hotel’s terraces and the Berkshire countryside. Words that I would use to describe Coworth Park are elegant, beautiful and peaceful....somewhere to escape to and enjoy time with friends.
Afternoon tea is a quintessentially English affair, with sandwiches, scones and sweet served on an elegant tea stand. Guests also have over 20 teas to choose from and can enjoy their afternoon tea with a glass of bubbles.
The afternoon tea sandwiches included:
Poached salmon with bronze fennel on caraway bread
Smoked chicken and basil on basil bread
Cucumber with cream cheese and mint on onion bread (v)
Montgomery Cheddar cheese savoury on wholemeal bread (v)
The sandwiches were freshly prepared, served on soft bread which was well filled. We all really enjoyed the smoked chicken sandwich, but all the fillings were tasty! The finger sandwiches were a tiny bit rustic, and not quite even...
But that added to the charm!
We were offered a second round of sandwiches, which we happily accepted ...... well it would be rude not to when they were so nice!
Next came the scones, which were served with clotted cream and a choice of strawberry preserve and cherry compote.
The scones were still warm when we enjoyed them. They were small enough to enjoy more than one and were light and fluffy in the middle.
Finally we made it to the top of the cake stand and those beautiful pastries....
Each item looked beautiful and was the perfect size. The flavours were quite traditional and nothing was too fancy:
Lemon verbena éclair
Kentish strawberry and elderflower trifle
Raspberry and meadow sweet frangipane tart
Chocolate and hazelnut sponge cake
The frangipane tart was so cute, with a little bee on the top
Each pastry was well made and the flavours well balanced....it's quite hard to pick a favourite really. If you like Bakewell Tarts you will really enjoy the little frangipane tarts - the pastry is perfectly light and the almond and raspberry well balanced. But I think the chocolate and hazelnut stole it for me - chocolately without being too rich.
As this was a birthday treat, Coworth Park helped me celebrate with a little Birthday cake:
I took the cake home with me as I was rather full from afternoon tea, but it kept really well and I enjoyed it later that week with a cup of tea!
After tea we were encouraged to explore the beautiful grounds, including a walk through the meadow. It was a lovely sunny evening and so off we went....
From the moment we arrived at Coworth Park, every member of staff we encountered was friendly and professional and keen to help us. This coupled with the beautiful surroundings and well put together afternoon tea made for a wonderful afternoon.
I'd like to thank Alexandra for treating me to this afternoon tea - I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a treat. For more information about this afternoon tea please visit the Coworth Park website.
Thank you for popping by today,
Rachel and Lorna
