Welcome to our blog....here we will share all our afternoon tea adventures with you...the good, the bad and the wonderful!

Saturday, 30 January 2021

Coffee and Cake worth walking for!

 Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you are keeping well today.

As you know, we love to support local, independent businesses especially when they help with our coffee and cake cravings! Imagine my delight when I discovered that Bakehouse, the fabulous baker from Aldershot who we have featured before on the blog, has teamed up with The Coffee Cabin! 

May I present Farnham's newest mobile coffee van...Candice!

The van serves tea from T2, along with coffee from DT Roastery in Winchester, hot chocolate, and freshly baked treats from Bakehouse. Amy, the owner, is super friendly and serves the coffee with a smile, even in the awful wet, cold weather we're experiencing at the moment. 

Being a mobile offering, means that Amy and Candice the van move around the area, so you need to check out the Instagram account to find out where they are.



I have visited the Coffee Can twice now, both times they have been located on the Shepherd and Flock roundabout in Farnham (passed the pub and down the lane a little bit). But they have also spent some time in passed week at The Royal Oak pub in Wreclesham. So far I have enjoyed a black americano and a mocha, both have been delicious. I particularly enjoyed the mocha, which was chocolatey and a little bit bitter - the perfect blend. I also want to head back for a hot chocolate, which looks delicious! 

Cake-wise I have sampled the peanut butter slice and the salted caramel cupcake. As you already know I love Bakehouse cakes, which are always fresh and so full of flavour. The salted caramel cupcake was really good though, with the perfect ratio of cake to icing....it's possibly my favourite cupcake from Bakehouse so far! 




I should also mention that Amy uses biodegradable cups for her hot drinks.

If you happen to be in the Farnham area of Surrey and fancy a cup of coffee, I'd definitely recommend looking for Amy and Candice the van! I'll be heading back....there are a lot more cakes to sample!


Thanks for popping by today,
Rachel

Wednesday, 20 January 2021

It's Pretzel time!

 Hello there!

Happy new year....is it too late to say that now?? Don't know about you, but can't believe we're mid way through January already! 

Anyway, here in the UK we are still in lockdown. Staying home is still not that much - missing friends, family and loved ones. There is only so much baking you can do yourself....so I've been looking at the different sweet treats that can be delivered to me at home. We need to provide our own moments of joy and for me these can definitely lie in cake and biscuits! There are so many companies now offering their sweet treats via the post, I thought it was about time I indulged a little.

I found PostBox Pretzels on Instagram, they came highly recommended and I thought the concept was quite different. Basically they make crunchy pretzel sandwiches, covered in chocolate stuffed with yummy centres. Better still....they post them to you!


They offer a selection of flavours including Honeycomb, caramel crisp, s’more, chocolate orange & The Nutty One.  You can either pick specific flavours to make up a box or opt for one of their selection boxes. When picking your own, you can also select your favourite chocolate coating, giving you even more variety.

I opted for the surprise selection to cut out the anxiety of picking from one of the fabulous flavours listed on the website (what if I regret my choice??). The box includes four fresh pretzel sandwiches, with the option to add a personalised message if you are sending as a gift.

Delivery was fast and no need to worry about being home for when your pretzels arrive (although that's not really an issue in the current situation for many of us), as the box fits perfectly through a letterbox. I can confirm that the box makes a very pleasant thud as it hits the floor!


I really liked the packaging, which helped the pretzels arrive safely. If you get the surprise box everything is labelled so you know what to expect when picking your first pretzel to try. As you can see I had the S'mores, Honeycomb Crunch, Chocolate Orange and Caramel Crisp. When I ordered a box for my sister she got a different selection, so you really never know what you'll get when ordering a surprise box! I also love the toppings, don't they look delicious?

I loved the combination of crunchy pretzel and the various softer fillings. I can confirm that the Chocolate Orange was my favourite, which features an orange infused ganache in the middle of the two sourdough pretzels. Mine was coated in a milk chocolate and it was so delicious! Coming in close second place was the S'mores one....in the middle was marshmallow, ganache and salted caramel...such a great combination. Again it was topped in milk chocolate and covered with mini marshmallows. I did also really enjoy the caramel crisp, which was coated in dark chocolate and included a generous serving of gooey caramel in the middle. The honeycomb crisp was a little too sweet for me, but that was personal taste rather than anything else. I'm not a huge fan of white chocolate.



There were four pretzel sandwiches in my box...and I somehow managed to make them last four days. They were a lovely afternoon treat with a mug of steaming hot coffee!

As mentioned, I also sent a box to my sister. She also loved them, her favourites were the smores and chocolate orange ones. 

If you want to find out more about Postbox Pretzels pop by their website. 

Thank you for popping by today, we hope to see you again soon!

Rachel xxx