Afternoon Tea News.....The Ampersand Hotel

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea news post from Tea With Me and Friends! Today we wanted to share with you the next exciting afternoon tea that has been created by Pastry Chef Ji Sun Shin at The Ampersand Hotel in South Kensignton.

Chef Ji Sun has been up to her creative tricks again....this time being inspired by the Proms.....

Proms inspired afternoon tea
Ampersand Hotel

Available at the hotel between 18th July and the 5th September, the afternoon tea offers guests a selection of savoury gougeres and delicious scones served with cream and preserve. Plus a selection of sweet treats inspired by the BBC Proms, which starts with the first night of the Proms also on the 18th July. What a wonderful collection of musical sweet treats!

For more information about the various afternoon teas on offer at The Ampersand, please with their website.

Don't forget about our fab Birthday competition - The Ampersand has kindly given us a champagne afternoon tea for two to giveaway to celebrate our blog's first birthday! Take a peek here for more details about how to enter!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel and Lorna

Meet the Pastry Chef.....Zoe Berkeley

Hello there,

Welcome back to another "meet the chef" article from Tea With Me and Friends, today we are meeting Zoe Berkeley the founder and owner of bake-a-book bake shop and tea room bake-a-boo in London. Bake-a-boo is opened on the weekends only, offering special treats for everyone, including a selection of sweet treats which are free from wheat, gluten and dairy.

Zoe Berkeley - bake-a-boo

We recently featured the sensitive teas created by Zoe, there are so many varieties that we decided to ask Zoe some questions about her creations....

Q. You offer a great selection of "sensitive teas" on your menu at bake-a-boo, was it more difficult to create your these afternoon teas?
We recently introduced vegan and sugar free teas to our menu and it took me a few weeks playing with ideas to get these tea menus right. I had to do lots of experimenting with the vegan scones, to me scones are the most important part of afternoon tea and we get so many compliments for our ‘normal’ scones. I wanted the vegan scones to be really yummy!

Creating a gluten free afternoon tea was slightly easier as we already bake so many gluten free cakes, getting that right took less time, so it really depends how much you are challenging yourself and how many things you have to bake without!

Q. Where did your inspiration for your sensitive afternoon tea recipes come from?
I am gluten and dairy free myself, and have been for 11 years for many health reasons. Back then it was so hard to find cakes and treats, and you were very isolated if you went out to eat. Now it’s much easier to have food allergies as people are more aware and there are so many products available now.

When I first opened bake-a-boo the idea would be that there was something for everyone – we catered for most of the common food allergies so no one would feel isolated and everyone could treat themselves. This is why we now offer full afternoon teas that are vegan, sugar free, dairy free and gluten free, as well as the standard afternoon tea which is ‘full of everything!’

Sweet treats at bake-a-boo
Photo from website

Q. Do you enjoy a spot of afternoon tea yourself, have you tried tea anywhere else?
I LOVE afternoon tea – especially scones, but unfortunately due to my dietary requirements it’s quite hard for me to have afternoon tea anywhere else! But my good friend who runs Little Lady Blog took me for afternoon tea at One Aldwych last year and they were brilliant at catering for my needs, I really appreciated that.

Q. The all important question - do you put cream or jam on your scone first?
Jam first – cream on top! I don’t understand the other way round!!! Why???

Apparently jam on top is the Devonshire way and cream on top is the Cornish way, so I’m rooting for the Cornish way  – the Cornish say it’s done this way because apparently this is because the Devonshire lot are ‘ashamed’ of their cream – which I always find funny!

Q. If you could invite any guest to enjoy afternoon tea with you, who would it be and why?
Oh wow that’s a difficult one!! I would love to have tea with Erin McKenna who runs babycakes in the US, I read an article about babycakes in New York soon after I opened bake-a-boo in 2006 and I couldn’t believe how similar our stories were. She opened babycakes (a gluten free and vegan bakery) in New York about a year before I did, she has the same food allergies as me and had the same struggles in starting her business. Erin also used to work in fashion, which I also did previously to starting bake-a-boo. Our stories were almost identical. I would love to have tea with her as I think we would really get on and we have so much in common, and cake is our lives!

If I could cheekily chose 1 more person it would be Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Despite the fact that I have wanted to marry him since I was 16, I actually say him because he is a really fabulous, humble, and inspiring person, and he really is one of my heroes! I met him last year and made him a cake, he was so excited by it! He’s renowned for eating huge stacks of pancakes on ‘cheat days’ so I know if I got him on a cheat day he would love afternoon tea! Just don’t tell my boyfriend!

We'd like to say a big thank you to Zoe and her team for this article, and we hope to be popping by bake-a-boo really soon!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Afternoon Tea News.....bake-a-boo Sensitive Teas

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea article from Tea With Me and Friends, as June is dietary requirement month on the blog we decided to take a look at the range of sensitive afternoons teas on offer at bake-a-boo in West Hampstead London.

As well as a traditional afternoon tea bake-a-boo offers three different sensitive tea options for people with dietary requirements, these include a gluten free tea, a second tea that is both Vegan and dairy and egg free and finally a sugar free tea.

Sensitive afternoon teas on offer at bake-a-boo

I am really quite impressed with the variety of sensitive teas on offer....

but what does each one include......

Gluten free  

Selection of gluten free finger sandwiches

Gluten free scones with jam & cream

Gluten free cupcakes

Gluten free apple and date cake slices

Dark chocolate dipped strawberries

All served on tiered cake stands with a refreshing pot of tea!

£19 per person (minimum two people)

Vegan / dairy and egg free

Selection of vegetarian filled dairy and egg free finger sandwiches

Dairy & egg free scones with jam & vegan cream

Dairy & egg free chocolate cupcake

Vegan muffin

Dark chocolate dipped strawberries

All served on tiered cake stands with a refreshing pot of tea! (soya milk is also available)

 £20 per person (minimum two people)

Sugar free 

Selection of finger sandwiches

Sugar free scones with diabetic sugar free jam & cream

Sugar free apple and date cake slice

Banana, coconut and sultana bites

Fruit salad

All served on tiered cake stands with a refreshing pot of tea!

£20 per person (minimum two people)

Sensitive afternoon tea - bake-a-boo

Bake-a-boo is the mastermind of owner Zoe, who is also the creator of this selection of teas and the other sweet treats and homemade bakes on offer at bake-a-boo. Zoe knows all too well how hard it is to indulge in a spot of afternoon tea when you have dietary requirements as she herself has been diary and gluten free for the last eleven years.

Pop back to the blog later this week when we meet Zoe in a "meet the pastry chef" article all about her and her afternoon tea creations at bake-a-boo. In the meantime have you ever tried any of the bake-a-boo sensitive teas - if so we'd love to hear from you.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Time for Tea.....Gluten Free Afternoon Tea Feature

Hello there,

Welcome back to another guest post at Tea With Me and Friends and this time we are joined by Kelly who is going to share with us some of her gluten free afternoon tea adventures....

Like Rachel and Lorna, I'm a big lover of Afternoon Tea - the food, the tea and spending an afternoon enjoying delightful conversation in a posh London hotel is always a perfect way to spend an afternoon.   But there is one difference between Rachel and Lorna and myself - I have a gluten intolerance.

I'm not one to back away from a challenge so in 2013 I made it my New Years Resolution to eat as much Afternoon Tea as I could to find the best Gluten Free Afternoon Tea in London.

Not all 5 Star Hotels are created Equal

Unfortunately some of London's top hotels are still struggling to get their gluten free Afternoon Tea right - from undercooked & overcooked scones and pastries tasting foul it can feel like you are stepping on egg shells.  My stand out hotel from last year was The Goring Hotel in London for their Afternoon Tea - everything was to die for!

Gluten free afternoon tea - The Goring Hotel

Gluten free scones - The Goring Hotel

Cheap and Nasty

If you are on a budget and looking at spending £20 per head for your Afternoon Tea then you will get the bulk standard finger sandwiches, scones, a chocolate brownie and bakewell tart - I have seen this numerous times.  Never fret, there is a great cheap £20 Afternoon Tea at The St James Hotel and Club who specialise in Gluten Free Afternoon Tea and they have a great selection of pastries.

Gluten free afternoon tea
The St James Hotel and Club

The Bees Knees - Vintage Tea Rooms

Surprisingly the Vintage Tea Rooms dotted around England offer some of the best gluten free Afternoon Teas and can actually outclass some of London's top hotels.  Case in point would be Southill Vintage Tea Rooms in Bedfordshire that have a great gluten free selection - they employ someone with a gluten intolerance so all their cakes are amazing!

Gluten free cakes
Southill Vintage Tea Rooms

Gluten free scones - Southill Vintage Tea Rooms

If you would like to read my round up of the best Gluten Free Afternoon Tea's in London then please check out my blog.

I don't know about you....but I'm drooling a little bit after looking at all of those scrummy photos! To see more gluten free afternoon tea photos and other articles pop by Kelly's fab blog! A huge thank you to Kelly for sharing her afternoon teas with us!

If you've enjoyed a gluten free tea and would like to share it with us please get in touch - we'd love to feature you as a guest blogger!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Afternoon Tea News.....Coworth Park Launches New Tea

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea post from Tea With Me and Friends. Today we are sharing with you some exciting news as Coworth Park in Ascot launch their new Meadow Tea. Celebrating British summertime the Meadow Afternoon tea is inspired by flowers that grow on the estate and features exclusive fragrant hand-blended tea.

Meadow Afternoon Tea - Coworth Park
Photo from Website

The Meadow Tea will be served in the elegant Drawing Room of Coworth Park when the meadow blooms, between the 1st June and 31st September 2014. Pastries will be accompanied by a selection of finger sandwiches and scones, and complemented by seasonal homemade compotes.

Head Pastry Chef Luke Frost has created such delights as a Raspberry and Rose Fancy which is a twist on a British favourite inspired by the pinks and reds of Coworth Park’s own rose garden with layers of raspberry and rose between light sponge and the Gooseberry Fool with estate picked elderflower.

 

There will be two sittings each day at 2:30pm and 4:45pm. The Meadow Afternoon Tea is priced at £29.00 per person or from £42.50 per person for champagne meadow tea, for more information please visit the Coworth Park website.

Meet the Head Pastry Chef

Head Pastry Chef Luke Frost
Coworth Park

To celebrate the launch of this summery afternoon tea we asked Chef Luke some afternoon tea questions......

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

Guests at Coworth Park are treated to individually hand crafted pastries when enjoying tea in our drawing room. Perfecting each pastry from idea to final result can be less time consuming than you may think due to the skills of my team, although it’s the often the ones you believe to be the easiest that pose the most difficulty. The art here is to balance colours, flavours and textures to ensure a balanced selection for the guests to enjoy which is where the creativity comes in. 

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

I love Coworth Park’s mantra ‘Rewriting the rules’ and my current afternoon tea selection reworks classic British pastries. In the summer I cannot fail to be influenced by Coworth Park’s stunning wild flower meadow and this year the view from the Mansion House will provide fresh inspiration for the team in both flavours and presentation. 

Q. What is your favourite part of your latest afternoon tea?

Manchester Tart, a staple in any northern bakery, is normally made with powdered custard and heaps of dessicated coconut. My modern interpretation has banana crème brulee, homemade jam and coconut marshmallow and I think best represents an example of reworked British classics.

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

I love the experience of Afternoon Tea, lingering over something so delicious in the late afternoon is wonderfully indulgent. At my own wedding reception I chose to have Afternoon Tea, it was more relaxed and guests could socialise rather than be restricted by a seating plan. Afternoon Tea at The Dorchester is a classic that cannot be rivalled. 

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

This is a tough choice, both egg & cress or smoked salmon would be contenders but I have to pick Coronation Chicken. Last summer at The Dorchester I had a chicken and mango sandwich on cumin bread which was a modern adaption on the traditional coronation chicken and it was excellent. 

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

Jam first. It’s all about what you want to feel on you palate and the aftertaste you want left in your mouth and for me that means the lingering smoothness of the clotted cream. 

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

I am very interested in both the history and architecture of buildings so it would be fantastic to sit with The Earl of Derby who is the original owner of Coworth Park. I would love to discuss how the estate has evolved over the years and his thoughts about the hotel today. 

A big thank you to Chef Luke for answering our questions, I hope to enjoy tea at Coworth Park in the near future as the Meadow Tea sounds wonderfully summery.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel