Time for a spot of.....coffee and cake - Krema Farnham

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends.

Last December Krema Coffee opened its doors in Downing Street, Farnham in Surrey .....and last weekend.....four months later..... I finally got around to sampling some of the delights on offer!

Krema Artisan Coffee - Farnham, Surrey

Krema Coffee is independently owned and committed to supporting the local community, and where possible sourcing their food and drink from quality local suppliers. Their freshly roasted speciality coffee is undoubtedly the star of the show, along with a great range of loose leaf teas, hot chocolate, cold press juices and soft drinks. 

They also serve sandwiches, soups and salads prepared freshly every day using locally-baked artisan breads, meats and cheeses and I'm pleased to report that they have a rather fine selection of handmade cakes and sweet treats on offer! 

John (centre) and his team at Krema Coffee, Farnham

The interior of Krema Coffee is rustic but comfortable and the team of staff are friendly and very helpful if you are stuck making your refreshment decisions!

When I popped by I was in need of a good lunch.....and I was really spoilt for choice. Krema Coffee have a good selection of both sweet and savoury items to pick from, displayed in wonderful bowls or stacked up high in their glass cabinets.....

Decisions, decisions at Krema Coffee

I opted to go for a cheese and tomato toastie and a huge slab of Victoria sponge cake, washed down with a Tropical Smoothie (I know I know....I should have enjoyed a coffee or a cup of tea....but the night before had taken its toll and I really need some hydration!!). 

The food is freshly prepared and the portion sizes generous....

Toasted cheese & tomato sandwich and victoria sponge - Krema Coffee

The toasted sandwich is made with good quality bread and served with a small fresh side salad. If you are looking for a fully toasted sandwich, which leaks melted cheese from the sides then this might not be the sandwich for you - but I thoroughly enjoyed it....

My Tropical Smoothie really hit the spot and the cake was scrummy! 

Just take a look at the size of it....with a great ratio of cake to filling....

How cake is done at Krema Coffee, Farnham

I had the pleasure of meeting owner John as I was leaving and he told me all about the freshly made salads and fruit smoothies that are proving to be very popular at the moment. 

I'll definitely be popping back for some of that tomato and mozzarella salad....

He also pointed out the rather scrummy selection of squares, which I think I'm going to have to sample on my next visits....

A selection of sweet squares at Krema Coffee, Farnham

It's always great to find new local businesses that offer good quality tea, coffee and of course cake! If you happen to be in the Farnham area and fancy a piece of cake you should give Krema a go!

If you'd like to know more about Krema pop by their Facebook page.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

The Friday Review - French Earl Grey - T2

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - its been a while since we featured a new tea on the blog....but this week I enjoyed a lovely cup from T2 that I'd like to share with you.

This week I have been enjoying French Earl Grey tea from T2 - thanks to Lorna for the tea-riffic recommendation and the lovely T2 lady for letting me have a sample of the tea!

French Earl Grey - T2

In this tea the traditional Earl Grey gets a French fruity twist! This medium-bodied black tea base is full of fruity notes that play with the classic bergamot flavours in an uplifting cuppa. The ingredients for this flavoured black tea include...... black tea, flavouring, hibiscus, sunflower petals, rose petals, mallow flowers

I sampled this tea in teabag form....

French Earl Grey - T2

The teabag itself is rather luxious.....as its a handcrafted cotton teabag that encases your tea leaves and other ingredients. The needs to be brewed for just a couple of minutes to give you an amber coloured cup of tea....

French Earl Grey - T2

I found this tea to be very refreshing, a bit fruity, a bit floral....a bit citrus - perfect with a piece of cake or biscuit! A very enjoyable cuppa in the afternoon.

For more information about French Earl Grey or the rest of the teas in the T2 range pop by their website. Do you have a favourite T2 tea? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

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