Tea to taste

When I started doing afternoon tea as a business my first thought was  the baking because that is where my experience and interest lie. However, thinking on - it of course stems from drinking tea, its customs, rituals and ceremonies.
The subject of Tea itself is massive and I have found a lot of useful information on the Tea Council website - www.tea.co.uk

If like me, tea has always been a drink to have with a biscuit or meal,  made from teabags, drunk with milk and for many people, sugar, without giving it much thought other than 'is it too weak or strong' - then think again.

The first large Afternoon Tea Event I catered for was the RSABI charity and I wanted to give the guests an opportunity to open their minds about tea and try various leaf teas along with their food.( As well as the novelty of pouring their tea from a silver teapot through a tea strainer into their china cup!)

I went  to my local tea supplier in North Berwick and asked which loose teas he would recommend. My thoughts were maybe  an Indian breakfast tea, a Darjeeling and an Earl Grey. However straight away he said- no, no stick to the one category and try a variety of black teas, so this was the
selection-

Edinburgh Blend - an old fashioned blend of high quality Indian and China teas

Kenya Highland - a stronger, darker tea than the Edinburgh blend.

Howdah's tea bag - made  for Howdah's with their own special blend of teas, slightly heavier than a normal teabag proving that tea bags filled with the right blend of teas can be just as good.

Everyone had their preferences. Even for people who normally wouldn't drink tea, it is well worth infusing the tea leaves for the correct length of time and tasting the tea without milk or sugar. I am sure there will find one blend they enjoy.

Go on - give it a go!

Let me know which type of tea you enjoy most by commenting on this blog.

 

 

 

 

Friday evening - High Societeas first official pop-up tea. Each month I will be hosting a High Societeas  afternoon tea in an unusual, historic and beautiful venue. What better way to start than  in the Old Schoolroom at Humble Pie Cookery School, Kingston. Light, airy, modern with a roaring coal fire at one end the extra long kithen table can seat as many as 16 people.
My guests arrived to a glass of Kir royale and stood around the fire taking in their surroundings and chatting happily.
Fortunately they knew not to eat too much before they came as they soon filled up with the spread of food laid out before them.

My guests' first cup of tea - Kenya Highland- a polular breakfast tea unusual in that it is made up of loose Broken Orange Pekoe leaf tea from Kenya.
Triple decker sandwiches - a guessing game to decide what was in them, dainty square sandwiches of fresh farm eggs with tomato along with a traditional ham sandwich for the unadventurous - all with crusts removed!
Now onto the savoury quiche followed by the scones, guests helping themselves to any amounts of homemade strawberry jam and cream.
Some of my guests had all this devoured in next to no time - I am guessing they didn't have their tea before they came out! but glad they were enjoying the food so far.

Time for the second leaf tea, this time the High Societeas breakfast tea, giving everyone an opportunity to try and compare different teas with their food.
Bringing out the cake stands with battenberg cake, coconut cherry slice and empire biscuits I could hear some groans of delight from those wishing they had paced themselves a little better!! Dainty sandwiches and cakes along with tea can be surprisingly filling.

And finally the centrepiece of the table -cream meringues and fresh fruit.

Having a 'dairy free' diet to cater for  in this tea, I discovered ways of producing more or less the same food using alternative ingredients and the lady was delighted.

Only 2 more teas to try, one being Blue Lady another popular tea which is black tea with petals added, light and slightly scented.

Well thats it - more very happy pop-up customers all of whom hope to follow us and return for another Pop-Up tea but where will it be next month?
Follow my facebook page and look on the website to find out www.highsocieteas.co.uk

Pancake Day
With pancake day approaching many of us will be looking out the syrup as well as the sugar and lemon juice.
Maple syrup is delicious on pancakes but more expensive than golden syrup - do you know why?
Well, it takes 4 Kg of tree sap to make just 100g of maple syrup.

Talking about Tea

Some facts about tea for you to ponder:-

1.Tea is a natural source of fluoride and delivers approx.45%of your daily requirement, if you drink 3 or 4 cups a day.

2. Green Tea is anti-bacterial and helps combat bad breath.

3.A cup of black tea has about half the caffeine of a cup of coffee, green tea has even less.

4.Tea contains more caffeine per gram than coffee but you use much less in a cup.

5. There is more than twice the anti-oxidant power ina cup of tea than there is in one apple!

Home-made Marmalade

Making marmalade is time-consuming  but ooh! the lovely fresh citrus smell as it cooks would brighten any winter's day. It is economical and the result in flavour and texture is well worth the effort.
January is the only time of the year that the really bitter oranges, marmalade is traditionally made from, are available in the shops- they are sold as 'marmalade oranges' (much too bitter to peel and eat)

I followed my Mum's recipe the first time I made marmalade. She was a Domestic Science teacher  in the early 1950's and she told me they made batch after batch of marmalade to sell to raise money for their department, so her recipe is very economical and makes quite a large quantity using every part of the orange. The minced fruit is soaked overnight in cold water presumably to reduce the cooking time.

Made in the same way as jams or jellies, the peel is an integral part of marmalade, extremely tough and requiring long, slow cooking. Pectin which is essential for a good set, exists in the pith and in the pips. Both should be tied in muslin and boiled with the chopped peel. An all-purpose thermometer can be used to guage setting point (220 degrees F) or pour a little onto a cold saucer and if a wrinkled sking forms within a few minutes, setting point has been reached.

There are many variations of marmalade using a variety of citrus fruits. Depending on the method used, marmalade can be chunky with large thick strips of peel or  clear jelly with fine strips of peel or thick and chunky where all the peel has been minced rather than cut into strips.  It just depends which you prefer.

But whichever you choose nothing  tastes quite like freshly made marmalade.

Looking for Baking Inspiration ?

Do you ever have days when you want to bake but don't knowwhat to bake ?

I do, from time to time and when I do I usually resort to my collection of recipe booklets which are made up of recipes donated by individuals, compiled into a book by groups who then sell them to raise funds for their organisation or charity.
e.g.I have one from the Ayrshire SWRI, North Yorkshire WI and several compiled by a friend of my Mum's from Brechin. This lady produced almost 6 little booklets, tried and tested every recipe-totally reliable.

Many recipes are the same or similar to the ones I already use but I always find some variations and something a little different. One such recipe I would like to share with you is homemade
Macaroon Bars and the magic ingredient.........MASHED POTATO! - sounds odd but it works - lovely and sweet.

Scottish Macaroon Bars (makes 12)
Ingredients
- 1½ heaped tablespoons of cold and thoroughly mashed boiled potatoes per bar
Icing sugar (have a packet ready – quantity depends on how stiff your mashed potato is)
2 tsp vanilla essence
8 oz Melted chocolate for coating
1 Cup Toasted desiccated coconut

Method
Cook potatoes in boiling water for 20 minutes before mashing.
Toast desiccated coconut on tray at 350°F (180°C/Gas Mark 4) until golden brown.
Melt chocolate slowly in a warm pan; stirring constantly to prevent sticking.
Mix potatoes with icing sugar; add enough sugar to make the mixture firm.
Chill, then roll out to ¾ inch thick and cut into bars.

Coat the bars with melted chocolate and cover with the toasted desiccated coconut on all sides.

Allow the bars to cool before eating and enjoying.

Facts about Afternoon Tea

1.    Afternoon Tea is a tea-related ritual, introduced in Britain in the early 1840s.

 

2.    Reputedly begun by Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford to fill the gap between their two main meals of the day, breakfast, and dinner at around 8 o'clock in the evening. She began to invite her friends to join her for “tea and a walking the fields” Before long all of fashionable society was sipping tea and nibbling sandwiches in the middle of the afternoon.

3.    Afternoon Tea is a meal composed of sandwiches (usually cut delicately into 'fingers'), scones with clotted cream and jam, sweet pastries and cakes.

4.    Interestingly, scones were not a common feature of early Afternoon Tea and were only introduced in the twentieth century.

5.    The difference between High Tea and Afternoon Tea ?- Traditionally, the upper classes would serve a ‘low' or ‘afternoon' tea around four o'clock, just before the fashionable promenade in Hyde Park. The middle and lower classes would have a more substantial ‘high' tea later in the day, at five or six o'clock, in place of a late dinner.

6.    The names derive from the height of the tables on which the meals are served, high tea being served at the dinner table.