English Tea Time?

[MishB]

Date: 11/3/2008 6:11:26 PM
Author: oobiecoo
MishB- What a lovely spread! What are those big, square cake looking bits?



And Harriet, what is a crumpet? Hubby and I were just discussing this the other day actually.

They are mini white chocolate lamingtons - squares of cake dipped into a mixture of melted white chocolate, icing sugar and cream, and rolled in pastel tinted coconut. They are delish.

You''ve never had a crumpet?? That is so sad, crumpets with butter and honey are one of my favourite things.

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 11/4/2008 2:29:05 AM
Author: Deelight
vegimite

Now THAT is an acquired taste. I have tasted vegemite and marmite, and

.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/4/2008 12:48:32 PM
Author: FireGoddess

Date: 11/4/2008 2:29:05 AM
Author: Deelight
vegimite

Now THAT is an acquired taste. I have tasted vegemite and marmite, and

.

LOL! With Marmite you either love it or hate it as the ad says! I love the stuff - yum...

 

[Deelight]

Date: 11/4/2008 4:05:51 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 11/4/2008 2:29:05 AM

Author: Deelight

Crumpets as far as I am concerned one of the best foods known to man kind

.


They taste like nothing else but are soooooo good with butter and vegimite

Yep! They are soft and yeasty with a chewyish top and crispy bottom, perfect hot with butter melting into the little holes...

Ahhh Lozza you have good taste, I could so go a crumpet right now

 

[Harriet]

Has anyone put Nutella on toasted crumpets? Yum.

Anyone here for Bovril?

 

[MishB]

Mmmmm..... these are a breakfast food for me, with butter, honey, and always a cup of tea!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/4/2008 8:00:41 PM
Author: Deelight

Date: 11/4/2008 4:05:51 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 11/4/2008 2:29:05 AM

Author: Deelight

Crumpets as far as I am concerned one of the best foods known to man kind

.


They taste like nothing else but are soooooo good with butter and vegimite

Yep! They are soft and yeasty with a chewyish top and crispy bottom, perfect hot with butter melting into the little holes...

Ahhh Lozza you have good taste, I could so go a crumpet right now

I do have good taste don't I Dee???

I could just eat a couple of crumpets also, especially now Mish posted that pic.....Ow!

 

[Gailey]

Yep, brought up on crumpets and marmite soldiers (they went with my chucky egg!)

I posted a tea response to the same thread in Hangout last night, I''ll copy it over in a minute.

The story about Afternoon Tea in a smart London Hotel is priceless. Let me tell you, despite being English and married to a Londoner, I had never been to a hotel for afternoon tea. So, year before last on a trip back I played up and my husband and son took me to The Savoy hotel for Afternoon Tea. It was very nice, but not a patch on what MishB serves up - I am seriously drooling over that spread.

Someone mentioned Afternoon Tea in Victoria. The Empress hotel has somewhat of a reputation for it and a few years ago I went on a gardening tour and we stayed at the Empress. I was hugely disappointed with their Afternoon Tea. My friend told me that it was because the hotel was no longer owned by Canadian Pacific. Whatever the reason, they were definitely trading on the reputation, so I cannot recommend it. Now the martinis on the other hand are a different story.

For all fans of McVities chocolate digestives, I urge you to try chocolate Hob Nobs, also by McVities - yum!

And yes, the ubiquitous cup of tea is a national institution. Fortunes have been made and lost over it, wars have been fought over it and you won''t get a house built or a renovation done in the UK unless you supply copious amounts of tea to your contractors.

At the first sign of any potential crisis brits will "put the kettle on" and make a cup of tea. My Grandfather suffered from Altzheimers and his last cognitive function, long after he stopped recognising us, would be to still respond to: "Cup of tea Granddad?"

One of my favourite teas is Twinings Irish Breakfast, which is a mixture of Ceylon and Assam teas.

Many years ago Harrods tea department was staffed by an eccentric gentleman who could tell you everything you ever needed to know about tea. I don''t know if he is still there, but anyone visiting Harrods in London should visit the tea department and try the China White Point, another really good tea.

I am inspired by MishB''s china and although I have Royal Worcester ''Lavinia'', I don''t have a tea set, so I''m going to hop out of bed, "put the kettle on", polish my silver and trawl e-bay for a while!

My regards to all fellow tea drinkers!

Gailey

 

[Lorelei]

Marmite soldiers are deee - licious!

 

[Gailey]

Here''s my other tea post:


OK - English Tea, where do I start????

If you are interested in the custom of afternoon tea, here''s an informative link: http://www.panix.com/~kendra/tea/afternoon_tea.html

If you are interested in how to brew English tea, try this: http://www.englishteastore.com/howtomaketea.html

If you are interested in which brands are worth trying and likely to be easily available to you:
http://www.twinings.com/home.php
http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=46794&cat=2,40733,46838

If you want the real McCoy: http://www.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/OurTeas.asp

Probably the best place in the world to drink tea: http://www.theritzlondon.com/tea/

Quick tip for cleaning a tea stained tea pot. Use this: http://www.polident.com/

Let me know if there''s anything else you would like to know, I drink gallons of the stuff!

 

[Deelight]

Date: 11/16/2008 12:47:45 PM
Author: Lorelei
Marmite soldiers are deee - licious!

Vegimite all the way

 

[Rachie]

MishB ~ Are these the scones with cream and strawberries? They look delicious! Do you make them yourself? If so, would you mind sharing the recipe? My grandma and aunts love having tea parties and I would love to bring these to one of them!

 

[ladypirate]

Just saw this thread and had to throw my biscuit vote in for dark chocolate hobnobs! Yum!

 

[dragonfly411]

I might have to try this tea thing just for the food, everything looks so delicious and I LOVE the china..... sigh

 

[Gailey]

OK, right off the bat I have to say, I didn''t bake this cake!

The Victoria Sandwich Cake is a stalwart for British teatime. I was brought up on it and so were my kids and virtually everyone I know.

Since moving to Canada from the UK, I haven''t for the life of me been able to bake one successfully and it''s one of the things my sister has in the house when I arrive for a visit!

I thought Afternoon Tea fans would appreciate the recipe: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1997/classic-victoria-sandwich

I guess it''s as British as cup cakes are to Americans

Enjoy!

MishB, if you bake one, please take a picture and post it so I can live vicariously through you!

 

[MishB]

Rachie - a lot of cooks claim to have problems with scones, but I find them so easy as long as you follow a few simple rules. Bear in mind I am Australian, so you might have to convert a few things!

Preheat your oven to hot (consult your oven guide) I use 230 degrees celsius fan forced.
Grease a scone tray (a flat oven tray - biscuit tray?)
Take a bowl (I like glass bowls), add 2 cups of self raising flour, you really should sift it but I don''t bother and a pinch of salt.
Rub in about 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine until the mix resembles breadcrumbs, I''m not too fussy about it, just get most of the lumps out.
Take a knife and make a well in the centre, pour in most of a cup of milk (don''t use NO fat milk, buttermilk if you can get it, otherwise regular whole fat milk. Wait and see how much milk you need, you might not need the whole cup.
Mix it roughly around with the knife, it should be sticky, but still form into a ball pretty easily.
Put a little flour on your hands and turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Don''t knead or roll it, handle it as little as possible. Press it out to about an inch thick, then cut out rounds with a biscuit cutter (picture attached) dipped in flour, don''t twist the cutter, and keep the edges sharp so it doesn''t flatten the scones (my father used to sharpen the edges of mine with sandpaper).
Place the scones on the tray with the edges just touching each other, one in the centre, then the rest forming a circle around the centre and so on. Put them in the oven for about 12 minutes, they should be lightly golden on top, just pull the centre most ones apart and make sure the edges are cooked.

If you wrap them in a teatowel while warm they will stay soft, but if you leave them to cool unwrapped they will be a little crisper on the outides, that''s a matter of personal taste.

When they are cool, or better yet just slighly warm, split them carefully with your fingers horizontally (traditionally you never cut them with a knife) and spread them with some berry jam, then a dollop of double cream, or whipping cream whipped with a little icing sugar, then top with pieces of hulled strawberry. Delicious and really easy.

English scones are very like what you call ''biscuits'' over there, and eat for breakfast with gravy and grits. Which is bizarre.

Give it a try Rachie and let me know how you get on!

 

[oobiecoo]

I wanted to share the tea set that DH gave me for Christmas. The cups and saucers are Apilco porcelain. I''d love to find any other pieces available... maybe some larger plates... but I can''t find the pattern anywhere.

 

[oobiecoo]

 

[oobiecoo]

And here''s the detail of the cup and saucer...

 

[Pandora II]

Sorry, but with scones it has to be clotted cream - double cream or other creams are just not the same!

Pandora - who is still feeling a bit icky having eaten a large bowl of sticky toffee pudding with copious amounts of cornish clotted cream last night!

 

[MishB]

oobie, it''s beautiful. Our everyday crockery is Apilco plain white.

So when is your first tea party with the new pot??

 

[MishB]

Date: 1/14/2009 8:58:12 AM
Author: Pandora II
Sorry, but with scones it has to be clotted cream - double cream or other creams are just not the same!


Pandora - who is still feeling a bit icky having eaten a large bowl of sticky toffee pudding with copious amounts of cornish clotted cream last night!

I''m still looking for it, apparently there are producers in the Yarra Valley (wine/gourmet food region about an hour and 1/2 away), but I still haven''t found stockists in the city. I''m hoping it''s not an urban foodie myth!

 

[oobiecoo]

Thanks Mish

Dh and I have already used it a couple of times. I tried putting loose tea in the pot but it never tasted right so we''re back to using individual tea bags for now. Earl and Lady Grey for me and Irish Breakfast for him. I think maybe I''m just not sure how much to put in. I''ll probably do a little tea party next time my sis in law comes down... she''d love it!

 

[MishB]

Date: 1/15/2009 6:51:23 AM
Author: oobiecoo
Thanks Mish

Dh and I have already used it a couple of times. I tried putting loose tea in the pot but it never tasted right so we''re back to using individual tea bags for now. Earl and Lady Grey for me and Irish Breakfast for him. I think maybe I''m just not sure how much to put in. I''ll probably do a little tea party next time my sis in law comes down... she''d love it!

1 heaped teaspoon per cup, and one for the pot, don''t let it overdraw, it''s a lot easier to overbrew loose tea than tea bags.

 

[zhuzhu]

Date: 1/15/2009 4:43:53 PM
Author: SanDiegoLady

Date: 11/6/2008 4:06:55 AM

Author: MishB

Mmmmm..... these are a breakfast food for me, with butter, honey, and always a cup of tea!

I used to be able to purchase crumpets at my store.. I LOVED THEM.. I can''t find them anywhere now.. only english muffins.. *sigh*

Hi SDL!

I was wondering where you have been!

The Carsbad area 4 season hotel has the best English tea around here, if you want we could have a little PS GT there!

 

[luvmyhalo]

I love tea time! I found a couple of tea houses where we live and for those of you with little girls, it is so fun to take them there! Here''s a Tea House locator for the US. http://www.teamap.com/