Author: Treeca

National Tea Day on 21st April is celebrated with many but especially with the National Tea Day organizers. They hold events all over the Country to enjoy this event including a National Tea Day Festival which takes place at Kensington Roof Gardens in West London where guests can enjoy the feeling of an afternoon garden party in the heart of the Capital. Some featured Afternoon Tea Day events were held at Hoar Cross Hall, Derbyshire. The Midland Hotel, Manchester, brewbabu in Peterborough, The Chase Hotel, Coventry and many more exciting places. After looking through the National Tea Day list of locations I…

For the flakiest upper pie crust, brush the top lightly with cold water before baking. To avoid your pie crust from becoming too soggy, sprinkle it with equal parts of sugar and flour before adding filling. If you haven’t got a pastry cutter for your pies then improvise with an aerosol lid instead. To stop pastry sticking to your rolling pin, put the pin in the freezer or fridge so that it’s cold before you use it. Buy a Silicon Pastry Brush – non stick and heat resistant to 315C so you can baste with hot oils. A common mistake…

As I am sure you know by now that I have a love of loaf cakes. I find them a perfect size for just the two of us and most like the recipe below from Woman & Home and easy to bake. We had this at the weekend and it was delicious. APPLE AND CLOTTED CREAM LOAF CAKE… Ingredients 5 small bramley apples (peeled and cored) 1 tsp lemon juice 300g plain flour 1 ½ tsp baking powder ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 200g softened unsalted butter or margarine 175g caster sugar 3 large eggs ( lightly beaten) 1 tsp…

When imbibing, ensure you indulge in ‘A Proper Tea’ described by AA Milne as, ‘Much nicer than a Very Nearly Tea, which is one you forget about afterwards’…

When baking cookies if you run out of sheets to put them on then just turn a baking tray upside down and drop the cookies on that. Store cookies in an air tight tin with a slice of bread as the moisture from the bread will keep your cookies soft and fresh.

INGREDIENTS 50 g Plain Chocolate (grated) 4 tbsp Cocoa Powder 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder 85 g Ground Almonds 140 g Self Raising Flour (sieved) 3 Large Eggs (beaten) 175 g Castor Sugar 175 g Softened Butter or Margarine 100ml Milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract METHOD Preheat oven 160C 140C Fan Gas Mark 3 Grease or line a 2lb loaf tin ( or use loaf liners) Put all the above ingredients into a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer for no more than 2 mins. Bake in the middle of the oven for 45 – 50 mins or until…

I received another batch of Tea Tourist Teas to review and also gave some to my daughter to try as she loves loose tea and has become quite a tea addict but loves trying new flavours. Cherry Sencha Green Tea by Cheshire Tea was one my daughter tried and she gave a rate of 4 out of 5. This fragrant green tea helps you to relax and unwind and the juices of cherries give it a subtle sweet edge so a lovely tea to drink with afternoon tea or a pudding. Brockley Breakfast Tea above is made by the Good &…

Being a Mum myself I personally LOVE an Afternoon Tea treat and the site Afternoon Tea has all the offers available for a special Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea. I could not possibly list them all in this post so I have picked a few that looked amazing around the UK, kicking off with the one above which is at Mews of Mayfair for £24.37. For a limited time only, Mews of Mayfair are offering 25% off their Traditional Afternoon Tea, now priced at £24.37 per person, usually £32.50 per person, exclusive to AfternoonTea.co.uk. Mews of Mayfair is situated in the…

Bellevue Tea  is an independently owned family business based in London, founded by Clare Jones and her tea trader husband Mike. Their thirty years of insider knowledge and love of tea is essential to bellevue’s commitment to deliver the finest quality tea drinking experience everyday It has a range of eleven different varieties of tea bags, with an emphasis on quality over quantity. Packaged in stylish boxes, with a handy ‘string & tag’ bag, the teas are carefully sourced from Sri Lanka, Kenya and South Africa. The company has linked up with Climate Care to offset the carbon emissions of its tea production.…

The British love their butties, we’ve been enjoying sandwiches since it became popularised by the aristocracy back in the 18th century. Now, afternoon teas, street parties, buffets and lots more occasions are enjoyed with a plate of sandwiches. But the question is which is the most popular? From cheese, egg, fish, meat, salad, vegetarian, curry and tea recipes using bread, wraps, pininis, bagels and rolls, you name it we eat it. One of my personal favourites is a club sandwich which can vary depending on what country I’m in. Crazy for Tea , have a selection of English tea sandwich…

I’ve only gone and done what my other half has been telling me to do for a while, and opened an Etsy shop with my hand made cards. I’ve been making hand made cards for years but have only sold them in a local Post Office and given them to friends and family. But because I love making them so much I have quite a lot of them and my husband has been saying for a while that I ought to open an online shop with my cards. I knew I quite fancied the idea but felt that the competition…

From my box of mixed teas from the unique company ‘Teatourist’ came a choice of ‘Matcha Green Tea by Teaologists’, ‘Reggae Refresh, by Born Wild Tea’, ‘Recover Tea by Blendology’, plus ‘Pure Ceylon by Exclusive Tea’,  ‘Gunpowder Tea by Morgans Brew Tea Co’ and finally ‘Rooibos Earl Grey by Tea Leaf London’. I have to say I enjoyed trying them all but couldn’t wait for another cup of the ‘Rooibos Earl Grey by Tea Leaf London’, which has a modern twist on the classic Earl Grey Tea. The Rooibos combined with the flavours of Earl Grey a lot of us…

When using two fillings (jam and cream), spread each one on a different half of the cake and then sandwich together. .If you haven’t got time to decorate your cake then wrap it with cling film and leave in the fridge overnight before you decorate it. Incorporate dry ingredients together with a whisk before adding them to wet ingredients. Always start and end with dry ingredients when alternating with wet ones. .Ingredients for cakes should always be at room temperature. Put a tablespoon of tapioca into your apple pie, it will absorb excess water while baking. .Store flour in an…

Not a green tea fan? Well the good news is that you don’t need to drink this to help with weight loss as they have now found that ‘Oolong’ tea helps even more. A Chinese study showed that if we drink oolong tea for six weeks it will help with weight loss. In fact the data confirmed that a component other than just caffeine was responsible for promoting the preferential use of fat as an energy source. A further Japanese study compared the benefits of oolong tea and green tea on weight loss. The results were that after drinking oolong…

With lots of Hotels and Restaurants offering romantic dinner for two for Valentine’s Night, it is nice to see that there are other ways to enjoy Valentines Day with a themed “Valentine Afternoon Tea”. The Ampersand Hotel in London offers a ‘Science of Love’, afternoon tea, an enchanting journey of romantic exploration with the Science of Love Afternoon Tea. A menu of romantically-themed treats including warm plain and white chocolate heart-shaped scones, served with Devonshire clotted cream and homemade strawberry preserve. Those with a passion for pasty should look no further than the Science of Love’s sweet selection. Lychee, raspberry…