Afternoon Tea with a Twist

I dont think afternoon tea gets any more special than this.... my boyfriend and I arrived at the Ideal Home Show to find they had an area called the Central Marina, where they offered afternoon tea. As you must know by now I'm addicted to going to different places for afternoon tea. The setting was stunning and definitely not what you expect at a home exhibition.The special bit was that it was on water!! ^^

The menu was actually very good and only £15....

The only let down was the sandwiches, they were a little dry and with little filling inside, but all the ups made up for the only down. The scones were moist and not dry at all.... scrumptious! The cakes were impressive and very yummy too!!

 From right: Chocolate coffee cake, Chocolate Cream Eclair, Lemon Curd Cake, Strawberry Custard Tart

Fruit scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam

The Montcalm Hotel Afternoon Tea

I had never heard of The Montcalm Hotel until I got an email from Groupon about a deal for afternoon tea here. (http://www.montcalm.co.uk/afternoon-tea-126.html)
The deal was very good value, afternoon tea for two for only £12. You cannot beat that bargain. Very rare to even be able to pay £12 for afternoon tea for one person, so off I went. Here's the menu, usual price for this set is £19.50.

 Traditional Afternoon Tea

Your choice from a fine selection of JING loose leaf teas served with 

the Savoury Tea Finger sandwiches, plain and fruit scones with clotted 

cream and strawberry jam, and a selection of pastries and 

fruit tartlets from the Sweet Tea.  

 Menu doesn't sound too bad does it? Although I must say it is not the best afternoon tea I have had. We had three finger sandwiches each, these were not bad, they looked and tasted fresh. We had a scone each, the scone was quite nice, it was moist and not too crumbly, which made spreading the clotted cream and jam very easy. However the big disappointment was the cakes. Very often when I go to afternoon tea, I never finish the set, as it is very filling and difficult to eat some many sweet things in one go. But nevertheless the excitement from seeing the tea set is the cakes on the top tier. You want to see pretty and delicate cakes that look too good to eat. However the cakes at The Montcalm, it was a disappointment. The display failed to generate any impact or reaction. The cakes did not taste that brilliant, but from the photo you can see the appearance of them are a let down, the top of the cakes are cracked and crumbling.

For the price of £12 for two I cannot complain too much, but if I had paid the full price of £19.50 per person I would not have been happy about it. Needless to say I will not be going back to her again... so the search continues ^^

Best Afternoon Tea...... so far....

I love sitting in a room surrounded by lovely decor with a slight tinker of china, soft murmurs and oohhhs and ummms in the background. I am in fact describing an afternoon tea session :). I love afternoon tea, I find the whole experience relaxing, it feels like being in a different world. A world of beautiful things and absolutely gorgoeus sweet things! Afternoon tea is definitely an art of its own.

So imagine my happiness level when my friends took me to The Kensington Hotel for a surprise afternoon tea seesion! Not only was this a lovely and thoughtful gesture, it was in fact the best afternoon tea I have had so far, and I've been to a couple of places.

The place was elegantly decorated with a twist of modernness. We were sat next to a big window that brought in lovely light which made afternoon tea even more pleasant.

http://www.doylecollection.com/locations/london_city_hotels/the_kensington_hotel/gallery.aspx

The afternoon tea set was not expensive at all, it was only for £23 and you would not be able to finish it.

Modern English Afternoon Tea 

SANDWICHES
Roast beef with rocket salad
and red onion chutney

Cucumber and chive cream cheese
Honey roasted ham with
wholegrain mustard mayonnaise

Scottish smoked salmon with
horseradish and chive crème fraîche

Egg mayonnaise and cress

Mini fish and crab cake

SWEET THINGS

Rich traditional English fruitcake
Victoria sponge
Carrot cake
Fresh fruit tart
Apple and rhubarb crumble

HOME MADE SCONES

Warm homemade plain and raisin scones
Cornish clotted cream
Lemon and passion fruit curd
Homemade strawberry and rose petal jam

lazy days.....

I had a lazy 4 months away from my blog, hahaha ... I am sooo lazy... havent had the time or the energy to post for awhile.. should definitely be one of my new year resolutions... to blog more!! ...

Time has passed sooo quick and even though I have been away from the kitchen for all this time, it doesnt mean I've stopped eating all things sweet... ^^ ....

Lets start with a Birthday slice...

this is a slice of carrot cake that one of my colleagues bought me for my birthday from a local cafe near where we work. This is one of the best carrot cakes I have tasted. It was moist and not too sweet. Often you get cakes that are just overpowered with sweetness... this cake was just right. Needless to say I ate it all .... pretty quick... umm my mouth is watering just thinking about it....

The Great British Bake Off

BBC 2 is currently showing The Great British Bake Off.... every Tuesday at 8pm.
http://www.greatbritishbakeoff.com/

This show is heaven for bakers out there, as I've not really ever seen a show that is dedicated to just baking. Interest in baking has seemed to increased over recent years, just look at the number of blogs about baking and the number of new entrepreneurs in the industry. I am sure this show will no doubt influence and inspire many people to start baking or bake even more. I know it has that affect on me.

This week's focus is on baking bread, an area that I have not yet experienced. I always imagined and thought of bread as a timely process with a lot of kneading, proving and waiting around. But most of all one that requires a lot of skill to get a good baked bread. The show has definitely confirmed these points but watching this week's show, its really tempted me to give it a try. I love the smell of freshly baked bread and it might be time to be brave and give it a go... watch this space!!!!

Can I have another cookie please????

I've been really lucky to sample a lot of my friends baking recently.... you can't get them better than homemade.

One of my friends made a chocolate cornflake cookie crunch..... When I first saw these I honestly thought they were shop bought. You can see why right??

These looked good for sure, and they tasted delish!!! After taking a bite, you are hit with a crumbly chocolate biscuit with a chocolate topping and then comes the cornflake crunch. A surprise in disguise!!!

This isn't shop bought either.. but made by the same friend. A good cookie with a chewy middle and choc chips... I could have easily eaten half a dozen of these. I've made a lot of cookies before, but they never turn out this shape, mine tends to spread out while baking and then either come out too chewy or crunchy!! whoopssss......

Coconut and Rum Macaroons

ummmm.... some more macaroons.... don't these look like the Laduree ones I raved on about before.... ???
These are in fact home made, not by me of course... I havent as yet gotten around to making these. These are made by a really good friend of mine. Coconut and Rum Macroons... these were really moist with a hint of rum flavour......melt in the mouth..... and completely delicious.....

As you can see the macaroons has the the rough edge, which is known as the foot. The macaroons were smooth on top, with a slight shine and no cracks at all. This may sound easy but it requires a lot of skill to get them to this perfection.

I'm hoping this post will award me another one... lol.... x