AFTERNOON TEA

Victorian Tea Set

Dainty Sandwiches for Afternoon Tea 

Scones with Clotted Cream and Jam

Cakes, Scones and Sandwiches for Afternoon Tea

Joy, my precious granddaughter, suggested that I should write about the lovely British custom of afternoon tea.

All types of tea come from the same plant Camellia Sinensis, which is native to Asia but is, nowadays, cultivated in many parts of the world with tropical and subtropical climates.

The first recorded consumption of tea was in China as early as the 10^th century BC.  Soon, it spread to Korea and Japan.   During the 16^th Century AD, when the Portuguese exploited the Far East, they brought tea to the West and so the habit slowly spread to the rest of the world.

Apparently, tea was first brought to England from the East Indian Company and as it was a very expensive product it was only enjoyed by the rich.  During the 1660s, Infanta Catherine of Braganza, the wife of Charles II introduced the ritual of tea drinking to the English court and the custom was soon copied by the aristocracy.   The first tea shop for ladies opened by Thomas Twining in 1717.  Slowly many tea shops opened all over Britain thus making tea cheap and available to everybody.

 

I was informed that afternoon tea was introduced to England by Anna the first Duchess of Bedford in 1840, but the British, also, developed their love for drinking tea during the years of the British Empire in India.  Now tea drinking, in the UK, is not just a constituent of afternoon parties.  “It has become a national drink and is an integral part of British culture.”  The prolific writer Henry James had written in this famous book The Portrait of a Lady that “there are a few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ritual known as afternoon tea”

I read that there are six basic categories of tea, black, dark, oolong, yellow, green and white teas.  Ceylon black tea is one of the most popular choices for afternoon tea.  But, also, Darjeeling tea, which is cultivated in Northern India is an aromatic and delicate tea, perfect to offer for afternoon tea.  Ceylon tea is slightly stronger and more poignant than Darjeeling.

A few words about flavoured teas.   As tea easily absorbs the aromas and tastes, tea producers improve teas with additional flavour from flowers, herbs and spices.   According to  “loose leaf tea” flavouring teas is an ancient Chinese tradition as they brew tea with onions, orange peel, peach leaves and berries.  The Chinese also infuse tea with flowers such as jasmine, orchid, rose and magnolia.   In many Arabic countries, tea is flavoured with mint, while in India the spicy masala tea is flavoured with cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, black and white pepper.  The “flavour craze” has prompted tea manufacturers to produce teas with just about any flavour imaginable such as banana and toffee pudding. Teas flavoured with herbs and spices are not appropriate for afternoon teas.

Tea producers mix various kinds of tea leaves in order to make a tea with a special flavour and aroma which is called a blend.  The most famous blends are English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Irish Breakfast and a Russian blend called Caravan which is a mixture of oolong and lapsang souchong teas.

To prepare an excellent cup of tea, bring water to the boil in an electric kettle.  Place one teaspoon of aromatic tea leaves for each cup plus one extra teaspoon, for the teapot, into a tea infuser and drop it into the teapot.  Pour boiling water over, steep for four minutes, remove the tea infuser and, then, enjoy a cup of delightful, hot tea with a drop of milk.   Never, never use tea bags, it's sacrilege.   

Tea Infuser

(I should like to thank the Afternoon Tea Co. UK, the Twining Co. UK, "loose leaf tea", the author Henry James and  Wikipedia for the valuable information, without which, this post would not have been written.)  

One of my fondest memories is my mother graciously offering afternoon tea "with just a drop of milk" to her friends, when we lived in India, so many years ago.  I still remember, with nostalgia, the teapot and china, the dainty sandwiches, scones with cream and jam, and the delicious cakes that were laid on the table.    

I am giving you, below, several recipes for sandwiches and cakes that one could offer for afternoon tea.

                                            CUCUMBER SANDWICHES

You could prepare these sandwiches, spread with cream cheese, mayonnaise, finely chopped dill and white pepper.   But I prefer them made the simple way.  Bread slices spread with softened butter, covered with crunchy, paper-thin cucumber slices, a delicious, refreshing and elegant treat, a must for afternoon tea.

1 cucumber, peeled and very thinly sliced

Salt

One 500 g (1 lb) white loaf, sliced (get the best sandwich bread)

Butter softened and mixed with
1 tbsp very finely chopped dill

White pepper to taste

Place the cucumber in a colander, sprinkle with a little salt and leave to drain for 30 minutes.   Taste a cucumber slice, and if too salty rinse to remove the excess salt.   Then pat, completely, dry with kitchen paper. 

Meanwhile, spread each bread slice thoroughly with the softened butter/dill mixture, top with prepared cucumber slices, slightly overlapping each other and sprinkle with freshly ground white pepper.  Cover with another buttered slice of bread and with a very sharp knife remove the crusts and cut the sandwich into four.  Continue the same procedure until all the ingredients have been used.   Cover the sandwiches loosely with cling film and refrigerate until your family and friends arrive.

                                HAM AND WILD ROCKET SANDWICHES

This is a sandwich that my boys used to love when they were teenagers.   I think they still do.

One 500 g (1 lb) wholemeal loaf, sliced

Butter softened to spread over the bread

6 slices smoked ham

A little mayonnaise

250 g (½ lb) wild baby rocket, stalks removed

Spread each slice of bread thinly with butter.    Cover with a slice of ham of equal size, brush with very little mayonnaise and press wild rocket leaves over.   Top with the second slice of bread, remove the crusts with a sharp knife and cut the sandwich into four pieces.   Prepare all the sandwiches and serve garnished with extra rocket leaves. Cover loosely with cling film and refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

                                     SMOKED SALMON APPETISERS

A delicious open sandwich.  I prefer it without the watercress.

12 slices brown bread cut diagonally in half and spread with butter

120 g (4 oz) thinly sliced smoked salmon

150 g (5 oz) thick Greek yoghurt

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill

The tiniest pinch of salt, if necessary

1 cup watercress, optional

Mix the yoghurt with the lemon zest, chopped dill and a little salt, if necessary, very well together, and spread evenly over the buttered bread.  Place the watercress over, if using. and cover attractively with the smoked salmon.   Cover loosely with clingfilm and refrigerate until needed.

                                                       SCONES

Just Out of the Oven

Scones With Clotted Cream and Jam

My dear South African friend Athena Papamichael gave me this recipe for scones, so many years ago.

390 g (3 cups) self-rising flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp soda

Pinch of salt

Pinch of sugar

90 g (3 oz) cold butter, diced

3 eggs

180 ml (6 fl oz) milk

1 tbsp Greek yoghurt

Egg-wash:

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 190 C (175 F).

Mix the first five ingredients together and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Whip the eggs with the milk and yoghurt until well combined and pour into the flour mixture.   Stir until a soft dough is formed.   Roll out the dough to a 1½ cm thickness and with the help of a small wine glass cut out rounds and place them on a baking tin lined with baking parchment, brush each scone with egg-wash and bake for about 10 - 15 minutes or until well risen and golden.

Serve the scones warm, split in half and spread with clotted cream and jam, or as we do in Greece, spread with a little butter and jam or Greek honey.  If you prefer a savoury scone, just spread them with butter and cover with a slice of your favourite cheese. 

                                            CHOCOLATE DESSERT

                                   

You can prepare this delicious dessert drenched with a chocolate cream sauce garnished with strawberries or any other fruit of your choice.   You can, also, serve it as a cake,  just dusted with icing sugar.

200 g (6 2/3 oz) good quality dark chocolate cut in small pieces (I use Pavlidou Ygeias.  Do not use cooking chocolate because it is bitter, just use any dark edible chocolate )

200 g (6 2/3 oz) butter

300 g sugar, *3 tbsp reserved for the egg whites

6 eggs, whites whipped to soft peaks, then whipped stiff with the *reserved sugar  

1 vanilla

100 g (3 1/3 oz)) self-rising flour mixed with

1 tsp baking powder

Ganache:

100 g (about 3 1/3 oz) dark chocolate, cut into small pieces (Pavlidou Ygeias)

100 ml (about 3 1/3 fl oz) cream

1 tsp honey

Line the base of a cake tin with buttered baking parchment and butter the sides.

Melt the chocolate and butter over simmering water and stir until thoroughly blended.   Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Sift in flour and baking powder and stir gently, until well combined. Pour in the cool chocolate/butter mixture and stir gently until the batter is evenly coloured.   Finally, stir in the ¼ of the whipped egg whites to lighten the batter.    Then very gently fold in the remaining egg whites until no streaks of white are evident.  Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.

  

 Bake in an oven preheated to 180 C (350 F) for about 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake, comes out clean.  Remove from the oven, reverse the cake on a serving dish and set aside to cool.

For the ganache, place the chocolate pieces in a bowl.  Heat the cream just below boiling point and pour over the chocolate, add the honey and stir very well together until the sauce is cold, smooth and glossy.

     

Place the cake on a platter, spread the chocolate sauce evenly over the top, and garnish with strawberries or with chocolate curls dusted with icing sugar.

                                           FIG CAKE WITH SPICES

This is a recipe for a lovely, rich cake which keeps fresh for over a week.

For the figs:

½ kg (1 lb) dry figs, stems removed

250 ml (1 cup) water, mixed

250 ml (1 cup) Mavrodaphe or any other sweet, red wine (or any red wine with 2-3 

                         tbsp honey or sugar)

2 thin lemon slices

Ingredients for the cake:

115 g (½ cup) butter

200 g (1 cup) brown sugar

Pinch of salt

2 eggs

300 g (10 oz) self-rising flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

½ tsp powdered cinnamon

¼ tsp powdered cloves

¼ tsp grated nutmeg

¼ tsp ginger powder

125 ml (½ cup) fig liquid

1 tbsp Metaxa brandy

200 g (1 tub) strained Greek yoghurt

2 cups poached figs, diced

About 75 g (2½ oz) dried apricots, diced

About 60 g (2 oz) roasted, chopped Greek pistachio nuts (unsalted) or walnuts.

Place the figs in a single layer in a saucepan, cover with the water and wine solution and add the lemon slices.   Poach the figs until tender, then strain and dice them, reserving the figs and the liquid for further use.   Discard the lemon slices.

Cream sugar and butter and salt until the mixture is light and fluffy.   Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Mix the flour with baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices and sift it over the batter in 3 parts, alternately with the fig liquid, yoghurt and brandy, beating well after each addition.   Finally add the figs, apricots, and nuts and mix thoroughly.  

Divide the batter between two buttered loaf tins and bake in an oven preheated to 170 C (325 F) for about 50 minutes to 1 hour or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. 

                                               RENEE'S TARTLETS

My mother was a wonderful, imaginative cook.   Here is the recipe for delicious sablés biscuits she offered for tea, so many years ago.

330 g (11 oz) plain flour sifted with

1 tsp baking powder and

One pinch of salt

“a fistful of sugar’

165 g butter

1 medium-sized egg

6 tsp milk

1 cup jam

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add all the other ingredients, except the jam.    Knead gently to obtain a pliable dough, cover with cling film and let it rest for half an hour in the fridge.

Roll out the dough and cut into rounds with a liqueur glass.   On half of the rounds, cut small holes in the centre, using a thimble (!)   Bake, in a moderate oven 190 C (375F) for about 10-12 minutes.

When the biscuits are cold, spread a little jam (apricot, raspberry) on the whole rounds.   Sprinkle the rounds with the hole in the middle with icing sugar and sandwich them carefully together!

 In order to experience the best traditional afternoon teas be sure to visit the famous London Hotels such as Claridges, the Dorchester, the Ritz and the Savoy,  as well as Harrods and Fortnam and Mason.

Tea with Champagne at the Ritz

Tea for Two