My First Pop-Up Tea Party - Indian Afternoon Tea

On Sunday I hosted my very first food event! An Indian inspired afternoon tea featuring Gujarati snacks, sweets and Indian inspired bakes - and of course lots of tea. On the menu were two savouries, various sweets, two cakes and masala chai.

My venue was the fabulous Cambridge Cookery School - which was a dream to cook in - especially being as my kitchen is the size of a postage stamp. There were 5 ovens, or maybe 6! I lost count. I had a lot of fun prepping in there. I had the help of Miss Sue Flay, Cambridge's afternoon tea expert extraordinaire - her experience was much appreciated!

My guests arrived and I greeted them with a refreshing glass of Mango Lassi. My lassi was spiced with cumin - based on the traditional Gujarati dessert of 'Rus' - which is mango puree sprinkled with cumin and salt, eaten like a cold soup. Mango Lassi often comes with just a little salt, or fennel, the cumin was a nice change - and very nostalgic for me! My mango lassi recipe is here.

My afternoon tea consisted of two savouries, three sweets and two cakes. As you would traditionally start with finger sandwiches my guests dove into the savouries first.

Dhokra - steamed chickpea & semolina sponge, with chilli & ginger

Pea Katchoris - crispy pastries filled with peas, potato, cumin and mustard seeds

Tea station

Whilst everyone worked their way through savouries I made two big pans of masala chai with Kandula English Breakfast Tea and a sprinkling of Jacob's Jam's Chai Masala. Masala chai is made by bringing water, sugar, masala and loose tea to the boil then adding milk and bringing to the boil once again. If my guests wondered why I was staring so intently at it, it is because it can boil over in seconds if you take your eye off it - a watched pot does boil, full recipe here.

Onto the sweets - again as is traditional for afternoon tea - they made up the majority of my offering for the day. I really wanted to include some mithai on my menu, as they are integral to sweets in Indian culture - served during all celebrations - weddings, births, Diwali and when welcoming important guests.

My personal favourite mithai is ladoo - made up of tiny deep fried sugar balls which are then formed into large rounds and spiced with cardamom and decorated with pistachio nuts. These are something of a challenge to make, so they didn't make it on to my menu - but if you see them anywhere - buy them!

Kopra Pak - coconut and milk sweets with saffron and a sprinkling of chocolate

Ghor Papri - ghoor/jaggery and sesame seeds with pistachio for prettiness

Crumbly and lightly spiced Nankhatai biscuits are ideal with a cup of tea, and they were a hit with my guests. Thumbprint cookies remind me of Nankhatai - although the Indian biscuits are filled with nuts or sometimes spices. Mine had pistachio on top, and for a few brave types - cumin seeds.

What is afternoon tea without cake? First up was my Honey Sesame Dream Cake - not a based on a traditional Indian recipe but the flavours are quite Indian! I made a double batch for an extra tall cake.

My centrepiece was a Masala Chai Cake which had three components - a light sponge which was then soaked in spiced tea syrup before being sandwiched with cream cheese buttercream with a final flourish of syrup and some pistachios. My cake icing skills need a little work, I have to admit, but I was happy with the flavours. I'm planning on making that tea syrup again, but putting it into a cocktail instead!

Putting on a food event is such hard work, I'm used to organising conferences as part of my day job, but food is something else! I spent the whole weekend prepping plus all the planning before, list making, shopping, recipe collecting - but it was so FUN. I learnt lots, and some new techniques - a lot of the food I'd eaten before but never cooked before so it was a steep learning curve.

The majority of the pictures in this post were taken by Ozzy - thank you for capturing my event so perfectly. :)

Thanks so much to all who came to my tea - particular thanks to Tine at the Cookery School for the venue, Miss Sue Flay for being a fabulous assistant, Gemma at The Linton Kitchen for lending me her gorgeous china and my lovely husband for being my sous chef/assistant/calmer downer.

I'm doing this all again soon! Next is a supperclub which will be a 3 course Gujarati (vegetarian) feast. I'm still working out a date so stand by your inboxes (sign up to get emails here) or follow me on Twitter for tickets. Soon!

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Hotel du Vin Cambridge, Afternoon Tea

A few months ago I tried the Hotel du Vin afternoon tea during Miss Sue Flay's afternoon tea etiquette workshop, it was on the whole very good indeed with the exception of some very lurid pink cupcakes which were very strange, given the rest of the selection. They invited me back to try their tea, after making some improvements, I went along a couple of weeks ago with two friends and unfortunately things haven't improved.

I am all for being fair when I blog, and sometimes I think I can be overly positive - so as not nice as it is to write a bad review, we all have to do it. A blogger's duty ;)

Between three of us we had a large tier - with sandwiches, scones, pastries and cake. There was a great selection of loose leaf tea, which was served in pretty blue and white floral teapots. They even provide a pot of hot water, something lots of tea rooms do not do - it is essential to prevent you drinking stewed cold tea.

The sandwiches were the same as before, and very good. Good quality smoked salmon and cream cheese, ham and cucumber. One of my tea companions was vegetarian, which she mentioned beforehand, so they included a separate plate of veggie sandwiches - a nice thought, I can't remember what they all were but I know it wasn't all cheese!

Next up were the scones, which were quite disappointing. Last time I had afternoon tea there we were treated to tall fluffy scones, just as they should be. This time around they were very flat indeed, chewy and obviously overcooked. Such a shame, the scones are the centrepiece of an afternoon tea, and it should always be the element that is perfect.

We moved on to the mille feuille - the pastry was nice but not too sweet, and the cream was just cream, not sweetened. There was a little jam/coulis but not enough to taste. Next to that were some fresh fruit tarts with cream pattiserie - the tarts had obviously been filled a little while ago - and the cream had made them soft. Soft soggy pastry, which was also undercooked (they also seemed liked they were bought in, and they are often paler than homecooked) so it was all a bit disappointing. The blueberries were fresh though!

The last offering was a sort of chocolatey nut cake, it wasn't very rich in chocolate and each was cut at very strange and slightly jagged angles, a little shabby for an elegant afternoon tea. The cake itself wasn't dry but the flavour was a little miscellaneous.

I really liked the afternoon tea last time around, so I am really not sure what happened this time. I'm quite disappointed. The library, where tea is served, is gorgeous, very cosy in the Winter, and it is a great central location. They have an excellent opportunity here and it will be sad if their afternoon tea offering becomes the same as the rest of those offered in central Cambridge - badly thought out and only appealing to the tourist crowd. Maybe I'll just pop in for a cuppa next time.

Hotel Du Vin
Trumpington Street
Cambridge

Do any of my readers have any great central Cambridge recommendations for afternoon tea? I'd love to hear them, between conversations with other bloggers we have slightly drawn a blank.

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A Very Indian Afternoon Tea

I’m holding my very first food event! After lots of talking, thinking and encouragement from the lovely people who make up the Cambridge food blogger ‘scene’ (not sure I like that word but it fits) I have decided to hold two events celebrating Indian food.

First up I’m starting with afternoon tea, which seems like the natural first event for me, someone with such a sweet tooth. After that I will be holding a supperclub where I’ll be cooking up an all vegetarian Gujarati feasts for around 15 guests.

 Indian Afternoon Tea – Sunday 4th August, 3pm – 5pm  - a few places left
A central Cambridge location, not far from the rail station 

 The much loved British afternoon tea but with an Indian / Gujarati twist. Savoury nibbles (think Indian street food) to begin, sweet treats, a masala chai cake (pictured) and of course tea!
 £19 per person
To book places for the afternoon tea email me at deepa@lazygiraffe.com with the number of places you'd like, I'll then send you a PayPal invoice for the tickets. 

Gujarati Supperclub – no date as yet but it will be late August / early September. 
I’m still scouting around for the perfect venue, plus perfecting a stack of perfectly round rotli (chapatti). 

I’m really excited to be bringing you my ideas for these two events, I’ve had a lot of fun planning the menus for both and I really hope my guests will be wowed. Email me if you’d like to book or for more details. See you in August!

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Afternoon Tea at the Ludlow Kitchen

Last weekend we spent a sunny two days at Brook Farm in Berrington, on the Shropshire/Worcestershire border, a B&B we've stayed before and is now our go-to place for a relaxing break. Ludlow is very close and one of the best foodie spots in the country, when planning our return visit we were excited to learn the excellent Ludlow Food Centre had opened a restaurant, the Ludlow Kitchen.

We booked for afternoon tea on a Sunday afternoon weeks in advance and I was very impatient for it by the time the day arrived. For just £8.50 you get three different sandwiches, four mini cake slices, a fruit scone, clotted cream and as much loose leaf tea as you can manage.

The great thing about the Ludlow Kitchen is that most, if not all, of the produce that goes in to their food is made on site or very local - they bake their own bread, smoke their own salmon, cure their own ham and of course make their own cakes and scones. They even roast their own coffee beans and the tea is blended by a local Herefordshire company. As if that wasn't enough they grow fruit and vegetables in their own walled garden and the jam is made on site too. Suddenly that £8.50 seems ten times better value!

The service was excellent, welcoming and really helpful but not over the top. We first chose our teas from a list of 7 options, an English Breakfast for me and Darjeeling for the Mr. Vintage tea cups are used and the sugar is served in little cups made by local potters, Wenlock Pottery. The teabags used are a little strange looking but they do work very well with loose leaf tea.

The sandwiches were really impressive, usually they are the most neglected part of an afternoon tea in terms of creativity but not here. The bread was fresh wholemeal and there were three fillings each with salad leaves - cheese and pickle; smoked salmon, cucumber and pickled onion and ham and piccalilli. I particularly liked the salmon and the pickled onion was amazing with the rich salmon and the thinly sliced cucumber. We bought a jar of piccalilli from the food centre, it's great stuff - crunchy chunky vegetables with a good hit of mustard.

One of the cakes was the traditional Victoria sponge, which tasted like the birthday cakes I ate as a child - this is a good thing! It was a lovely trip down memory lane, the sponge was really light and it was sandwich with a little buttercream and strawberry jam. We were also treated to flaky and fruity Eccles cake, dense chocolate cake and a rich fruit cake.

Scones were textbook - very tall and packed with raisins and sultanas - I was able to tear it open, making sure I was using the correct etiquette when eating my scone. Raspberry jam (made on site) and clotted cream were served in little Wenlock Pottery cups.

The afternoon tea we had the Ludlow Kitchen was excellent, the atmosphere was relaxed and each element was made with lots of care and thought. I just can't believe what good value it was, £17 for two of us to eat so well, usually that is what you would pay per person.

If you're in the area (and if you're not I recommend planning a trip, maybe to coincide with Ludlow Food Festival?) do go along to the Ludlow Kitchen, and then the Ludlow Food Centre. They also do breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'm sure we'll be back in the area before too long and I can't wait to go back.

Ludlow Kitchen 
Bromfield
Ludlow
Shropshire
SY8 2JR

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The Etiquette of Afternoon Tea with Miss Sue Flay & William Hanson

Picture by Miss Sue Flay

Last Saturday on a sunny Spring day I enjoyed a very civilised afternoon taking tea and learning about the history and etiquette of the much loved British tradition of Afternoon Tea. Hosted by afternoon tea expert Miss Sue Flay with William Hanson, etiquette consultant, taking us through the Do's and Don't's, we sipped on tea, nibbled on scones and minded our P's and Q's.

I've heard lots about Sue & Williams' workshops - the first afternoon tea workshop last September and the recent 'Dine Like Downton' event as part of Eat Cambridge - and the intricacies of etiquette fascinate me.

Etiquette still has its place today, mainly as part of the Royal family, but also in more modern situations where it is part of good manners. Historically it is really interesting to see why you should do certain things, they aren't just there 'because' and William's knowledge is encyclopaedic.

The afternoon tea was held at the Hotel du Vin, a luxurious hotel with a gorgeous library where we all convened before going through to a dining room to have our high tea - we were told by William that it was a 'high tea' because the tea was served at a high dining table rather than a lower coffee table.

First, the food, we were served 3 different kinds of tea - English Breakfast, Chinese Rose Petal and the Royal Blend - 2 parts English Breakfast to 1 part Earl Grey. The latter was my favourite, I like Earl Grey but it can be a little strong, the Royal Blend is very light and refreshing. We nibbled first on finger sandwiches - cucumber, salmon & cream cheese, ham and lastly egg & cress. Our tiers were then brought out, with much oohing, they consisted of tall fruit scones, fluffy vanilla marshmallows, a fortified fruit cake, mini fruit and custard tarts and slightly too fluorescent cupcakes. Of course the scones were also served with luscious clotted cream and the traditional strawberry jam. Everything was delicious, except for those lurid cupcakes!

Picture by Miss Sue Flay

We were told that tea should be stirred in a 6/12 motion so as to coat the sugar cube (if you are partaking) and help it dissolve and also so you won't tap the spoon on the edge of the cup too much, causing too much noise. Your teaspoon should then be placed behind the cup, furthest away from you.

We were taught that some people have milk in first, traditionally this was because the lower classes would have clay cups - which would crack if hot tea was poured in first so milk was added to cool the tea before it reached the bottom of the cup. The upper classes would use bone china so therefore hot tea wouldn't crack their cups.

Napkin etiquette was discussed along with the plethora of sizes required for different meals - smaller for lunches and much larger for a formal dinner. Then onto jam then cream / cream then jam (I'm the latter),   how to make conversation at the table (talk to your left hand companion first, then right when the first course is over), pouring tea and how to break into a scone (not with a knife, but breaking it open with your hands - this can only be done with a well risen scone).

William took us through where afternoon tea began, at Woburn Abbey where the lady of the manor craved something in between her meals and so asked her maids to bring her something savoury, something sweet and tea around 3pm to see her through til dinner. You can see Miss Sue Flay talking about this on TV, no less, when she appeared on Escape to the Country. 

The whole workshop was extremely interesting and a lot of fun. Etiquette can be seen as stuffy, but with William's way of approaching the subject with humour it is a lighthearted afternoon with lots of laughs and sharing of anecdotes.

I left feeling like my manners were actually pretty good and I am quite a respectable member of society! But maybe boasting about such things is bad manners too though?

Do keep an eye on Miss Sue Flay's blog where I'm sure she'll be announcing more etiquette events for the future. You can find out more about William Hanson and his escapades in trying to make the country, and maybe even the world, a more well mannered place on his website, he also records brilliant videos on his YouTube channel.  

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A weekend away in a nice little place

Last weekend we stayed at the beautiful Brook Farm B&B in Berrington, just on the border of Shropshire and Worcestershire. It was so lovely, the B&B was so homely and the owner Sarah was so friendly, accommodating and and excellent cook!
We ate yummy breakfasts, walked around the beautiful cottage garden, played with the cats, patted the donkeys and ate in the many lovely pubs in the area. Just what we needed.

I didn't take any pictures of our meals out but I recommend the Rose & Crown in Tenbury Wells, The Queens pub in Ludlow and Chang Thai in Ludlow. The food market on a Saturday in Ludlow is so yummy, and they have a craft section too. And then the market is opened up on a Sunday for antiques and flea, so many interesting finds!

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The Secluded Tea Party

Yesterday I attended the very fabulous and utterly scrummy Secluded Tea Party hosted by Miss Sue Flay - what a great alias!

I've never been to a pop up restaurant or foodie event before so this was my first, it was held at the Cambridge Cookery School, a shiny and new food school in Cambridge - perfect for the tea party.

I found it via Twitter and me and a few other Cambridge foodie friends ( Nora, Ireena & Sarah ) went along to join the party.

We had some brilliant tea from Tea Pigs and Tea Box Online - I had the rhubarb and custard tea from Tea Box and it was yummy, just right on its on and slightly sweet. The Earl Grey was much nicer than any I'd had before, not the fake orangey-bergamot you get from mass produced earl grey, that was from Tea Pigs.

But now, on to the food! We had red onion jam & pancetta tartlets, little sandwiches with the crusts cut off, chocolate macarons sandwiched with vanilla cream (my favourite), huge fruit scones with peach & amaretto jam and cream, and lastly a rich chocolate cake with chocolate ganache.

We left with very full bellies, all going home for a nap!

There will be more tea parties in the future so keep an eye on the Secluded Tea blog for dates, each one will be in a secret location!

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