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Recipes pg. 2 - Spring Tea Time Menu Ideas

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MAY DAY / SPRING TEA PARTY 
http://www.foodtv.com/fn/features/menu/index.htm
May flowers and May poles emerge this week.

Sip some tea and watch the crocus bloom as Spring reaches its prime.
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See also, the Recipes from the "All about Tea" site from Scotland
Tea Party Recipes
Features recipes for:
Buckingham Palace Shortbread, Crumpets
Harrods Scones, Dorchester Hotel Scones
The Ritz Scones, Savoy Hotel Scones
Ladyfingers with Lemon Cream
Golden Curry Chicken Salad Sandwiches & more
www.electricscotland.com/lifestyle/tea_recipes.htm


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TO MAKE A PERFECT CUP OF TEA 
(recipe courtesy of David Rosengarten) 
Use cold tap water, as it is fresher, and let it run for a 
minute so that it will be aerated.
If you like, you can use bottled water instead. 
Do not use warm tap water.
Boil water in kettle. If you are in a particularly cold climate,
such as the North of England, add hot water to the tea pot
until you are ready to pour in the boiling water, 
so that the tea pot will already be warm when you add the tea leaves.
Put 1 tablespoon of tea leaves in tea pot for 2 6-ounce servings.
Pour boiling water over tea leaves.
Allow to brew for 3 - 5 minutes, according to how much you will be
cutting the tea with milk or cream. 5 minutes is only for
tea that you intend to add a lot of milk or cream to.
3 minutes will allow the tea leaves to reach their optimum flavor,
so it is considered the perfect brewing time.
Cover with a tea cozy in order to keep the heat in the pot. 

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WATERCRESS SANDWICHES 
(recipe courtesy of David Rosengarten) 

1 small bunch watercress, stems removed 
6 slices white bread 
Butter to taste 
Spread butter on insides of both slices of bread for each sandwich,
to taste. Usually a thin layer will suffice. 
Place watercress in a layer on bottom slice
of buttered bread for each sandwich, covering entire slice.
Put sandwiches together and remove crusts with knife. 
Cut sandwiches into triangles. 
Yield: 12 small sandwiches 

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SMOKED SALMON SANDWICHES 
(recipe courtesy of David Rosengarten)

Thinly sliced smoked salmon 
6 slices white bread 
Cream cheese to taste 
Spread cream cheese on insides of both slices of bread
for each sandwich, to taste. Usually a thin layer will suffice.
Place salmon in a layer on bottom slice of buttered bread
for each sandwich, covering entire slice.
Put sandwiches together and remove crusts
with knife. Cut sandwiches into triangles. 
Yield: 12 small sandwiches 

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BUTTERMILK SCONES WITH MARMALADE 
(recipe courtesy of Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger)

3 cups flour 
1/3 cup sugar 
1 teaspoon salt 
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter 
1 cup buttermilk 
1/2 cup currants (optional) 
1 tablespoon heavy cream, for brushing 
Marmalade, recipe follows 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine the flour, sugar, 
salt, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl. 
Add butter and mix with your fingertips to a coarse meal.
Add buttermilk and mix just until combined.
Add currants, if desired. Transfer dough to a floured board
and divide into 2 parts. Roll each to 3/4-inch thick rounds. 
Cut each round into 8 wedges and place slightly separated
on a greased baking sheet. Brush the tops with the cream, 
and bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. 
Serve warm, split in half with butter and marmalade. 
Yield: 16 scones 
MARMALADE 
1/2 pound oranges, preferably Seville 
1 lemon 
2 1/4 cups water 
2 1/2 cups sugar 
Wash the oranges and lemon, cut in half and squeeze out
the juice. Remove the membrane with a spoon, 
put it with the seeds, and tie them in a piece of cheesecloth.
Soak the bundle for 30 minutes in cold water. 
Slice the peel finely. Put the peel, orange and lemon juice,
bundle of seeds, and the 2 1/4 cups water in
a nonaluminum bowl or saucepan and leave overnight. 
Bring everything to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer gently
for about 1 hour, until the peel is very soft and liquid is reduced by half.
Squeeze all the liquid from the cheesecloth bundle and discard it.
Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. 
Increase the heat, bring to a boil, and cook until the jell point,
about 5 to 10 minutes. 
To test the jell point, a sugar thermometer
should register 220 degrees F, or put a little marmalade
on a cold saucer and place in freezer for a minute. 
The marmalade should feel set and wrinkle when you push it. 
Pour into sterilized jars. Cover, seal and store in a cool, dark place. 
Yield: about 1 1/2 pounds 

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GINGER CAKE WITH GINGER CREAM 
(recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse)

Cake: 
4 eggs, separated 
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla 
Pinch of salt 
3/4 cup flour 
1 teaspoon powdered ginger 
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, 
melted and cooled to room temperature 
Ginger syrup (previous recipe) 
Ginger Cream: 
1 cup heavy cream 
1/4 cup sugar 
2 tablespoons finely chopped candied ginger 
8 mint sprigs, for garnish 
8 small pieces of candied ginger, for garnish 
Preheat the oven to 350. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan.
Combine the egg yolks and 3/4 cup of sugar in a mixing bowl,
and whisk until thick and light in color. Stir in the vanilla.
Beat the egg whites and salt with an electric mixer
until they form soft peaks. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar,
and beat until glossy, 15 to 20 seconds more. 
Incorporate 1/3 of the whites into the egg mixture.
Combine the flour and the ginger, mix well. 
Then sift 1/4 cup of flour mixture over the egg mixture,
and gently fold it in with a spatula. Repeat, folding in whites
and flour mixture until the last of the batch of flour
is nearly incorporated. Then fold in the melted butter.
Pout the batter into the prepared pan, and bake just until
the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan,
about 30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in the pan and remove from the pan. 
Whip the sugar and cream until soft peaks form.
Remove the cake from the pan, and place on a pretty plate.
Using a pastry brush, moisten the cake with the ginger syrup.
Fold the finely chopped ginger into the whipped cream, 
and ice the cake with the cream. 
Decorate with candied ginger and mint. Dust with powdered sugar.
are paired together with a buttercream filling

Prep time: 1 hour 30 min 

Tea Time Sandwich Cookies
These delicate wafer cookiesChilling time: 2 hours
Baking time: 6 minutes Cooling time: 15 minutes
recipe makes : 4 and one half dozen cookies

Cookies ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup whipping cream
 

Sugar filling ingredients
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter (softened)
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
1 to 3 teaspoons milk
**Food coloring if desired**
 

1. In small mixer bowl combine flour, butter, and whipping cream. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed (2-3 minutes). Divide dough into thirds; wrap in plastic food wrap. Refrigerate until firm - at least two hours.
2.Heat oven to 375 degrees. On well floured surface roll out dough, one third at a time (keep remaining dough refrigerated), to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with 1 and one half inch round cookie cutter. Dip both sides of cookie in sugar. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased (use shiny aluminum cookie sheet - not insulated - for best results) cookie sheets. Prick cookies all over with fork.
3. Bake for 6 to 9 minutes or until slightly puffy but not brown. Cool slightly; carefully remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely.
4. In small mixer bowl, combine all filling ingredients except milk and food coloring. Beat at medium speed, gradually adding enough milk for desired consistency. If desired, tint filling with food coloring. 
5. Carefully put cookies together in pairs with about 1/2 teaspoon filling for each cookie
6. Place on doily lined plates, have hot tea ready and Enjoy!

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Earl Grey Tea Bread

Yields: 6 to 8 servings

2 2/3 cups chopped, mixed dried fruit
10 ounces cold Earl Grey tea,
or similar black tea
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 1/3 cups self-rising flour
1 heaping teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter well a 9-inch loaf pan.
2. In a bowl, combine the fruit with the tea
and let soak 30 minutes.
3. In a bowl, sift the sugar,
flour, allspice, and salt.
4. In a small bowl, beat together
the egg and milk.
5. Add the fruit and soaking liquid
to the dry ingredients,
along with the egg mixture,
and stir until just combined.
6. Transfer the batter to the pan,
smoothing it into an even layer.
7. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes
or until a cake tester inserted in the
center comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes,
invert onto a rack and let cool completely.

Enjoy also these TeaTime refreshing drink recipes
Iced Tea Slush, Peach Smoothie, Pineapple Sparkler
at: www.teaifyouplease.com/recipes.htm


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Earl Grey tea
This popular black tea was named for Charles Grey, the second earl in his line, who was also prime minister to King William IV in the early 19th century. An amalgamation of Indian and Sri Lankan teas, Earl Grey gets its elusive flavor from oil of BERGAMOT. The Earl is said to have been given the recipe by a Chinese mandarin with whom he was friends Earl Grey of Howick Hall, near Craster, was one of Britain’s most popular Prime Ministers. His 1832 Reform Act completely changed the democratic system in Britain to the system we have today of parliamentary constituencies of (roughly) equal size and a one man, one vote electoral system. As Prime Minister, he also once sent a diplomatic mission to China and by chance the envoy saved the life of a Chinese Madarin. In gratitude, the Mandarin sent the Earl a delightfully scented tea, with its recipe. The special ingredient with which it was flavoured was oil of Bergamot. Earl Grey was delighted and in future always asked his tea merchant – the Tyneside company, Twinings, for that blend. His drawing room soon became famous for its tea and in due course the family gave permission for the blend to be sold to the public. Today, Earl Grey is the world’s most popular blend and is sold in more than 90 countries.

Interesting related story

The London Herald-Gazette
June 24, 1996
CANADIAN TEA-MERCHANT DISCOVERS EXPLORER'S JOURNALS
(reported by Bob Newell)
A Canadian tea merchant on holidays in Great Britain has discovered the long-lost journals of the noted British explorer, Admiral Nathan Grey. Ted Jones, proprietor of The Tea Trader, a tea-shop in Calagary, Alberta, Canada, was in London last month and was browsing in booksellers' shops in the Soho district, when an old volume caught his eye in a musty back-room of the Wickersham Antiqua shop. "I knew right away that I had found something of interest," Mr. Jones commented later. "It turned out that I had in my hands the sea journal of 18th century British explorer Admiral Nathan Grey." In an even more astounding coincidence, Mr. Jones pointed out, "Admiral Grey was the cousin of Earl Grey, after whom a well-known tea is named. This 'Earl Grey' tea turned out to be Admiral Grey's favourite." Mr. Jones explained that Earl Grey teas are generally China or Ceylon blacks given distinctive flavour by spraying with oil of bergamot, a citrus-like fruit found in Italy. "Earl Grey tea was something Admiral Grey was never without," Mr. Jones continued. "His journals show clearly that he took a supply along with him on each of his exploratory voyages in the South Pacific. But, I find the following passage from Admiral Grey's journal to be most fascinating of all." Mr. Jones read, On August 13 we mayde landfall at a smalle and lushely greene islande. It was most beautifulle, and native fruites were to be founde in the greatest bountie. Our ship's cooke gathered these fruites and we founde them moste deliciouse. Cooke also cutte smalle sections of these moste exotic fruites and brewed them with my tay. It was an exceeding delectible brewe. "As a tea-merchant," Mr. Jones continued, "I found this to be an intriguing idea and so I tried it out myself, following further details given in the journal. I had to agree with the old Admiral. Earl Grey tea flavored with tropical fruits was delicious. I then adjusted the blend, using other ingredients, and ended up with a new tea that is refreshing and delicious." Mr. Jones indicated that, while he would donate the journal to the British Historical Society, he would produce the new tea blend commercially and sell it exclusively through his Tea-Trader shop. Not surprisingly, Mr. Jones has named his new creation, "Admiral Grey Tea."


English Trifle ~ Recipe links




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