Dear Reader, please come and join us for high tea at Willowbrook!
We would like to know what you would like to see on the menu.
We plan to serve a traditional English afternoon tea, displayed on a three tier silver stand, with the lower tier being savoury finger sandwiches (with the crusts carefully cut off of course); the middle tier being freshly made scones with home made jam (recipes for both to follow soon); and the top tier being pastries and petit fours.
Above: Someone's got the order wrong!
My choice for the sandwiches would be a selection of the three English staples: Salmon and Cream Cheese on wholemeal bread; Cucumber sandwiches on white bread (always plenty of cucumbers to be had at Willowbrook, especially for ready money!); and a lastly another savoury sandwich. Many people choose egg, but I am not a fan of egg sandwiches. I would much prefer to see a savoury chicken sandwich on my plate. What, dear readers, would you like to see on yours?
Scones
These should not be savoury for a high tea, but rather plain, possibly slightly sweetened, served with freshly whipped cream and lashings of fruity jam...
I prefer blackberry, cherry or raspberry jam, not being a big fan of strawberry jam.
A few too many scones ,someone's forgotten the sandwiches...
Now what would you like to finish? This is a chance to really set a standard, as apart from having the freshest sandwiches and lightest scones, the first two parts of an afternoon tea are fairly well prescribed. The chance to really go to town is with the final course. Macaroons have carved out a place at high end teas thanks to the promotion of La Duree...
Meanwhile I'm still a fan of the humble (but ever so prettily decorated) cupcake...
Then there are a variety of petit fours. I wasn't really sure why they are called petit fours until I looked it up the other day: It comes from the French meaning "small oven" (my high school French taught me that oven was cuisinière).
Please do let us know what your favourite sweet treat would be.
Of course, an afternoon tea would not be complete without the actual tea!
Most people would be happy with a lovely cup of tea from our selection. We will carry Twinings, Fortnum and Mason, and TWG. For a special high teas guests may also request something a little more effervescent...
So, please let us know what you would like to see in our sandwiches and for the final course. I will be back with the results of the survey soon, along with the family scone recipe and our recipe for home-made Damson jam.
Addendum - We have now purchased a dozen 3-tiered silver trays. These are what we shall serve your teas on...
