Ladies Tea At Our House Saturday- Please Crituque The List of Victuals

[Phog Allen]

Hello gentlemen. Saturday approaches and it brings the annual ladies afternoon tea at our home. This is a bit of a tradition my wife and I started about seven years ago. It has been a cracking success every time. The ladies love the pampering and are truly appreciative of the hand made treats we make for them. It is always a gratifying moment when one of them asks me where I bought a certain item and I tell her it was from Todd's kitchen. They somewhat marvel that a man can make this stuff. Let alone enjoy it. But I do. About the only prepared items from the store are jams, the clotted cream, and of course the tea. The rest we(usually me since I am the baker of the house) make up from scratch in our kitchen. So with that I wold like your opinions and critique of the list if victuals we will be providing. Please, feel free to offer up suggestions or modifications to our list.

Port and fig butter prosciutto sandwiches with baby lettuce.

Cucumber and buttered bread sandwiches.

Scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam. The jam will be something nice like Wilkin and Sons or Bonne Maman. The clotted cream is from The Devon Cream Company

Scratch made white and chocolate cakes with matching icing.

Shortbread tarts filled with lemon curd and topped with a fresh raspberry.

Poached pear and custard tart.

We are serving Ahmad Tea both Darjeeling and "English Afternoon Tea" flavours.

Whatever else happens to come up at the last minute but I think we have it covered for now. Again, suggestions here are welcome. If someone suggests something really interesting we may consider it as substitute for one of the listed items. I will try to get some photos posted up of the prep and final products if I can.

I can heartily recommend these sorts of festive occasions for the ladies in your life gents. Our afternoon tea has become a much anticipated event for some of these ladies and they always react with enthusiasm when they know it is once again time to gather round the table.

Cheers, Todd

[RABIDMONKEY]

after reviewing the menu...... twice , Im willing to shave my legs and wear a wig for a invite

[Sullybob]

Todd,

Your list looks great, as always. I always look forward to your annual afternoon tea thread.

I once had cucumber sandwiches with cream cheese. The cream cheese had the smallest amount of fresh ginger added to it. It was such a small amount that I really didn't realize it was ginger, It was pretty tasty.

Best of luck to you on Saturday.

[Phog Allen]

Sorry Rabidmonkey but I will leave the shaved legs to the wife! Thanks for the encouragement.

Shawn, glad to hear from you as always. We did not have our tea last fall because the shave shack remodel was underway and with some elderly ladies in the family it was not a good option to have them trudging up and down the staircase to the lower level bathroom. This was not well met by the ladies who wanted to know when it was going to happen. I am glad to be back on track. This year's menu is pretty similar to one we did a few years ago but it is so popular we get asked about certain parts when they are not on the list. Particularly the shortbread tarts with lemon curd. These are served every year or there is near mutiny at the tea. They are a snap to make as well. The most time consuming is of course the cakes but even that task is none too hard. I can tell you the port and fig butter is amazing. I will include its ingredient list along with my shortbread for those who want to try them. Super easy so just do it gents.

Cheers, Todd


Port and fig butter:

4 or 5 large dried figs
3Tbsp. Port - I use a cheap ruby
8 Tbsp. Unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt.

Stem the figs and put them in a small food processor or any other device that will chop them finely or puree them. Set aside.

Put the port in a small saucepan and heat it till it starts to boil. Simmer for a minute or two to boil off the alcohol. Optionally, light the port whilst it is boiling to make sure you get the alcohol level down. BE CAREFUL! Port is fortified and it lights off with whoosh. After it burns out add the fig puree and macerate thoroughly. Hint; Though you will be tempted, do NOT add the hot port and fig mixture to the butter. Let it cool down considerably and then add it to ROOM temperature butter. Again, the food processor is your friend. I mix it quite well and either roll it out in a log and store in a greaseproof paper(wax paper) or just put it in a small bowl with tight fitting lid. Spread on sandwich of your choice but any ham product like Prosciutto makes it pop.

Shortbread; Ah, the simple yet elegant treat of the Isles. Keep it simple here. Apply KISS liberally and you will not go wrong. Shortbread is 1 part sugar, two parts butter, and three parts flour. I make small tart cups with it by using mini muffin tins. My base recipe calls for 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup butter, and two cups flour. Use cool but not completely room temperature butter. Cream the butter, add sugar and cream well. Add the flour and mix well. Electric mixer needed here I think. Optional; Salt. I like 1/2 tsp salt in mine but those with sodium issues should act accordingly.

Use a small, melon ball making scoop and pop a rounded bit of dough in each cup of the tin. Form up the sides the cup with your finger. Trust me, just use your fingers. Washed please. Pop them in a preheated 325F(165C/Gas mark 3) for ten minutes. Remove from oven and lightly tamp down any puffed up tarts. A small wooden dowel with rounded edge helps save fingers here. Be careful. Place back in the oven and bake a further six minutes. Remove and cool for about 10 minutes. Invert tin over a solid counter surface and sharply rap the tin to dislodge the tartlets. Some will break every once in a while so take note. It happens. Makes about 32-36 tarts depending on how full you fill the cups. Think about a 7/8 inch round ball per cup.

[Go West Young Man]

At what point do you start the timeshare presentation? Kidding!

[RichGem]

after reviewing the menu...... twice , Im willing to shave my legs and wear a wig for a invite

Two words: Custom Title.

[Nishnabotna]

Just wondering why you don't make your own jams.

[Phog Allen]

I have not ventured into jam and preserve making yet. The menu is enough to keep me jumping for a couple of days. Besides, I need to hit the strawberries in the spring when they come in. I really like the small, wild variety we grow in the ditches around here. They have gobs more flavour than the large variety found in markets. But it takes a load of them to make a few pints and I am not going to the trouble unless I can preserve away some for later. Check out Wilkin and Sons Tiptree "Little Scarlet" variety. Superb but VERY pricey at nearly $17 a jar. This little American thing called a strawberry has taken the world quite by storm these last three hundred years or so.

Cheers, Todd

[ouch]

Once again, my invitation is lost in the mail.

That's some menu- beats the hell out of Lipton and a Twinkie.







And Richgem is absolutely correct.

[Alacrity59]

I'm looking forward to the pictures.

[YetiDave]

Sounds great

[Phog Allen]

Hey chaps. The tea was a triumph. The ladies were happy and paid me a grand compliment. Two of them had other gatherings to attend later in the day and told me they would not be sampling their cakes and other sweets because they would not compare to mine! Wow. What a compliment. Honestly, most of the things we make are not really that difficult. Like most things regarding baking, attention to detail and proper measurements are the key. The trickiest part for me has always been tart crusts. The shortbread version is super easy. The 9 inch tart shell I made for the poached pear tart was a pain as usual. I am not skilled enough to make a crust that will not sag down the sides a bit. This was no exception but I did manage to keep it deep enough to bake the custard around the pears. The pears turned out splendidly and had a great flavour.

I am sorry to say I got busy and did not get as many photos as I wanted. I managed shots of the finished tart, the shortbread tarts, and the scones with jam and clotted cream. But the sandwiches flew from the plates and I forgot to get photos of them. The port and fig butter was quite tasty. The two cakes I made flew fast as well. I think I have some of the chocolate cake left and will pop a few photos of it as well. Again, you lads out there who are considering this; do it. It gives you a chance to learn to bake and the ladies appreciate the efforts.

Cheers, Todd

[The Nid Hog]

Sounds like a great day and the menu looks delicious.

[xXClockwork]

Cheers to a successful afternoon!

[Sullybob]

It sounds like the day ended with a bunch of very happy ladies. I'm looking forward to the pictures.