Happy Birthday to The Afternoon Tea Club!

It's hard to believe it's been a entire year since The Afternoon Tea Club began - and what an exciting 12 months it has been! 

Since January 2012 we have sampled some of the best afternoon treats from Manchester and beyond, taking us to the quirky little boutiques of the Northern Quarter, the iconic Central Perk sofa and York's famous Betty's Tea Rooms. 

We celebrated our first birthday with an invitation to afternoon tea at Brown's Manchester which has inspired us to indulge in a monthly spot of traditional afternoon tea at various tea rooms across the UK - of course we will report back to our fellow tea-lovers - Send us your recommendations!

Thank you so much to all of our readers and the lovely people of our Twitterverse for your support and suggestions.

Here's to another cake-tastic year!

Laura and Caroline x

The Great British Afternoon Tea

There's nothing more British than a good-old-fashioned afternoon tea and since we at ATC have something of a penchant for the pastime, we couldn't let a week of national celebration go by without doing something special to mark it. So in the true spirit of the occasion, we've gone off in search of your favourite post-noon treats, seeking out the help of our lovely twitter friends along the way. Here are a few of our favourites...


1. Afternoon Tea at Lands End



This delicious looking cream tea was taken by @lindaloves2012 at Lands End. We're not sure which tea room it's originated from, but coming from the home of the cream tea - cornwall - we're betting that it was truely scrumptious. The clotted cream in particular looks amazing. Certainly one to look out for if you're ever in the area!


2. Eilis and Kat's Afternoon Tea.



You don't have to travel far for a yummy afternoon tea if you've got the right ingredients at home. Check out these creative cakey treats submitted by @goodgobbleblog who spent an afternoon with two little helpers, making banana and chocolate sour cream cake. Check out their blog for the recipe -we're thinking of giving it a go too!

GOODGOBBLE BLOG

3. "High Tea" at Hilton Deansgate, Manchester

This fancy little afternoon treat was submitted by @cakesbysian from her visit to Cloud 23 at the Hilton Deansgate.

Their special “High Teas” are served between noon and 4 pm daily and serve up some of the best tea – and views – the city has to offer.

For £16.95 you can treat yourself to a selection of fingersandwiches, scones and a choice of cakes from eclairs to Victoria sponge plusunlimited tea or coffee. If you’re feeling fancy, make it a champagne afternoonfor an extra £10.

Hilton’s Cloud 23 is the epitome of modern, city chic décor.Mesh seats, high tables and even a private lift to get you there, it reallydoes make you feel on top of the world.

WEBSITE


4. Bistro 1847, Manchester

@VintageMCR recommended an afternoon at Manchester's only vegetarian bistro. Looking at the yummy photos on their website - their afternoon tea might be worth turning veggie for the afternoon!

Below is a photo from @VintageMCR's visit to the Bistro. Check out their review HERE


BISTRO 1847 WEBSITE

5. The Ash Tea Rooms, Reddish



This elegant afternoon tea was tweeted by @ChattyMand from her visit to this quaint tea room in Stockport. Beautifully presented and those freshly baked scones look absolutely delicious. We're adding this one to our cake bucket list!

WEBSITE

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We don't know about you, but all this talk of tea and cake has got us feeling everso slightly peckish, so we're off out to find ourselves some early-evening-afternoon-tea...
We'll be back soon with some more reviews from our travels, but in the meantime, if you have any comments or pictures that you'd like to share with us, then send them to theafternoonteaclub@hotmail.co.uk or drop us a tweet @TeacupReview.

Happy National Afternoon Tea Week Everyone!


- Laura and Caroline