Afternoon Tea News: Very British Afternoon Tea, Royal Horseguards Hotel, London

For one week only the Royal Horseguards Hotel is re-launching its iconic Very British Afternoon Tea. Read below to find out more!

A Very British afternoon tea…

Presented in the hotel’s elegant lounge or intimate outdoor terrace with views of the iconic London Eye, resident head pastry chef Joanne Todd has designed the exclusive very British afternoon tea.

The very British afternoon tea includes:

A selection of finger sandwiches, including Her Majesty’s favourite – roast beef
A delicious selection of very British biscuits shaped as iconic red buses, Union Jack flags, crowns and the Big Ben tower
A decadent crown jewel cupcake – too good to be locked up in the Tower of London – and a Yorkshire rhubarb Queen of Pudding
Dark chocolate and English peppermint creams are an homage to Queen Elizabeth’s favourite childhood sweets – peppermint creams
A Lemon and Martini meringue pie is inspired by her tipple of choice – a Martini finished with a twist of lemon rind
Drop Scotch scones with English Bramley apple compote are created just as Queen Elizabeth herself made for
President Eisenhower when he visited Balmoral Castle in 1959
And to top it off, finish with Traditional Freshly Baked Scones served with homemade English strawberry preserve and Cornish clotted cream

Will you be trying a very British Tea? Let us know your thoughts!

The very British afternoon tea is available from 22nd to 28th April 2013 and priced at £35.00 per person. For more information, visit the  website HERE

Afternoon Tea News: The Flowering Afternoon Tea at The Park Lane Hotel, London

Complete with its own chocolate hanging basket and edible garden gnome, The Park Lane Hotel's Chelsea Flower Show inspired tea looks set to become one of this summer's Afternoon Tea highlights

Bloomin' Marvellous

Here's a little of what you can expect:

In celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the Chelsea Flower Show, The Park Lane Hotel in London has created a very special Flowering Afternoon Tea.  Available from Tuesday 14^th May to Sunday 9^th June 2013, the Flowering Afternoon Tea will include a delightful array of horticulturally-inspired teatime treats [...]

[...] To begin the Flowering Afternoon Tea experience, guests will be greeted with a Wild Blossom Champagne Cocktail – Champagne topped off with an edible hibiscus flower soaked in syrup.  A selection of five sandwiches and savouries are then served, including Poached Scottish salmon, cucumber and fennel crème fraiche served on a mini muffin with cucumber flowers; Orange blossom honey, wholegrain mustard roast ham, candied tomatoes and watercress on white bread; and Goats cheese, asparagus and lemon verbena tartlet with a soft boiled quails egg.

Warm, homemade plain and apple and raisin scones will follow, served with lemon verbena curd, clotted cream and seasonal preserves.  Finally, guests will be presented with a selection of floral pastries, including a Chocolate hanging basket with spiced Chai tea mousse and chocolate soil; a Honey orange blossom pain de gene with mango compote and edible honey bees; a Rosewater and raspberry mousse with crystallised rose petals on a rose macaroon and Pistachio and hazelnut chocolate financier “garden patch” with chocolate ladybird.  The pastries will be presented on a marzipan gardening patch edged with a chocolate rockery and will be complete with the edible garden gnome centrepiece perched on a white chocolate toadstool...

So what do you think? We're loving the sound of those summer cocktails and goats cheese tarts - YUM!

Are you booking yourself in for a summer treat? Let us know!

The Park Lane Hotel was amongst a select handful of London hotels to be recognised recently with a prestigious Award of Excellence 2013 by The Tea Guild. The Flowering Afternoon Tea at The Park Lane Hotel will be served from 14^th May to 9^th June 2013 (3pm-6pm on weekdays and 2pm-6pm at weekends) in The Palm Court and costs £45 per person.  Bookings must be made in advance. To book, call The Palm Court on 02072907328 or visit www.palmcourtlondon.co.uk

Afternoon Tea News: Eric Lanlard Fusion Afternoon Tea at Jumeirah Carlton Tower, London

Last week the Jumeirah Carlton Tower announced their latest Afternoon Tea collaboration with Eric Lanlard and we've got to say that we're pretty excited about this one!

For the last twelve months master patissier Eric Lanlard has been delighting guests at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower with his pretty “Rêves d'orient” Afternoon Tea, combining a whole host of exotic flavours and vibrant colours to create a wonderfully fresh and innovative travel inspired menu. So when the Jumeirah announced last month that Lanlard was to launch a new tea at the hotel, we were a little unsure as to how he could ever hope to better the “Rêves d'orient”. However, it would seem that our fears were for nothing, as his new 'Fusion' tea is just as pretty as the last, with a menu to tempt anyone.

Here's a little bit from the Jumeirah's website to explain what you can expect from this new tea:

On arrival, guests will be spiritzed with Eric’s edible perfume of freshly baked pain d’epices – quite literally a taste of things to come and a novel way to bring out the flavours of the tea. The menu begins with a section of savory delights such as: a lemongrass and ginger house-marinated salmon pumpernickel roulade; a roast beef, watercress and creamed horseradish wrap; and an onion brioche with crispy Peking duck, spring onion and cucumber. Then, to satisfy even the most discerning sweet tooth, a selection of pastries, cakes and desserts that combine elegant and subtle flavours to delicious effect. From a wild strawberry cone pop topped with strawberry cheesecake popcorn to dark chocolate cannelloni filled with tarte tatin mousse topped with pecan smoked mini apple, the FUSION afternoon tea is a decadent and memorable experience. With a remarkable attention to detail, Eric fills his honey roast apricot tart with precious saffron mousseline cream, and tops his wild roses nectar and fresh raspberries with lychee pearls and a Provencal fig coulis. 

Doesn't it sound fabulous? We can't wait to try it for ourselves - the wild Strawberry Cone Pop sounds AMAZING!

- If you go let us know what you think, we'd love to hear your thoughts!


Laura and Caroline

The FUSION Afternoon Tea by Eric Lanlard will be available at Chinoiserie from Friday 22 February and costs £40 per person or £50 per person with a glass of champagne, excluding service charge. To book, visit www.jumeirahcarltontower.com or call +44 (0)20 7858 7181