May 19 2013

Recipe: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones

Author: Jenna

I’m a peanut butter addict. It’s a well-established fact with plenty of evidence taking over my pantry (at any one time there are at least four different jars of peanut butter on my shelf). A scone incorporating peanut butter was a foregone conclusion as soon as I decided to start experimenting with scone flavors and recipes, and there is no way I’m stopping at only one 😉

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones

This recipe is the easiest way to add that addictive combination of peanut butter and chocolate to a scone. Chocolate chip scones are a common flavor at bakeries and tearooms, but I have yet to see a peanut butter chip added to a scone. Maybe a taste of these will change their minds? Because these scones need to happen. Every day.

I don’t know where to begin in describing these, other than basically imagine a peanut butter cup in a cream scone and you’ll know you’ve arrived in heaven. Peanut butter chips have a slight sweetness to them that combines with semisweet chocolate to sweeten a slightly savory scone. My opinion of plain scones is that they are often too sweet, so my go-to cream scone recipe uses very little sugar.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones

All the great elements of my basic cream scones–the light yet sturdy texture, the balance of sweet and salt, the noticeable rise, the melt-in-your-mouth creaminess–are here, with the irresistibility of peanut butter and chocolate. Believe it or not, I don’t think clotted cream is a requirement with these scones (though it will never hurt a scone to add it, particularly when drinking tea) as they are practically a dessert rather than a tea time treat. But milk, whether in your tea or in an accompanying glass, is a must.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones

Ingredients

200 g self-raising flour
1/4 tsp salt
50 g ultrafine baking sugar
150-200 mL heavy whipping cream (always start with the lower amount)
1/4 cup peanut butter chips
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 220°C (450°F). Place rack as high as possible in oven. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.

Sift flour and salt together in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add the sugar and chips, mixing until well distributed.

Add 150 mL cream then work in by hand by rubbing in the cream trying to incorporate as much air as possible until fully mixed. DO NOT OVERMIX. If the mix is too dry, now add the extra cream until the dough is wet enough to hold together.

Place dough on a heavily floured surface and knead a couple of times until relatively smooth. Pat down to desired height (we did 1 cm as usual). Cut out 5 cm circles with a crimped scone cutter and place on the baking tray. HINT: dip the cutter in flour before cutting out each scone. Knead the extras back together and repeat until most of the dough is used up.

Bake for 6-8 minutes (we did 8) until they have risen and are slightly browned around the edges and on top. Hide leftovers from family members as they will be devoured on sight. Or immediately begin making another batch.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones

May 17 2013

The Levels of Tea Service

Author: Jenna

Afternoon tea has become the catch-all term for any type of tea service. Linguists will say that technically afternoon tea is just any cup of tea you drink after 12:00 pm, but where’s the fun in that stuffy answer?

When you visit a tearoom, there are usually three “levels” of tea service available. The tea drink itself is always a feature; the levels refer to the nibbles served alongside your hot beverage. You can order a cream tea, an afternoon tea, or a high tea. Each one has a different amount and style of sweets or savories, and for authenticity, make sure you know what to expect when you order which one of the three.

Cream Tea

This is considered the lowest tier (no pun intended) of tea service, consisting only of scones, cream, and jam or other spreads…hence the name “cream tea”. It’s the perfect little repast from the hustle and bustle of the work day. A cream tea is substantial enough to curb your midday hunger, but not so filling that you’ll spoil your dinner.

Cream tea service at Blenheim Palace, Oxford, England

One of my favorite things to do while I lived in England was to visit a tearoom in every city, town, or village I visited and partake in a cream tea.

Afternoon Tea

Ah, the umbrella term Americans use to describe all three levels of tea service. Afternoon tea–the true, traditional afternoon tea service–consists of finger sandwiches or light savories, scones and cream/jam/curd/etc, and small treats or cakes. This is the service that most American tearooms and hotels offer to guests. Because there is just a higher quantity of food and there is the finger sandwich course, afternoon tea can replace a full meal (I usually schedule mine as a late lunch) or tide you over until a really late dinner.

Afternoon tea at the Cavendish London Hotel

A typical variation of afternoon tea is the celebration or champagne tea. It’s exactly what it sounds like: afternoon tea served with a glass of champagne in addition to your tea beverage. A great excuse to drink before 5:00 pm!

High Tea

High tea is definitely a full meal. Traditionally served at the end of a working class day, high tea has more substantial food such as meat pies, vegetables, quiche, and heavy baked goods possible in addition to the scone and dessert courses. But nowadays high tea is more of a multi-course afternoon tea with the addition of heavier foods rather than the family meal it used to be. What used to be exclusive to the working class of Britain has been taken over and changed into a more elite social gathering. High tea was not meant to be a dainty, china plated affair; it was the meal served to replenish after a long hard day of manual labor.

High tea service

So whatever your level of hunger, sophistication, or craving for sweets, there is a tea meal service for you. Just make sure you order the right service for your appetite’s size!

May 14 2013

Review: High Tea Cottage

Author: Jenna

A back alley side street is the last place I’d think to look for a tearoom, but there one is in the heart of Thousand Oaks. Tiny, unobtrusive, and impossible to find unless you know exactly where you are going, this is not a tearoom you find by being a walk-in customer. High Tea Cottage is a tearoom find for the tea connoisseur, or at least the Yelp! tearoom stalker.

First Impressions and Service

High Tea Cottage is run by a British couple and is available only through reservations. I had to call multiple days before we could get in to try the place, but when we arrived there were plenty of empty tables and they sat us early. But since the husband is the only one managing the tea side of the menu and the wife takes care of all the food and additional service, they definitely could not handle a high volume of guests. I believe in addition to the wife, there is one chef in the kitchen who used to run the restaurant at The Peninsula.

The Devonshire Cream and Jam cart

I was excited that the owners were from England, as I am obsessed with England and really miss the country, so I usually relish the opportunity to talk to British people, but the husband made us both feel rather awkward and unwelcome, not the sort of person I’m going to enter into conversation with. His wife, on the other hand, was lovely and we spoke for quite some time after our meal. Whereas anything related to the tea side we felt downright nervous to speak, with the food/merchandise transactions handled by the wife we felt like we were welcomed into someone’s home. But if I had to pluck up the courage to ask half of the service team for a simple fork (literally was afraid of the husband’s facial expression should I ask for an extra utensil), there is a bit of a problem. Again, though, the wife was a pleasure to interact with and I’m looking forward to future conversations with her.

Décor

The Sitting Room

The two rooms we could see, the “parlors,” were decorated like someone’s home. Nothing was over the top and gaudy, just simple, elegant, and what I would expect from a parlor in a typical British household. Some pink but not so much that you feel like you are in a dollhouse, white cabinets and shelves with assorted tea kettles and knickknacks, numerous small tables spaced well enough apart. There was one really cute table with two armchairs facing a window that seemed like it would be the most pleasant seat in the restaurant, also the one that would make you feel most like you were in a sitting room.

Matching china!

The china all matched, which is a departure from most tearooms. The obsessive-compulsive side of me was well satisfied.

Tea Selection

Yet another tearoom with an overwhelming selection, and many of them sounded delicious. To help with your selection, the husband brings over a tea cart with small jars of all the teas for you to smell and choose.

Tea cart, a brilliant idea with a chilly reception

But he warns you rather strongly that after smelling sevenish teas there is no more point to smelling them since your nose won’t differentiate anymore. I was paranoid of smelling too many teas after that. We started with the usual Earl Grey selection and smelled all four of their Earl Greys before settling on the best tea I’ve ever had: Buckingham Palace Garden Party. A lighter black tea, Buckingham Palace Garden Party is an Earl Grey with a hint of Jasmine and cornflower. We bought some to take home and have been enjoying it daily ever since.

Our second tea choice was a vanilla chai, definitely not a stellar choice. I was rudely instructed not to add milk to my tea as that would eliminate the chai flavor. Sorry, but I like a small splash of milk in my chai, though I chose to forgo that rather than get scolded. In the end I wish I’d stuck with Mom’s Buckingham tea.

So this is a tea cozy

The tea was left in the pot to overbrew, like almost every place it seems like, but at least the tea was kept warm throughout our meal because they wrapped the teapots in flowery tea cozies. And now I know what a tea cozy is, hereby enhancing my Harry Potter references (insert images of Dobby the House Elf dancing naked wearing a tea cozy, I dare you).

Food

High Tea Cottage offers a wide selection of set afternoon tea service menus designed around regions that partake in the afternoon tea tradition. There is an American, French, British, Traditional, and Australian tea service each with their own assorted selections as well as smaller options and a choose-your-own course menu. We opted for the Traditional Service (finger sandwiches, two scones with spreads, desserts, tea) and split it for an extra charge. The extra charge gets you an extra set of finger sandwiches, but the additional pot of tea is separate.

Sandwiches

With no choice as to sandwich selection (though I believe if you are vegetarian they won’t serve you the ham or chicken sandwich), what you are served is what you eat, luckily it wasn’t always a bad thing.

Cucumber and butter, chicken salad, egg salad, ham and butter, apricot chutney

The requisite egg (curried egg here) on half white half wheat bread had mayo. I know it’s standard for egg salad, but I still won’t touch it. Mom said it was nothing special, just tasted like curry powder.

Their chicken sandwich was a cranberry walnut chicken salad (mayonnaise and all) on wheat bread that was actually pleasant. Cranberries, nuts, and chicken is a fairly mild combination of flavors that I doubt anyone without a nut allergy can object to. A standard tea sandwich, and it was done nicely here.

Ham and butter as well as cucumber and butter (cucumber with butter as opposed to cream cheese is a very British swap) were both on white bread and nothing to write home about. Nothing to complain about, but nothing to stand out either. The cucumbers were fresh thin slices instead of the marinated cucumbers we’ve been seeing lately.

For me, the stand out finger sandwich was the apricot chutney, swiss, and butter on half white half wheat bread. It was a pleasant change of sandwich flavors and the tang of the apricot chutney blended nicely with the slight sourness of the swiss and the creaminess of the butter. I wish there had been another one of these instead of the egg, but again that’s based on my egg/mayonnaise phobias.

Scones

Raisin scones

The two raisin scones tasted like a revelation compared to the cookie/pound cake scones we’ve been tasting. These scones tasted like…scones! A novel concept in the tearooms of America it would seem, but the sweetness in these reasonable sized scones came solely from the raisins and not an excess of sugar being added to the dough. Mom doesn’t like raisins, but we both agreed that these scones have been the best thusfar. Again, they were not too sweet, but even better was the texture. There was a slightly dense, tender crumb, with the scone holding together nicely for topping with cream and jam. They didn’t puff up at all, which is a characteristic I usually associate with British scones, but I’ll overlook that for the flavor.

Devonshire Cream, Homemade Lemon Curd, Homemade Blackberry Jam

Devonshire cream was automatic, but we were given the option of two from lemon curd, blackberry jam, raspberry jam, and apricot jam. We chose blackberry jam and lemon curd, and both were excellent choices. The cream was more of the correct consistency instead of the sweetened whipped cream that passes for Devon cream elsewhere. It also wasn’t overly sweet, sugar being something the British don’t seem to require in the same quantities that Americans do. The lemon curd was a subtle balance between sweet and tart, and the jam tasted like the fruit it was made from. The combination of scone, cream, and jam/curd was perfection.

Desserts

Assorted homemade and imported desserts

Here was where I was afraid to ask for a second fork. It should’ve made sense to bring an extra dessert utensil knowing we were sharing the service, but apparently not. The first two desserts were from Switzerland: two mini tarts. Both tart shells tasted like nothing more than saltine crackers and butter, and when I say mini I mean mini. One bite mini. One was “filled” with a thimble of caramel and topped with cream and a blueberry; the other was “filled” with strawberry jam, cream, and topped with a strawberry and chocolate leaf. They were too small to even be of notice.

Now, I am a cream-puff girl. I know it sounds odd after my ranting about the Napoleon at The Andersen’s, but a well-done bite-sized cream puff is a pleasure in my book. Mom isn’t a fan of cream puffs, so I was more than willing to take the entire brunt of the taste testing on this dessert. And it turns out, I wouldn’t have wanted to share anyway. It may have been the best cream puff I’ve ever had. Soft and chewy choux pastry with a lightly sweetened vanilla cream rolled in powdered sugar. The only improvement would’ve been if it had been chilled, but I’m weird in that I’ll eat frozen cream puffs.

The best dessert was a slice of chocolate cake that was lighter than air. Midway through the slice was a layer of the most delicate raspberry vanilla mousse. One slice of that cake was definitely not enough, though with how excellent it was I doubt that an entire cake of it would be enough.

Extras

All of their teas are sold loose-leaf in the entrance to the tearoom, as well as an assortment of china teapots and teacups with beautiful floral designs. I believe all the china is imported from England, but I know for a fact that some of them are. If you ask, you can also buy scones to take home with you, and as they had just finished baking a batch of pomegranate scones, we snatched those right up out of the oven for car ride enjoyment. A few days later, I discovered that the pomegranate scones are even better than the raisin.

If you can tolerate the chilly reception from the husband and the hushed noise level, High Tea Cottage is a gem. It’s authentic British with a menu that will keep you coping back to try the other country-inspired tea menus. The tea selection is fantastic, but I know I will always choose the Buckingham Palace Gardens. I’ll be back here to review the other tea menus for sure, and I definitely won’t leave without a chat with the wife and a couple of scones to go.

Visit High Tea Cottage at 21938 Constanso Street, Woodland Hills, CA, 91362; (818) 887-2117. Cost per afternoon tea service: $22.00 for Traditional Tea Time for one with $10.00 split fee. Reservations required, closed Tuesday.

May 12 2013

Recipe: Rustic Chocolate Cherry Almond Scones

Author: Jenna

It’s a Sunday, which means I have a new recipe for the afternoon tea party I know you are throwing your mother or mother-in-law today. Mother’s Day is the perfect occasion for an afternoon tea, and it’s a great way to get the men in our lives hooked on one of our favorite pastimes. Because since it’s Mother’s Day, they have to go along with whatever their mothers want, and every mother should want afternoon tea. More importantly, every mother should want these scones at their afternoon tea.

Rustic Chocolate Cherry Almond Scones

Cherry and almond extract is a traditional combination; cherry and chocolate is a traditional combination. Chocolate cherry almond should be a required combination. The flavors just complement each other perfectly in a delightfully sweet scone. Baking fruit enhances and concentrates its natural sugars, so the cherry flavor really pops against the almond extract. Almond extract is a tricky ingredient. It seems that any recipe that uses even the slightest bit of almond extract tastes overwhelmingly of marzipan (anyone else notice that almond extract tastes nothing like the almonds we snack on?). So the fresh cherries and the semisweet chocolate are necessary contrasts to the strongly sweet almond.

I made these scones two ways as part of my fresh fruit vs. dried fruit experiments. You can use either, but the verdict around the house was that the fresh fruit was a small margin better than the dried fruit. But the dried cherries were tart, adding an new flavor profile to these sweet scones that cut through the saccharine almond extract taste.

As for the scones themselves, they don’t rise much, yet they aren’t dense so they retain their “sconeness” instead of becoming like a pound cake. The three flavors are wonderfully sophisticated and well-matched. The key to the flavors working is good, fresh, ripe cherries. When baking with fruit, your result really is only as good as the produce you use. So investing in sweet cherries is definitely worth it. Dad LOVED them. If we served them at afternoon tea, he’d be there every time.

These are best served with only an unsweetened whipping cream or traditional clotted cream (everything is improved served with clotted cream). Jam is a big no-no since there are already three flavors and a fourth would just overpower your taste buds and drown everything else out.

Happy Mother’s Day! So go make these incredibly delicious scones to make up for all the missed phone calls over the last year; you may even make up for some future ones!

Rustic Chocolate Cherry Almond Scones

Rustic Chocolate Cherry Almond Scones

Recipe adapted from Scones & Tea from TeaTime Magazine

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 ultrafine baking sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed (1 stick)
3 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup chopped fresh cherries or dried tart cherries
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp almond extract
almond slivers to top

Preheat oven to 425F. Place oven rack at the top of the oven. These scones don’t rise much, so don’t worry. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Cut in the butter and cream cheese (the recipe says use a pastry cutter, but I use a different method that’ll be coming up in another post) until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add cherries and chocolate chips, mixing until evenly distributed.

In a measuring cup, combine cream and almond extract. Add to flour mixture, folding it in until dry ingredients are moistened. (When doing the dried cherry version, the dough will be drier without the moisture from the fruit, so add more cream 1 tbsp at a time until the dough comes together. I only needed one additional tablespoon.)

Knead dough a few times until most of the ingredients are incorporated into a single ball of dough. Be careful not to overwork it. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat out to desired thickness (my standard is 1-1.5 cm). Cut out scones with a floured 5 cm scone cutter. Place on parchment paper. Optional to sprinkle with slivered or sliced almonds.

Bake 11-13 minutes until scone edges are beginning to turn a golden color. Immediately let cool on a wire rack.

Rustic Chocolate Cherry Almond Scones

Serve with clotted cream, your favorite black tea, and a hug for Mom.

May 10 2013

The Tea Dance: Much Better than Prom

Author: Jenna

What could possibly make the delicious tradition of afternoon tea even better? How about adding music and a dance floor as a side to your scones?

A tea dance is a late-afternoon or early-evening dance (around the same time as afternoon tea! What a coincidence!) that accompanied the afternoon tea meal. Tables would surround the dance floor and musicians and guests would be served the typical sandwiches, scones, desserts, and tea while having the option to waltz, tango, and foxtrot away the clotted cream they just consumed.

A tea dance revived in Hampshire, England

The first references were in Victorian era etiquette books, but tea dances were then limited to country suburbs, garrison towns, and getaways. Their intention was to offer a well-chaperoned event for eligible young bachelors to meet eligible young ladies. Starting in 1912, the upscale English hotels and restaurants started offering these tea dances and by the 1920s had spread to all the fashionable cities and their restaurants, hotels, and theaters. The Charleston also joined the waltz and tango.

Tea dances were mostly popular in France, French colonies like Morocco and Buenos Aires, London, and the British resort towns.

Hmmm, maybe this summer I’ll bring the tea dance back to popularity and host a tea dance of my own? Guess I better start teaching all my friends the Charleston!

May 07 2013

Review: The Andersen’s

Author: Jenna

Apparently afternoon tea is not an exclusively British/Commonwealth institution (that or other places just jumped on the Anglophile bandwagon) as there is a Santa Barbara restaurant offering up its unique version of a “High Tea” service. Andersen’s is actually a Danish—meaning from Denmark not the Netherlands as my confusion was corrected by a cashier—restaurant and bakery, but every day it serves afternoon tea between 2 pm and 5 pm. A Danish take on a British establishment? A perfect excuse to take advantage of the beautiful Southern California weather and take a trip up the 126 to Santa Barbara’s State Street.

First Impressions and Service

Want to eat outside? The front is beautiful.

Reservations were easy to make, surprisingly because it was a Sunday. Then again, with a breezy beach a mile away, spending time up State Street to have tea might not be a priority. The place itself was shockingly well-staffed! We were immediately greeted by a server and told that we could pick whatever table was empty and they would prepare our high tea in the mean time. Even after we chose our table, multiple servers and bussers came up to us to make sure we had been taken care of. That is a mark of quality service…or lack of communication, but let’s agree on the positive.

Adequately borderline overly staffed servers, bussers, food runners, and cashiers at the attached bakeries make an excellent first impression.

Décor

The place is divided into three areas, each with a slight twist on a general Danish décor. When I think of Danish room styling, I picture Holland cherub pink and pastels with white accents, a place where a blonde haired blue-eyed milkmaid wouldn’t look out of place. The Andersen’s is fits right into that image, with the exception being the outside seating area in front of the restaurant. But to be honest, every storefront on State Street is going to blend with the beachy, laid-back, slightly upscale feel of Santa Barbara regardless of its interior. So where we sat (we chose an outside table, the better for people-watching and Vitamin D production) was a little more modern sophistication and a little less dairy farm.

Pink Room

The inside rooms are both two stories; one room is the pink and the other is the green. The pink room is directly opposite the glass bakery cases that are filled with the authentic Danish pastries and desserts that make up the bakery part of “The Andersen’s Restaurant and Bakery”. Tables are rather crammed together but as the inside was pretty empty it wasn’t yet a problem. I can see it being loud and overwhelming for breakfast or weekend brunch.

The Bakery Room

Tea Selection

A location’s tea selection tells you a lot about the focus and the overall philosophy of a tearoom’s owner. The Andersen’s tea menu makes it blatantly obvious that this place’s emphasis is not on tea or variety; it is all about the meal experience and the business that serving afternoon tea will potentially drive in the door. There are not 70 types of teas available for you to mull over, smell, learn about, enjoy…there are not even ten. Nine teas make up the selection, chosen for one because they loosely cover the bases of the average crowd’s palate and two because they come in cheap tea bags. When a restaurant doesn’t really care about the culture of tea and tea services, you expect there to be tea bags and minimal options. The teas are all STASH brand, and you are limited to English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Orange Black Tea, Chamomile, Chai, Peppermint, Raspberry, Lemon Ginger, and Green Tea. Nine teas that almost anyone who drinks tea could at least tolerate drinking. We both chose the nothing special Earl Grey amidst the nothing special options.

The tea bags were left in the pots of hot water, risking an overbrewed cup, and there was no method of heating the tea during the course of the service. No tea warmer, tea cozy, or hot water was provided. By the time we had finished our finger sandwich portion, the tea was overbrewed and lukewarm. By the end of the scone, it was cold. By dessert, it was abandoned.

Food

The tea service is a set menu, a kind of one-size-fits-all approach that a lot of tearooms take, but unlike other tearooms there are not multiple set menus to choose from. The Andersen’s High Tea is served with two small sandwiches, scone, fruit, and Danish desserts. The interesting element to the whole presentation is that instead of coming on a typical three-tiered stand, it consists of two platters placed on the same sort of tier that pizza parlors use to raise the pizzas off the table. I have never seen that before, and it gave us quite a giggle. The high tea is per person, with no option to split so the menfolk back at home were pretty much guaranteed leftovers. There was no doubt once everything arrived at the table and was obviously oversized. Were they going for Honey I Blew Up the Tea Service?

Sandwiches

I hesitate to call these morsels sandwiches because we had a challenge to find bread. Served open faced, the two mounds were more lettuce than bread so it was like eating a salad flipped upside down with the crouton underneath the rest of the ingredients rather than on top.

Ham Sandwich

Mound 1 was a ham, hardboiled egg (which I immediately removed. Even for you, my wonderful readers, I will not eat a hardboiled egg), pickled cucumber (yummy!!!), garnished with sprouts and an orange wedge. All of this was piled over a bed of lettuce covering a two inch square of wheat bread with some tasty spread over it. I love this trend of pickling or marinating cucumbers; it really adds a great additional flavor to a generally plain vegetable. These were sweet and refreshing.

Crab Salad Sandwich

Mound 2 was crab salad, those cucumbers, tomatoes, the lettuce bed, and bread square garnished with sprouts and a lemon wedge. Again, I hate mayonnaise but I did taste it enough to say that I can understand someone else enjoying it (someone else does include Mom). I thought the coleslaw-cum-mayonnaise flavor was not too overpowering in the crab salad mixture, and could be pleasantly masked/brightened by the lemon’s juice.

Scones

Cranberry Scone

Like the rest of the menu, there were no options for scone flavors, something I actually liked about this place. The cranberry scones were very large drop scones—as opposed to rolled out and cut—that Mom said tasted like pound cake and I said tasted like a sugar cookie you would buy at a grocery store. The thing about these flavors is that neither are bad flavors, but they also aren’t adjectives one would ever use to describe British scones. I guess that’s okay because these can be labeled Danish scones? Do they make scones in Denmark? The texture was a good balance between structured and crumbly and held up well to lashings of cream and jam.

Scone Topping Options

The once-again-stiffened-unsweetened-whipped-cream was not overly sweet, so even spreading it on the scone did not mask its flavor but instead complemented it. Texture was still not right by British standards, but the flavor was a lot more on point.

Raspberry Jam… to die for

The highlight was the homemade raspberry jam: sweet but with a strong flavor of raspberries with a tang that elevated the jam to nectar. I could’ve eaten this with a spoon and nothing else.

Orange Marmalade

The orange marmalade was bitter and sweet, reminiscent of those orange-flavored cough syrups I choked down as a kid. I don’t like orange marmalade apparently, so this is definitely a personal preference thing. Check it out yourself. And be sure to try a bit with scone, cream, and jam for the best morsel of scone.

Desserts

McDonalds’ Super Size has nothing on The Andersen’s dessert offerings. The Napoleon, a mile high mass of Bavarian cream between flaky pastry and covered in a thin layer of chocolate, looked like a slab fit for Henry VIII’s appetite. And they gave us one per person. One bite was all we both needed to label it as being heavy and sweet without being decadent, which is oddly enough not a compliment. If I am going to eat something that rich, I should feel that thrill of indulgence not a stomachache.

Apple Strudel

The apple strudel (also a hefty portion but a lot more airy) was basically the best apple Danish I’ve ever had. It was flaky without being overly buttery so you get this great shatter of dough but no greasy coating in your mouth. The apples were soft and seasoned with cinnamon, which complemented the thin layer of marzipan they hid. But the best bites were those that had an additional hint of almond from the toasted almond and sugar top. This is The Andersen’s signature pastry for good reason.

Marzipan Petit Four

And believe it or not, the marzipan petit fours were delicious. They held their own against the apple strudel! A small square of Grand-Marnier soaked sponge cake and a hefty (shocker) layer of marzipan is broken up by the thinnest layer of that raspberry jam before being coated in white chocolate. It was dense—with that requisite decadent characteristic the Napoleon missed—so the relatively small size was perfect.

We split all the desserts and brought the rest home for Dad and anyone else who managed to snag a bite or two. Dad liked the scone, but he would’ve chosen the lemon blueberry from Tea Rose Gardens over a second scone from here.

Extras

Only half the selection!

The bakery case is replete with oversized Danish sweets, and everything seemed to have marzipan in some form. Marzipan tarts, cakes, cookies, rings, strudels, toppings…you name it, the Danish will put marzipan in or on it. Dare them. It’s a fun case to peruse, but unless you have a hankering for the biggest sugar rush of your life, plan on splitting the items. And not on the same day as your high tea experience or you’ll risk diabetes.

This is not a traditional English afternoon tea, and you should be prepared for that. The focus is definitely on showing off the Danish style of pastries rather than providing an actual meal (plan on needing a lot of protein in the rest of your meals) or even an actual tearoom experience. But the name says it all: The Andersen’s Restaurant and Bakery. High tea is just an extra option this restaurant offers up for your enjoyment on a getaway day to Santa Barbara. Was is a good experience? Yes. Are we glad we went? Yes. But will we be back? Probably not for high tea. I’ll stick with British on this one.

Visit The Andersen’s at 1106 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA, 93101; (805) 962-5085. Cost per afternoon tea service: $26.95.

May 05 2013

Recipe: Almond Bliss Scones

Author: Jenna

Why name these scones “Almond Bliss”? Because almond and scone is such a delicious and delicate combination that it inspires utter bliss when eaten warm out of the oven, topped with true clotted cream. A dollop of spring strawberry jam may be traditional and adds a sweet treat to this scone, but it is far from necessary. Fun, exotic, unique, and complex flavor blends all have their place, but with these almond scones the pleasure is in the simplicity.

I considered starting off Scone Sundays (I kind of have a thing for alliterations: Tea Room Review Tuesday, Fun Fact Friday) with my current go-to cream scone recipe. Plain, versatile, well-honed, and classic. Cream scones are the most traditional type of scone alongside sultana. But why do we always have to start with the basics? Dare to be different! Make these almond scones; a cream scone recipe will always be there in the event of recipe tragedy, but I promise you won’t need it.

Almond Bliss Scones

Almond Bliss Scones

Recipe adapted/edited from Scones by Genevieve Knights

Ingredients

200 g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
50 g soft brown sugar
70 g ground almonds
200 mL double cream (heavy whipping cream)
teeny bit of water

Preheat the oven to 220°C (450°F). Place oven rack very close to the top of the oven, but obviously not so high that a rising scone with touch the top.

Sift together into a medium mixing bowl the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add the ground almonds. Rub in the cream. Add only enough water to bring all the mix together (barely a teaspoon!). Knead until almost smooth, about 5-6 times.

Place on a heavily floured surface and press down to desired thickness (1 cm). Cut out into desired scone size (5 cm). HINT: dip the scone cutter into some flour before cutting dough for easier removal. Place scones on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Bake about 8 minutes until lightly browned or until you lack self control anymore.

May 03 2013

What Exactly Is Tea?

Author: Jenna

We call all sorts of things tea that are not really tea (insert astonished gasps). True tea actually has a really narrow definition: it must contain the leaves of camellia sinensis. And yes I struggle to pronounce that plant name as well. So let’s–for ease’s sake–just call it the tea plant and the leaves of the tea plant. Much more manageable, no?

Camellia Sinensis leaves

The tea plant is native to subtropical and tropical regions, so it’s really only found in the wild in Southeast Asia (most tea comes from China, India, and Japan). Nowadays tea is grown on plantations called tea estates. Unfortunately for all of us American tea drinkers, there are no tea estates in the US, though there are small tea gardens that are no where near able to supply enough tea for us to consume. Tea is one product we should be glad is made in China! Between the climate, soil, and available farmland, Asia is the perfect location to grow the massive amounts of tea that I…I mean we…consume daily.

Tea Estate in Sri Lanka

So what “teas” are actually teas and not tisanes? (By the way, tisane is the technical word for any doesn’t-contain-tea-leaves beverage of water-steeped fruit, leaves, herbs, or spices.) If it says white, green, black, oolong, or pu-erh, it’s a legitimate tea. Otherwise it’s a tisane. Rooibos, dried fruit, herbs, flowers, and spices are all tisanes rather than teas. But most of us call many of the tisanes “herbal teas” just because it’s easier. Or we really didn’t know the difference between tea and tisane. Of course, now we all do so there are no more excuses on our parts 😉

Tisanes

Basically the fun facts/answer to the question boils (pun intended, ha that’s funny) down to a single factor…the presence of camellia sinensis. If it’s there: tea. If it’s not: tisane. Either way, they taste delicious with finger sandwiches and a scone.

May 01 2013

Welcome to Once Upon an Afternoon Tea!

Author: Jenna

Afternoon tea…the perfect girl’s day out, mother-daughter date, fourth date (real men are secure enough to have tea!), pretty much the all-around best answer for any escapism. This wonderful institution so associated with the United Kingdom is gaining in popularity here in the United States. And I for one couldn’t be happier. I love tea! I love the tea itself, the little finger sandwiches, the scones, the excuse to dress up, the break from everyday life, the scones, the “Britishness” of it all, the history, the scones, the people who run tea rooms.

And that is why Once Upon an Afternoon Tea is here. With so many tea rooms to try in Southern California alone, finding the quality amongst the quantity can be a challenge. I’m doing the sorting for you! (I know, it is such a burden testing out all these tea rooms 😉 ) Which tea room has the best tea selection? The best finger sandwiches? The best decor? Quality service? Authentic British scones? Real clotted cream? We’re finding out together and sharing in the wonderful tradition of afternoon tea.

But tea room reviews are not the only thing you’ll find at Once Upon an Afternoon Tea. You’ll also discover reviews of bakeries, recipes for tea time treats both savory and sweet, fun facts about tea and the afternoon tea tradition, and so much more. And we don’t just stop with the Greater Los Angeles area either; tea rooms and bakeries can be found nearly everywhere in the country and we’ve done some deliciously personal research in the UK, the heart of afternoon tea.

So curl up with your favorite cuppa and discover the joys of afternoon tea with us at Once Upon an Afternoon Tea!

The founders of Once Upon an Afternoon Tea

Apr 30 2013

Review: Tea Rose Gardens

Author: Jenna

Pasadena seems like the Southern California epicenter for afternoon teas. Whereas in some cities there is a Starbucks on every corner, Pasadena has a tearoom on every corner. Luckily I love Pasadena so having to make multiple trips there to test out all the tearoom is a burden I will gladly bear for everyone’s sake. You’re welcome. And thank you 😉

First Impressions and Service

I made a reservation for two (Mom is embarking on this tasty and sugary journey with me) pretty easily, and even though it was a weekend when we arrived early they took our table half an hour early. I think this was just luck since the place seemed pretty busy and people steadily came in after we sat down so reservations definitely recommended. Better safe than sorry! Nothing worse than the anticipation of tea being dashed by a lack of tables. Then again, if you’re in Pasadena, just try the tearoom down the street.

Unfortunately, Tea Rose Garden was understaffed to handle an afternoon tea lunch rush. There was maybe two servers and one busser? I’m not entirely sure but there was no hostess and one was definitely needed. People would walk in and stand around looking totally confused. A hostess should have been there to greet and seat. And maybe another busser? Tables were being left uncleaned for a bit too long. To be fair there was a baby shower in the rear of the restaurant and large parties often drain a server’s time and attention, but with those types of events being reserved well in advance, the manager should have compensated with the staff.

Décor

Think of a garden courtyard: vines creeping up the walls and hanging across trellises, a trickling fountain surrounded by greenery and little flowers, cloth curtains swinging from the windows overlooking the patio. The entire inside was painted and decorated to look like you were sitting in a little garden complete with window hangings camouflaging the air conditioning vents. Though sometimes the air conditioning went on and was really loud and distracting. Then it would turn off and become awkwardly quiet just after you had become used to the noise.

It wasn’t overly girly, which many tearooms can fall victim to, but it wasn’t modern. It was a great blend of originality and traditional quaintness that you expect from a tearoom. Just without the rain.

The table was set with floral china, some had white tablecloths and glass covers, others did not. Did they only want to do some of the linen laundry?

Tea Selection

The tea selection is a solid selection of black, flavored black, green, herbal, and oolong tea. They had a fair number of teas that sounded interesting, but they were out of the first four or five I asked about. We each picked a pot of tea, and since one pot will always be Earl Grey for continuity and reviewing’s sake, I chose Cinnamon Plum flavored black tea. The Earl Grey was a solid Earl Grey, just a standard bergamot flavored black tea, not overly special and not overly bland. It was far better than the Cinnamon Plum! At the kindest I can say it was nothing special; it may as well have been straight water that they served. Normally with a good tea I want to drink it for the tea itself, but I finished this pot out of needing liquid with my food rather than out of a particular enjoyment of the tea itself. Maybe one of the other teas they were out of would’ve been better. They do brew only loose-leaf teas—a must in my book for a tea house to even be allowed to call themselves a tea house—and they bag them to order then leave the tea bags in your pot making it over brew. I noticed it right away so my mom and I spooned out our tea bags so at least our tea didn’t get bitter, but it did get cold about halfway through our meal.

Brown sugar was in cubes, for anything else they had packets. More sanitary but more clean up for them too.

Food

The Tea Rose Afternoon Tea

Tea Rose Gardens serves multiple levels of their afternoon tea service. We chose the Tea Rose Afternoon Tea, consisting of finger sandwiches, scones, spring petal salad (their signature item of a spring green and edible flower salad with too much raspberry vinaigrette) fresh fruit, dessert bites, and a rose sugar cookie (another signature item). One pot of tea is included. Since we have learned that one stand is usually enough for us to split, we just added another pot of tea and another scone to round it out. They waived the split charge since we did that, super nice and accommodating.

Spring Petal Salad

Sandwiches

You get your choice of three finger sandwiches from their menu, which is quite extensive. Our first choice was the quintessential cucumber and herb cream cheese on white bread, and it shone. This sandwich is a standard tea sandwich and is usually underwhelming, but Tea Rose Gardens marinates their cucumbers in this sweet and slightly sour juice that creates the perfect savory complement to the sweet herb cream cheese. As typical the cucumber slices were too thin for our liking, but because they had that additional flavor they were able to hold their own and instantly became a favorite, craving-worthy finger sandwich.

The second choice was—ironically since Mom was guaranteed to dislike this sandwich—the goat’s cheese sun-dried tomato pesto on white bread. I love goat’s cheese. I love sun-dried tomato. I love pesto. I love this sandwich. Mom did not. Mom doesn’t like goat’s cheese, yet somehow she always forgets that and is game to try it anyway. The spread was nice and creamy with a definite tang from both the cheese and the tomatoes.

Finally we went with my almost guaranteed to dislike it sandwich: cranberry chicken. Don’t get me wrong, I love cranberries and I eat chicken, but as it is a chicken salad it was almost required to have mayonnaise and I hate mayonnaise more than Mom hates goat’s cheese. This one was on toasted bread and had a good flavor from the cranberries and the almonds, but the consistency was off. The mixture had been pureed into a spread, too many passes through the meat grinder? The flavors were pleasant and taste was fine, but the texture completely detracted from the promise of a good tea sandwich.

Scones

Lemon Blueberry Scone

Ah, the area in which we are pickiest and harshest! The lemon blueberry scone tasted like a lemon loaf cake with a crunchy exterior. The plain “traditional English” scone tasted like a buttermilk pancake. Neither scone tasted all that fresh, but the lemon blueberry was definitely staler than the plain. Both completely fell apart…no structural integrity, making it difficult to top with their slightly sweetened whipped cream that they claim is Devonshire cream. As usual, it’s not. The cream was too sweet and overwhelmed even the lemon blueberry scone’s flavor. The accompanying raspberry jam was tasty, but generic. Though it did a decent job of cutting the sweetness of the cream and contributing to the overwhelming of scone flavor.

“Devonshire Cream”

Sadly, still a far cry from true traditional English scones. My dad liked the lemon blueberry one we brought home for him.

Desserts

Here Tea Rose Garden shone like the sun. There were four little “tea bites” samples of their full sized desserts and a rose sugar cookie that didn’t hold a candle to the little bites. That cookie was nothing more than a vanilla honey graham cracker masquerading as a crunchy drop cookie. Neither of us likes crunchy cookies, so sorry cookie but you are voted off the dessert tier.

Lemon Bar, Brownie, Apple Crumble Bar, Creme Brulee Cheesecake, Cookie

The apple cobbler bar was wonderful: the perfect little morsel of an apple pie filling (not too sweet!) with a buttery crust bottom and a brown sugar crumble topping. You could actually taste apple and butter instead of sugar! Fantastic.

The brownie with nuts (beware allergies) was a generic brownie, nothing all that noteworthy. Funnily enough Mom said it was too fudgy and I said it was too dry and not fudgy enough. Who was right? Try it yourself to find out.

The crème brulee cheese bar had actual flecks of vanilla bean. How many places make vanilla cheesecake with vanilla bean? I’m not sure but Tea Rose Garden does and with its pastry crust and almost custardy consistency, they did it right. It wasn’t really bruleed at the top, or else it had been sitting long enough to lose its brulee, which was kind of a disappointment, but not a detraction.

The lemon bar, I will dream of for teas to come. Perfectly tart cut by the powdered sugar topping and a shortbread crust, both of us nearly died from lemony heaven. If you’ve never been to lemony heaven, you are missing out, but this bar will at least give you a taste of that wonderful citrus world. Go there. Eat a lemon bar. Thank me for all eternity for telling you about it. Save me a bite.

Extras

The middle room is an actual flower shop, and I think behind that they have an outside party room you can book for special events. I don’t know how much actual flower business they do since it was definitely disorganized. They sell the typical tea and knickknack merchandise, but nothing to really catch your eyes as anything other than additional decoration. One thing I really disliked was that their checks and orders were written old-fashioned style on a piece of paper and rung up as “food…price” with no specific itemization. Picky? Perhaps, but as I waitress myself I am always looking for restaurant management and operation. They need a serious update.

Overall this is definitely a solid choice for an afternoon tea in Pasadena. The décor and the desserts set Tea Rose Gardens apart from other tearooms for their attention to detail and balance of tradition and unique touches. Definitely a tearoom we will revisit, and maybe buy some extra lemon bars for the drive home.

Visit Tea Rose Gardens at Old Town Pasadena, 28 South Raymond Ave., Pasadena, CA 91105; (626) 578-1144. Cost per afternoon tea service: $18.95

The Art of Afternoon Tea from Los Angeles and Beyond