Jul 12 2013

To Milk or Not To Milk?

Author: Jenna

The question of whether or not to add milk to your tea can get quite contentious. It seems a simple matter of taste and preference—if you like tea with milk add it and if not leave it out—but as with the proper order of clotted cream and jam topping a scone, the milk or no milk debaters believe it goes far beyond the taste buds.

History of Adding Milk

Painting by Alexander Rossi bestartpainting.com

Milk tea or taking tea with a dairy product has a history that stretches back to the Asian origins of tea (apparently some Asian cultures used to add butter to tea), but milk tea is considered different than adding milk to tea. When tea first came to Europe, it was sipped with no dairy additions. It wasn’t until the 17^th century that adding milk to tea was first being mentioned by upperclass tea drinkers.

Tea historians (what an awesome job) have given two reasons for milk’s emergence. The most common theory is that milk and cream were found to soften the bitter taste of black teas. The second theory has nothing to do with flavor or health, but rather with china. Porcelain (you thought I meant the country China! Made you double-take J) can crack when boiling water is poured into the bottom of a cup, so Madame de La Sabliére of France introduced pouring milk into the cup before the hot tea to prevent her fine porcelain from cracking or breaking during her literary salon meetings. Doing so also allowed the tea to be drunk more comfortably.

Adding Milk Subtracts Health Benefits

Photo Credit illakiyaa.wordpress.com

The anti-milk tea league points to scientific studies that suggest that milk takes away from the health benefits of drinking tea. A 2006 study by the Germans showed that adding milk to tea prevents its ability to protect one from heart disease. Black tea has been found to help heart functioning and long term artery health, but milk may bind with the catechin in tea and stop the benefits. The no-milkers also believe that adding milk to tea increases insulin activity (in lab rat studies) and degrades its antioxidant potential.

But adding milk to black tea is more common than adding milk to green tea, and green tea is the kind associated with more health benefits including higher levels of catechins and antioxidants.

No Harm, No Cow

Adding milk has shown some positive health benefits for those pro-dairy tea drinkers. The proteins in milk may line the stomach enough to help prevent some of the acids in tea from contributing to stomach ulcers. And we always need more calcium for healthy bones, hair, and nails! What good is a pinky out from a tea cup if it doesn’t look nice?

People who support adding milk to tea say that the decrease in health benefits are not all that significant or that it doesn’t do as much damage as some scientists would have us believe. For them, it comes down to a matter of taste. If black teas taste better with milk, why not indulge in a little splash? After all, teatime is all about allowing yourself the finer things in life.

I personally add milk to my teas that are not fruit flavored: Earl Grey (yes I know bergamot is a citrus), Darjeeling, English Breakfast, Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride at Christmas, chai, and some rooibos teas. But unless the flavoring in a fruit tea includes vanilla, I keep my milk jug to the side.

Question!

How do you take your tea and why? Is it all about the health benefits for you, or do you care more about taste than antioxidant levels?

Jul 07 2013

Recipe: Honey, Blueberry, White Cheddar Scones

Author: Jenna

Two weeks of savory scones, is it time to return to our sweet friends? If so, this is the perfect scone to make that transition. A combination of sweet and a touch of savory to not shock the system after two weeks of salt and umami, Honey, Blueberry, White Cheddar Scones may sound like a risky bake, but they are a risk well worth taking.

Part of the fun of developing my own scone recipes is coming up with combinations that I’ve never seen before. As I’ve said, my inspiration really comes from just about anywhere (hence always carrying a little notebook around with me) but I don’t always know how to add that little extra twist to create a truly unique scone. Enter The Flavor Bible. I simply choose an ingredient, turn to its entry, and am presented with other foods and tastes that the world’s master chefs have determined are complementary. I am fascinated by the pairings they come up with; I would easily spend hours pouring over its pages in wonderment. What goes well with plums? Bay leaves apparently.

This scone started by delving into flavor compatibility for honey. I’m excited for the other flavors to come that involve honey, but this affinity combination caught my eye: honey + blueberries + cheddar cheese. And hmmm…I got blueberries at the Farmer’s Market on Sunday and I have that English Coastal Cheddar I used for my Beer and Cheddar Scones…idea perhaps?

Success for sure. I found a recipe for a fig and honey scone and then modified the heck out of it to incorporate the blueberries and the cheese. The end result was a first-pitch home run! The texture was perfect, the scones risen yet sturdy, the flavors melding together in a way I never expected. Each bite starts out sweet and almost florally from the honey before a subtle shock of the earthy cheddar. Well, now that I consider it, the cheddar is less earthy and more…oceany? It has a sense of belonging to a briny and salty coastline (and not just because its name is Coastal!) that I never anticipated harmonizing with the sweet blueberries and the floral honey. But it does. And it does so unassumingly and unusually, but undeniably.

Honey, Blueberry, White Cheddar Scones

Honey, Blueberry, and White Cheddar Scones

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups bread flour
3 tbsp ultrafine sugar
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup fresh blueberries
3/4 cup English white cheddar (we used Coastal Cheddar from Costco)
2 1/2 tbsp honey
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, divided

Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet (maybe two) with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together bread flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Toss in cheese and blueberries and mix until well distributed. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine honey with 2 tablespoons cream, stirring well. Add honey mixture to flour mixture and begin to knead together. One tablespoon at a time, add the remaining cream until a dough has formed that can hold together. We used a total of 3/4 cup of cream.

On a floured surface, turn out kneaded dough and pat down to desired thickness (1 cm). Use a flour dipped scone cutter (5 cm) to cut and place scones on baking sheets. Knead together excess dough and repeat. Bake for 8 minutes or until the tops are beginning to brown. Remove immediately to a wire rack to cool.

You could probably top this with honey or maybe a honey butter (I do not recommend cream or jam with a scone that has more than two flavors and this has three) but that might throw off the balance of the three flavors. Feel free to try and report back! I love hearing about other people’s experiences and experiments.

Jul 06 2013

Methods of Brewing Tea

Author: Jenna

Just like people develop a favorite tea, experienced tea drinkers develop a favorite way to brew their tea. Now you’re probably thinking, “Really? How different can it be? Tea leaves, boiling water, drink.”

Not quite.

Infuser Teapots

Infuser Teapot www.jenierteas.com

Some teapots are now sold with an infuser basket that submerges the tea leaves in the water and is then removed when the tea is fully brewed. The baskets are usually metal. A large infuser basket allows tea leaves to swell up from the water and move around, releasing all the flavor and color. And then as soon as the tea is brewed, bam! Remove the infuser and you have an entire pot of perfectly brewed tea.

Plunger Pots

Plunger Pot www.briscoes.co.nz

Another type of pot has a plunger that separates the brewed tea leaves from the water once it is finished steeping. Think of it like a French press for tea instead of coffee. The most important thing with plunger pots is ensuring that the plunger fully separates the leaves from the water; any contact between the two and the tea will continue brewing towards bitterness.

Strainer Cups

Brewed loose leaf

Many tearooms brew their tea in this way: scoop tea leaves into a pot and add hot water (believe it or not the best temperature for brewing tea is not boiling). That’s all. When pouring the tea into a cup, a little strainer is placed on the rim of the cup to catch the leaves.

Tea Strainer

The tea does become bitter using this method since the leaves are left in the water, but places usually refill the hot water to try and make it less bitter. I don’t think it works, but this is a very traditional way to brew tea.

Tea Bags

Using a Tea Bag

Don’t get me started! Tea bags are obvious choices for individual cups of inferior tea 😉 To brew a large pot, use two or three tea bags instead of one and remove the bags like you would an infuser basket.

Individual Infusers

Single Infuser www.jenierteas.com

These little mesh or wire balls store enough tea to make single serving cups of tea quickly or larger pots of tea if you have more time. Just make sure that you do not scoop too much tea into the ball; the tea needs some room to expand and release its flavor. I’ve used one of these since my year in England and they are the perfect way to use loose leaf tea without needing to brew an entire pot.

As you drink more tea, you’ll develop a preference yourself for how you like your tea brewed. But the important thing is, never turn down a cup no matter how the brewer made it. We never waste tea here J

Jul 02 2013

Review: Scarlet Tea Room

Author: Jenna

Yet another street in Pasadena, California…yet another tearoom. I swear Pasadena has more tearooms per capita than any other city in the country. Guess that just means I’ll have to make plenty of trips out there, and if I run out of tearooms I can always come back to this gem.

First Impressions and Service

The Scarlet Tea Room gains immediate points for its red glass door. I mean, how much fun is that? It bathes the entryway in a red glow that quickly dissipates in the airy interior. The place was pretty packed, and the hostess was obviously stressed out because every party that came in asked to change their table. Apparently no one wanted to sit in the entrance room (where we ended up being seated), but as many of the tables were blocked for reservations changes weren’t able to be accommodated without a lot of effort. People were not happy but that definitely wasn’t the hostess’s fault.

The problem was caused by their reservation timing being off. I don’t know if it was because they use OpenTable to make reservations online and over the phone, but the restaurant would be nearly empty, fill up within fifteen minutes with a rush of reservations, and then empty out again all at once. For their servers’ and their hostess’s sake, they should have staggered those reservations more. Having these waves of people put the tea brewers behind, the kitchen behind, and thus the servers behind and the guests complaining.

Our server, Rebekah, was absolutely fantastic. Even though she was busy, she was sweet, friendly, funny, and very knowledgeable about tea. I really like when servers actually know about tea! Particularly when the name of the restaurant says “tearoom” I feel it is important to have at least some focus on tea and tea knowledge. Rebekah was also attentive, checking up on us frequently and making sure our drinks were never empty. When you make your reservation here, request Rebekah for the best experience.

Décor

The décor is nice and light, simultaneously airy and rich from the combination of creamy paint and dark woods. They have a bar area where they brew the tea to order and a piano near one of the windows. Think a fancy like a hotel but traditional like a tearoom. The space is subtly divided into three rooms: the entrance room in front of the bar, to the right a columned area, and to the left a mirrored and more ornate dining room. Everyone wanted to sit in that mirrored room, but again reservations were given priority.

Tea Selection

They have an entire page of tea offerings including black, green, oolong, white, and tisanes. All their teas are brewed loose leaf and they add hot water half way through your tea service to keep it warm and not bitter. The tea descriptions list both where the tea is from and some tasting notes to help you make a selection. But this tea page is only for their hot teas; they do have one or two iced teas prebrewed for the day if you would prefer cold tea to match the weather. Mom chose the iced Peach and Mango green tea and thought it was very refreshing.

Brewed loose leaf with a strainer

I went with the Mademoiselle Grey—a twist on Earl Grey that added roses to the traditional bergamot and lavender—and absolutely loved it. Another point in Rebekah’s favor was that she knew to recommend which teas with milk and which ones without it. You can purchase any of the teas for $4 an ounce to take home.

Food

Three Course Afternoon Tea for Two

Apart from a lunch menu serving salads and sandwiches, Scarlet Tea Room has two levels of traditional tea service. The five-course menu consists of a sorbet, scones with cream and jam, finger sandwiches, berry Romanoff, and little desserts. We had the three-course menu of just sandwiches, scones, and the berries. I bought a little foursome of petit fours to try at home as well.

Sandwiches

The sandwiches are done in a you-pick-four manner and are each pretty sizeable, so if you come with a friend it is doable to choose eight different sandwiches and cut them in half. So many of them sound tasty that you’ll want to try them all! Each sandwich’s garnish is like a little homage to the overall ingredients of flavor of the sandwich, making for a delightful presentation.

Cucumber Watercress

The refreshing cucumber watercress has thick slices of cucumber! Since the cucumber is fresh and not pickled, thicker slices are the main way to achieve any cucumber taste when it is placed against cream cheese. But this sandwich not only had the perfect size cucumber slices and a light amount of cream cheese, it also had actual leaves of watercress. This meant you could taste the watercress, something that eludes most cucumber watercress sandwiches despite their supposed ingredients.

Walnut Pesto Chicken

The walnut pesto chicken had a strong chicken flavor even though the chicken was minced. Maybe that flavor was able to come out because the chicken wasn’t pureed into a paste? The pesto was very heavy on the basil, and chunks of walnut gave a crunchy and chewy texture contrast.

Brie, Walnut, and Watercress

Unfortunately, the promising Brie, walnut, and watercress sandwich needed a stronger flavor to stand out among the overall creamy taste. This sandwich is the perfect example of when a texture becomes a flavor note. Perhaps if they had added a fruit, like sliced grapes, this sandwich would’ve been bolder and worked better.

Mozzarella and Sundried Tomato Cream Cheese

The mozzarella and sundried tomato cream cheese spread was my favorite. There were thick slices of mozzarella to sweetly contrast the tangy sundried tomato, but it all melded together in this savory splendor. Add the basil leaf garnish and I could’ve had a few more of these finger sandwiches easily.

Proscuitto and Roasted Red Pepper

Mom’s favorite was the prosciutto and roasted red pepper. She loved the red pepper slices and how they were not overshadowed by the salty prosciutto. Most of the sandwich’s flavor essence came from the pepper, which meant that the kitchen had struck the perfect balance between savory and sweet.

Salmon and Chive

The salmon and chive also had dill, and we all know that I consider dill one of the finest herbs to grace a sandwich, especially at teatime. And there was a substantial quantity of herbs on this sandwich as well as two thick slices of salmon! They did not skimp on ingredients here.

Pear and Gorgonzola

Finally, the pear and Gorgonzola proved what a pear and Gorgonzola sandwich should taste like. We were a little worried after the disappointment at the Langham, but this one was absolutely fantastic. In fact, when choosing our favorite sandwiches, Mom and I had to place the caveat of “aside from the pear and Gorgonzola” to make it fair. Trust me, this one should be your first pick. The great thing about this sandwich was that the flavors complemented each other 100%. You can taste each ingredient, both the flavor and the texture: creamy cheese, crisp pear, crunchy walnut, chewy cranberry, and soft bread.

Scones

Scarlet Cream, Lemon Curd, Red Fruit Jam

Let’s start with the topping offerings. The signature “Scarlet Cream” was by far the most disappointing thing about this tea experience. It is a vanilla sweetened whipped cream that tastes like a buttercream frosting. The texture is nice and stiff, but the cream is just too sweet to top a scone with. The lemon curd was too tart, but the strawberry jam had a nicely robust strawberry flavor. Even so, these scones shone best when eaten plain.

Candied Ginger and Cranberry

The candied ginger scone had a strong ginger flavor that clashed with any topping, though it was wonderful on its own. A little spicy and a little sweet, the scone was unique and delicious. The cranberry was also yummy, and also best plain. Both scones melted in your mouth, but had the slightest crunch from a raw sugar topping. These were excellent scones.

Desserts

Berry Romanoff

The three-course meal comes with fresh berries topped with the Scarlet Cream. Although too sweet to spread on a scone, the cream was quite lovely with the fresh fruit. It was a lighter dessert offering, but as the sandwiches were heartier than those at most other places, you really don’t have room for heavy desserts as well.

I did try their petit fours, but I thought they were overpriced for tiny squares of marzipan and chocolate marzipan. They can be skipped without missing out.

Extras

We used a coupon from TravelZoo for this tea. It was a two-for-one deal on their three-course tea menu that could only be used on a Tuesday. They do not sell any merchandise here, though they sell their loose leaf teas.

So far, this may have been my favorite tea place. The food was fantastic, our server was fantastic, and the atmosphere was pretty fantastic as well. There was very little we did not feel was worthy of a rave review. If you only have one place to go in Pasadena, make this your first choice.

Visit The Scarlet Tea Room at 18 W. Green St., Pasadena, CA, 91105. (626) 577-0051. Cost per person : $27.00

Jun 30 2013

Recipe: Lemon Thyme and Basil Scones

Author: Jenna

Keeping in the trend of last week’s savory scones inspired by what was available in the house’s refrigerator, I offer you this week’s selection: Lemon Thyme and Basil Scones.

By some stroke of good fortune, my mom has kept the herbs her brother gave her alive for more than a few months (my mom will be the first to admit that she has a black thumb so this isn’t me insulting her I promise). Yet even with an avid baker and sometimes avid cook in the house, none of the herbs have been put to much use. She decided to change that and requested that I create a scone using her most abundant herb.

Lemon thyme.

A variant of–obviously–English thyme, lemon thyme fools you into thinking that it is just another thyme leaf, until you start cutting it and releasing the oils inside its leaves. Then you unlock its citrusy aroma, its lemon scent that suddenly wafts through your entire kitchen. And you wonder, what can I do with such a hidden delicacy?

Um, duh, I make scones. And since according to a flavor pairing book my brother bought me for Christmas, basil and lemon thyme have a natural affinity for each other, I killed two birds with one scone and cut off some of Mom’s basil leaves to toss in as well.

And thus the history of the second savory scone success. The flavor of these scones is significantly more subtle than the Beer and Cheddar scones, but no less enjoyable. They have a delicate balance of herbal notes that would probably be broken down if heated for too long, so I highly recommend keeping these scones small to decrease the baking time to the 8 minute mark. It is definitely worth it. Especially for the smell when you open your oven and the lemon thyme and basil take over your senses. The scent along, completely disregarding the flavor, is reason along to start growing lemon thyme.

Lemon Thyme and Basil Scones

Lemon Thyme and Basil Scones

Ingredients

2 cups self rising flour
3 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh lemon thyme
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1/8 tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, grated
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven 450°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, sift together flour and salt. Mix in fresh herbs.

Break up butter by running it through a cheese grater. Rub into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk and knead until all ingredients are incorporated and the dough is smooth.

Turn out onto floured surface (this can be lightly floured as the dough is pretty self-contained) and pat down to desired thickness (1 cm). Cut out into scones (5 cm) and place on baking sheet. Recombine scraps and continue cutting out additional scones. Bake for 8 minutes until beginning to toast on the edges. Turn out to cool on a wire rack immediately.

These scones became the base for another recipe that I am really excited to share with you…just wait and see!

Jun 28 2013

Which Comes First? The Jam or the Cream?

Author: Jenna

It’s a variation on the age old question: which came first, the chicken or the egg? But of course, since it concerns scones and clotted cream and jam, it is a way more important question than that concerning poultry.

When topping a scone, do you layer cream and then jam, or jam and then cream? Does it truly matter? Which way is the traditional or correct way to top a scone?

Well, there is actual an old rivalry that is still raging today over the proper way to top a scone with clotted cream and jam (though everyone does agree that the jam should be a homemade strawberry for the most authentic delight). And the two epicenters are the same places that battle over their superiority in clotted cream.

The Cornish Way.
Photo credit www.hungryhinny.wordpress.com

In Cornwall, they believe that the scone should be topped with the jam first followed by the clotted cream. Some cheeky reasons from the Cornish? “Because we are proud of it, Devonians are slightly ashamed of theirs so they cover it up with jam” says one grandfather. Whether or not that’s true, the Cornish all agree that the jam goes on first and is then topped with a dollop of Rodda’s Cornish cream. If it isn’t Rodda’s, it’s not Cornish.

The Devonshire Way
Photo credit www.newcastleeats.co.uk

Devon, on the other hand, tells the Cornish to stick with their pasties because the jam definitely goes on top of the cream. Otherwise, they insist, clotted cream will end up on your nose and they also compare it to bread. In their logic no one puts jam on top of bread and then butter on top of the jam, so why would one do that with cream and scones? Both sides make a fair point, but neither side is going to budge their position any time soon.

I personally follow the Devonshire way of cream and then jam, but I don’t pretend that this is some statement on authenticity or tradition. It’s more of habit and I think it looks prettier than anything else. What about you? Are you a Devonian or a Cornish person?

Jun 23 2013

Recipe: Beer and Cheddar Scones

Author: Jenna

Let’s talk savories for a second.

Who said scones had to be sweet? Yes it’s more common to find a blueberry scone or a cherry scone than a beer scone or a cheddar scone, but it certainly isn’t unheard of. The very first scones might actually have been savory, made with a simple dough of wheat flour, baking powder or baking soda, butter, milk, and eggs. How the sweet scone became more common or more popular than the savory scone is a question for the historians, but we here at Once Upon an Afternoon Tea refuse to follow the hoards!

So we made some savory scones for you

Beer and cheddar scones to be exact. The perfect “Man Scone” for convincing the menfolk that scones are not only for girls and afternoon tea. Made with a strong English white cheddar and an Irish ale, these scones are very…moreish…and sure to be a hit amongst the sporting men in our lives.

Smithwick Irish Ale and English Coastal Cheddar

Just don’t call them scones until after they’ve demolished the batch.

The beer lends the scones a surprisingly tasty yeast flavor (after all beer is made using yeast), and the hints of beer blend perfectly with the hints of the strong white cheddar. Beer and cheese are a common combination at Super Bowl parties–think of the guys on the couch drinking a brew with some deep fried cheese appetizer in front of them and the television–so it was only natural that they complement each other in scone form as well.

These savory scones are obviously not going to be topped with clotted cream, but eating them alone may be too salty for some. A few fun ideas for uses that we came up with: spicy hot links and make sausage sliders using the scones as buns, accompanying a red based soup like tomato, chili, or stew, butter, an ice cold beer. Oooo! Lightbulb! Gastropubs should serve these scones as a bar appetizer! They can be made bite sized and are the perfect munchies for sophisticated beer pairings. Cheese goes with wine, why not Beer and Cheddar scones with beer? Let’s make that happen.

Beer and Cheddar Scones

Beer and Cheddar Scones

Ingredients

200 g self rising flour
1/4 tsp salt
80 g white English cheddar (we used Coastal White Cheddar from Costco; in England look for something similar to Cern Abbas)
120-140 mL beer (we used Smithwick Irish Ale)

Preheat oven to 220°C or 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Sift together the flour and salt. Grate the cheese with a small grater. Add to the flour mixture.

Add in enough beer to form a dough and knead until smooth.

Turn out onto a floured work surface and pat down to desired thickness (as usual, 1 cm). Cut out with a scone cutter (5 cm) and place on baking sheet. Knead the scraps back together and repeat until the majority of the dough has been turned into scones. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until cheese is oozing out and tops are beginning to brown.

I’m sure that any combination of beer and cheddar selections will work together well; we just happened to have Coastal cheddar around the house and chose a beer from the British Isles to keep in theme. Feel free to experiment.

These smell amazing and yeasty coming out of the oven. Serve these, and you’ll have men begging you to invite them for tea!

Jun 21 2013

A Tea for Every Time

Author: Jenna

We all have our favorite kind of tea, that one type that we gravitate to above all others. Mine is lavender earl grey, my mom’s is traditional earl grey, my best friend’s is any green tea, and I have more than one coworker who swears by mate (though mate isn’t really a tea, remember?).

Officially though, we should all be basing what type of tea we order, not on flavor preference, but on the clock. Certain teas better suit the time of day that you are drinking it, much like some teas are more complementary to the palate, food being served, mood of the drinker, season, or the weather. So no drinking herbal teas with breakfast, and keep the Earl Grey to the afternoon.

Morning and Breakfast

Strong black teas are the best choice in the mornings because their caffeine content and robust flavor. A lot of cooked breakfast foods and breads need a tea that can stand up to them. Choose an English or Irish Breakfast, Assam, Kenya, or Yunnan tea for your wake-up jolt.

Photo credit www.skydancingblog.com

Mid-Morning and Lunch

Your first cup of tea is beginning to wear off, so the best choice now is one that will maintain the alertness you received from this morning. Stick once again to black teas, unless you are eating Asian food for lunch and then a strong green tea is better. Choose any of the Morning and Breakfast teas or Lapsang Souchong for a black option; choose Sencha, Chinese Chun Mee, or Gunpowder for a green tea.

Photo Credit www.theodor.fr

Early Afternoon

As the day progressively gets brighter, your teas should progressively get lighter. And with the work day in full swing, a lighter or fruity tea will best calm and soothe you. Choose peachy or mango flavored teas like an oolong, a fruity Darjeeling, a light Ceylon, or a green tea.

Photo credit www.sodahead.com

Afternoon Tea Time

Instead of worrying about time pairing, with afternoon tea focus on pairing tea with the food. Choose Earl Grey for courses with cheese, savories, or lemon desserts; choose Darjeeling with creamy offerings like scones and clotted cream; choose Lapsang Souchong for smoked offerings; choose Ceylon for fresh fruit and vegetable based items; choose Kenya for chocolates.

Photo Credit www.earl-grey-tea.org

Evening and Dinner

Yes, you’ve had a lot of tea today, but why stop now? Night is when the lighter teas and delicate flavors can shine. Teas should now be focused on calming and cleansing, both in terms of digestion and stress. Choose light oolongs, light greens, whites, and herbal infusions or tisanes.

Photo credit www.renaissanceherbs.com.au

Jun 18 2013

Review: The Huntington Library Rose Garden Tea Room

Author: Jenna

Rose Garden Tea Room

The standard for tearooms in Pasadena and Los Angeles—according to the casual partaker of afternoon tea—seems to be the tearoom at The Huntington Library. When people discover that you are a tea aficionado and are trying all the tearooms you can find, they usually ask if you have gone to The Huntington yet. So at the behests of Once Upon an Afternoon Tea readers, I took the plunge and made reservations for this must-do afternoon tea.

Follow the Signs to Afternoon Tea

First Impressions and Service

The first thing I noticed when we entered the one room restaurant was the noise, followed by the beehive of servers running around like rabid dogs were nipping at their heels. I understood that it was a Sunday and the place was full, but was it necessary to seem so panicked? A good server who is overwhelmed knows how to hide that from the customers. Server 101, Lesson 1: Your guests should never know that you can’t handle your section. Once seated, the server situation only felt worse. No sooner had we sat then she ran over with a breadbasket of mini scones, rattled off the flavors, and pushed us into ordering the house tea. The entire hour we were there (and note most afternoon teas we do take between 90 minutes and two hours from start to finish) we felt like they wanted nothing more than for us to scarf down food, pay our check, and leave so they could flip our table to another party. It became an act of defiance to sit there and sip tea slowly. I personally would rather have an almost nonexistent server than one who overzealously tries to push me out the door.

Décor

The walls, curtains, and upholstery were all in shades of “old crazy cat lady” yellow, tan, and peach. The curtains were an ancient floral pattern in desperate need of updating. But the worst part of the décor came not from the paint or fabrics, but from the room’s arrangement. You are literally less than six inches from the nearest table with only the narrowest of walkways behind your chair for the mad servers to run behind. China is no china at all, but plain white porcelain? Whatever the material that typical restaurant plates and coffee cups are made out of? Nothing felt comfortable or inviting in the slightest. It was less a tearoom than a room that serves little sandwiches and desserts and whose only beverage is tea.

Tea Selection

What selection? If The Huntington had a tea selection, we had no knowledge of it. There is no tea menu (there is no menu at all) and our aforementioned pushy server immediately did a hard sell for the house tea. She never said anything about other options of tea, so we kind of assumed that there wasn’t another option until we heard her tell the table next to us—or rather on top of us—that if they weren’t going to succumb to her forcing the house tea on them, they could choose Earl Grey. By then we were almost done and the blackberry black tea was fine enough to drink. I wonder if she makes commission on how many tables order the blackberry tea?

Hope you like blackberry

On top of that, warming up the tea consisted of adding hot water to the tea already brewing and becoming bitter in our table’s teapot. I don’t understand how people really believe that adding hot water makes a difference in the bitterness of over-steeped tea, because it doesn’t. The tea is just as over-brewed with extra water as it was before the second pouring.

Food

The Huntington Tearoom does not do a traditional afternoon tea service, no matter what they claim on their website. Instead of the typical three-tiered stands with finger sandwiches, scones, and little desserts, they have a buffet in the middle of the room. While great for those with appetites that surpass a usual afternoon tea quantity, a buffet only serves to enhance the feeling of being rushed through like cattle for the rest of us. Note, however, that at the end of your meal the server will bring by a plastic bag for you to bag your scones to-go in, so eat your fill of the sandwiches and desserts and save the scones for later to get the most out of your money.

Take them away…literally

Sandwiches

The advantage of a buffet is that there are more options than most tearooms offer for finger sandwiches and if you like particular ones you can have more of those and not waste your stomach on those you dislike (no mayo for me! Extra smoked salmon!).

Grab only what you want to try :)

A debate between Mom and me arose with the Tarragon Chicken Sandwich (chicken, tarragon, mayo, walnuts, and celery on wheat bread): She tasted tarragon; I did not. I felt that there was too much of a mayonnaise and relish taste to the sandwich, but Mom still insists that there was tarragon mixed in with the nicely not pureed chicken salad. We did both agree that the bread tasted very fresh.

The Carrot Ginger Sandwich (chopped carrot and candied ginger with cream cheese on fig walnut bread) was definitely a new favorite that I want to recreate. It was sweet, more like a finger sandwich best served for breakfast than lunch, and the fig-walnut bread was a sophisticated take on cinnamon raisin bread. I had two of these!

Salmon Canape, Carrot-Ginger, Cucumber-Mint, Chicken-Tarragon

Mom’s assessment of the egg salad on white bread was that the bread was once again soft and fresh, but that the salad needed more flavor. There was no seasoning or herb mixed in, so the egg sandwich literally taste like simply egg and bread.

The Cucumber Mint (freshly sliced cucumber and mint with cream cheese) fell victim to the not enough cucumber trap of cucumber sandwiches. Although the mint was strong and refreshing, without any cucumber for substance the sandwich was just too airy.

There is also an assortment of salads.

The smoked salmon (smoked salmon with cream cheese Dijon spread, dill dollop, and cucumber garnish on marble bread) was surprisingly good. I think dill is the best herb to pair with smoked salmon, but not enough places combine the two, choosing capers instead for that briny taste. But dill brings a touch of the pickled sourness of capers with a more refreshing note. This open-faced canapé was tangy, creamy, and worthy of seconds and maybe thirds.

Scones

Every table gets a breadbasket of mini scones in different flavors. The flavors are luck-of-the-oven, completely dependent on what the kitchen is churning out in mass quantities when you sit down. The table next to us received maple bacon scones and chocolate chip scones. We were given almond, cranberry, and apricot scones.

You can take them home.

In hindsight, I don’t think it really matters what flavor you are brought, since they all sort of tasted the same. I liked how they were brought warm to the table, but since you should take them home anyway it doesn’t really make a difference. All the flavors were rather bland with only little pieces of their mix-ins for not much added flavor. When topped with jam and cream, they all taste the exact same. The texture was nice, particularly noteworthy since they were mini scones, which tend to end up over baked and dry.

The whipped cream is very sweet and fluffy (which I don’t like, see my clotted cream rants). I can’t comment on the marmalade because as I discovered at one of my first tea places, I really don’t like marmalade. These two toppings set me up for disappointment with the watery jam, but I actually was surprised at how tasty the raspberry jam was. It had a great flavor, not too sweet and not too tart, and its only problem was consistency.

Desserts

Dessert Buffet

The brownie and the chocolate mousse cup were laughably polar opposites. While the brownie was rich, thick, and basically a block of fudge (nothing wrong with that 😉 ), the mousse cup was light and airy and shatters in one bit. Talk about dessert antithesis.

The fruit tart’s custard was rather bland, no strong vanilla flavor like so many excellent fruit tarts have, so it tasted more like a raspberry topped cookie than a fruit tart. I will say, though, the fruit they used was wonderfully ripe and fresh. You can taste that it was made that day and not defrosted from mass baking earlier in the week. The nature of a buffet probably makes a difference with that aspect as the food turnover is high.

The pecan bar was a disappointment, especially as I just recently learned at my job that I like pecan bars. Maybe that liking only applies to the pecan bars at work? This one was heavy on the pecan, but there was something about the filling that just didn’t work. I don’t know ingredients of pecan bars yet so I couldn’t put my finger on where it went wrong. And my crust fell off which is always sad.

Grab extras of the tea cookies. They are nice and crumbly like Russian Tea Cakes without all the powdered sugar and if you sneak a couple extras into your scone basket before the plastic bag comes, they’ll blend right in and you’ll have dessert to go.

Tea Cookies

On the dessert side was also an assortment of fresh fruit and cheeses. I like the addition of fruit because it allows me to trick myself into thinking that afternoon tea is healthy.

Extras

Stroll around the gardens before and then again after your afternoon tea. The Huntington has the most beautiful themed gardens and right now the roses are in bloom. And since you have to pay for admission to the Library in addition to your tea, you may as well get your money’s worth.

I can officially say that all those who rave about The Huntington Tea Room need to try some of the other places I’ve reviewed. A few food items stood out as good offerings, but between the buffet style service and the being rushed and pushed throughout the whole meal, this place no where near lives up to its reputation as a must-do tearoom. With so many better tearooms minutes away in Old Town Pasadena, unless you are coming for the gardens, The Huntington can be skipped at no loss.

Visit The Huntington’s Rose Garden Tea Room at 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA, 91108. (626) 683-8131. Closed Tuesday. Cost per person $29.50 plus cost of admission to The Huntington Library.

Jun 16 2013

Recipe: Strawberry White Chocolate Coconut Scones

Author: Jenna

They say that inspiration comes from everywhere around us, and I’d agree. I am constantly walking along, minding my business, when out of the orange colored sky, FLASH! I see something that inspires a new scone flavor. It literally happens anywhere.

This combination has a magical inspiration behind it. Disneyland, in fact. During the strawberry harvest, Disneyland’s candy makers cover the most gigantic sweet strawberries in the world with the most incredible dark, milk, and white chocolate coatings. They were probably the most delicious fresh made treats those candy makers could have offered us. And my favorite coating–which I haven’t found in years–was the white chocolate and coconut covered strawberry.

Strawberry, White Chocolate, Coconut Scones

These scones were my attempt to recapture that incredible flavor of a childhood treat, and I have bad news for you: say good bye to your waistline and apologize to your friends now because not only will you not share these, but you will eat the whole batch in an unprecedentedly short time span. I brought some in for a few of my coworkers to taste test, and already their parents are requesting them (though how the parents snagged a bite I’ll never know). Rest assured coworkers, I’ll be bringing these to the staff meeting this week.

You’d think that based on the combination of sweet flavors from white chocolate, sweetened coconut flakes, and strawberries (again from Harry’s Berries) this scone would be cavity-inducing sweet, but since the base is my basic cream scone, there is a pleasant mildly salty element to counteract the sugar. Which makes them totally acceptable for mass consumption, right?

Strawberry, White Chocolate, Coconut Scones

Strawberry White Chocolate Coconut Scones

Ingredients

200 g self rising flour
1/4 tsp salt
50 g ultrafine baking sugar
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut, divided
150 mL heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 220°C or 450°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Sift together flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add sugar. Toss in strawberries, white chocolate, and 1/4 cup coconut until well distributed.

Work in whipping cream until all ingredients are fully combined. This is a very wet dough! Don’t worry you didn’t do anything wrong.

Turn out onto a heavily floured workspace and knead a few times. Pat down to desired thickness (1 cm). Dip scone cutter in more flour before cutting scones out (5 cm) and placing on baking sheet. THIS IS ESSENTIAL. Because the scone dough is so wet, you need a hefty additional amount of flour to make everything manageable when kneading and cutting. Knead offcuts back together and repeat process until most of the dough is used.

Brush tops of scones with water and sprinkle remaining coconut on tops.

Bake 8-10 minutes until starting to brown. These scones don’t rise, but they do spread out so make sure you have left some space in between the scones on the baking sheets.

Remove immediately to a wire rack to cool.

These scones not only don’t require a topping of cream or jam, but a topping would probably ruin them (way too many flavors in too small of a package) so forego any clotted cream, curds, or jams when serving these scones. Their deliciousness speaks for itself.

Strawberry, White Chocolate, Coconut Scones

And make about 4 batches at a time, just to be safe 😉

The Art of Afternoon Tea from Los Angeles and Beyond