Jubilee Afternoon Tea

After being out of the country for the royal wedding last year I decided to throw myself into the Jubilee celebrations with abandon. So liberal amounts of red, white and blue later a Jubilee afternoon tea was ready for my friends.

For the savoury elements I decided to keep it relatively simple. My take on coronation chicken, revamped into a fresh salad, which would have jewelled with pomegranate seeds (had I not left them in the kitchen) plus salmon, cream cheese and pickled cucumber sandwiches, cheese and chutney sandwiches, chicken and lemon mayonnaise sandwiches and ham sandwiches This was all washed down with some bubbly with a non alcoholic version for my pregnant friend and the drivers.







For the sweet elements I had such a long list to chose from, but I manage to narrow it down by prioritising the ones which were most in keeping with the red, white and blue theme (plus the lime cupcakes as you can see from previous posts I love lemon drizzle cake and I'd been meaning to try experimenting with a lime version for ages)
- raspberry cupcakes
- lime drizzle cupcakes
- blueberry and lemon cupcakes
- mini Victoria sponge
- individual eton mess












Recipes

Jewelled Coronation Chicken Salad

Serves 4-6 (easily doubled or trebled)

1 roast chicken, cold
Mixed leaves
1/2 a cucumber
Pomegranate
300ml natural yoghurt
2 tablespoons of korma curry paste
1 teaspoon of honey
2-3 springs of mint, chopped
Seasoning
A squeeze of lemon juice

Start by making the dressing. Mix the curry paste, honey, mint, lemon juice and seasoning into a thick dressing.

Scatter the lettuce leaves all over a platter and then add cubes of cucumber and chunks of roast chicken.

When you are ready to serve drizzle liberally with the dressing and scatter with pomegranate seed. Serve the rest of the dressing alongside.

Smokes salmon, cream cheese and pickled cucumber sandwiches

Smoked salmon (I used Waitrose essentials trimmings as it doesn't need to be in large pieces for this)
Cream cheese
Cucumber
White wine vinegar
Sugar
Seasoning
Sliced bread

At least and hour before use a potato peeling the slice the cucumber into ribbons. Put them into a bowl and toss in a generous glug of white wine vinegar, a large pinch of sugar and seasoning.

Spread the bread with a thin layer of cream cheese. Add the smoked salad and a few ribbons of cucumber. Top with another slice of bread and cut into triangles of fingers, with or without crusts as desired.

Cheese and chutney sandwiches

Grated mature cheddar cheese
Your favourite chutney
Sliced bread
Butter

Thinly butter the bread and add a generous helping of grated cheese. Spread the other side of the bread with the chutney and add to the top of the sandwich.

Cut into triangles of fingers, with or without crusts as desired.

Chicken and lemon mayo sandwiches

Roast chicken, chopped
Mayonnaise
Lemon juice
Dijon mustard
Seasoning
Lettuce
Sliced bread

Out the chicken into a bowl and add the mayonnaise. I would normally make this using Jamie Oliver's recipe but my friend is pregnant and therefore can't eat raw eggs so I tarted up bought mayonnaise with a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a squeeze of lemon juice and seasoning.

Sandwich the chicken mixture, with a few lettuce leaves, between two slices of bread.

Cut into triangles of fingers, with or without crusts as desired.

Red, White and Blue Cupcakes
Makes 12

For the cakes:
4oz self raising flour
4oz margarine
4oz sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder

For the flavourings and icings:
Zest and juice of 1/2 lime
2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
Zest of 1/4 lemon and about a tablespoon of juice
About 10 raspberries
Freeze dried raspberry powder
12 Blueberries
8oz butter
8-10oz icing sugar
A tablespoon of milk

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C in a fan oven). I started by making all of the cake plain for ease. Beat together all of the ingredients for the cake and share the mixture between 12 muffin cases.

In 4 sprinkle the lemon zest and another 4 with lime zest and give them a gentle stir with the end of a teaspoon so the zest doesn't sit on the top. Leave the other 4 plain.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 mins.

While they are cooking mix a tablespoon of granulated sugar with the lime juice. As soon as the cakes come out take the 4 lime ones and make very small holes in them with a skewer and drizzle over the lime juice mixture.

Whilst the cakes are cooling make the icing. I always beat the butter for 5 mins or more until it is very pale and then gradually add the icing sugar and finish with the milk. This makes the icing very light and fluffy and also makes it much paler which is good when you're aiming for white!

In a small saucepan take the raspberries and the other tablespoon of sugar and heat up until it has thickened slightly. To get smooth icing sieve the raspberry mixture to remove the pips. Put to one side to cool.

Split the icing into two bowls. In the one add the lemon juice. In the other add the raspberry juice.

Pipe the icing onto the cakes. I used a round nozzle for the lemon icing and a Wilton 2D for the raspberry. I topped the lemon ones with blueberries and the raspberry ones with a sprinkle of raspberry powder.

I also had a few little union jack flags which I popped in the top.

Mini Victoria sponges
Makes 2

Using the same recipe as for the cakes above split the mixture between two 4 inch cake pans.

Once cool split each cake and sandwich with whipped cream and strawberries.

Eton Mess

Greek yoghurt
Whipped cream
Vanilla extract
Icing sugar
Strawberries
Raspberries
Meringues

Mix roughly equal amounts of cream and yoghurt with a little vanilla extract and icing sugar. Layer up in glasses with the fruit and meringues.

Macaroons

From my Mum's birthday cake there were some extra macaroons so I sandwiched them with a chocolate ganache. Half with slivers of crystallised ginger and half with little chunks of marzipan.

As mentioned in my previous post these were from a recipe from @hollybellmummy, which was the most detailed recipe. I would certainly recommend giving it a go!

Chocolate and ginger macaroons






Chocolate and marzipan macaroon

My Nan

This is a very difficult post to write. I've been a bit quiet over the past two weeks as my lovely nan unfortunately passed away. She was 90 years old and had enjoyed a very good life but it was still a shock and from a selfish point of view We would've all liked to have her around for a bit longer.

Here is a photo of her when she was younger.





Her funeral was yesterday so mum and I got cooking and baking so we could put on a little afternoon tea for everyone to come back to. We tried to pick some of nan's favourite things.

Unfortunately in all the hurry I forgot to take a photo of everything laid out on the table but we made the following:

Savoury Morsels
- tuna mayonnaise and cucumber finger sandwiches
- open mini ham and tomato sandwiches
- open mini chicken pesto sandwiches (dice some roasted chicken and mix with a little mayonnaise, pesto, diced red pepper, lemon juice and salt and pepper and place a spoonful on a small disc of baguette)
- Mini cheese and tomato quiches (see recipe below)
- Olives
- Vegetable crisps
- Cheese board, crackers and grapes

Sweet Treats
- Victoria Sponge (see this post for the recipe I use for vanilla sponge and then sandwich with a good raspberry jam and vanilla butter cream and finish with a dusting of icing sugar)
- Marble cake cupcakes with white chocolate icing (made by my fabulous friend @hollyking84 using this recipe but topped with white chocolate butter cream coloured with a little food colouring instead of dark chocolate buttercream)
- Mini lemon meringue pies (see recipe below)

Photos




The finished cheese and tomato quiches






The Victoria sponge sliced ready for eating










@hollyking84's beautiful cupcakes





Mini lemon meringue pies

Recipes

Cheese and Tomato Mini Quiches

One packet of puff pastry
18 Cherry Tomatoes
300g grated cheese (I use half mature cheddar cheese and half Lancashire cheese)
3 eggs
4 tbsps Crème Fraiche
½ tsp each of salt, pepper and dried oregano
A few sprigs of basil

Makes 12 quiches
Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7

1. Set aside 6 cherry tomatoes and 12 small basil leaves.
2. Place the remaining cherry tomatoes in a bowl or jug, prick each one with a knife and cover in boiling water. This will loosen the skins. After a few mins pour away the water and peel all of the skins off the tomatoes. Cut them all into quarters.
3. Chop the remaining basil into fine slithers and the remaining tomatoes in half.
4. Beat the eggs, stir in the grated cheese, crème fraiche, salt, pepper, oregano and remaining basil.
5. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until it is quite thin. Cut 12 circles out and place each into a greased muffin tin, pressing it into the sides (I always use a pint glass to cut out the circles).
6. Place 4 quarters of tomatoes into each pastry case and then pour the mixture on top onto each one.
7. Place half a tomato onto each and a basil leaf.
8. Place in the oven and bake for 5 mins. Then reduce the temperature to 200C and bake for a further 10-15 mins until golden.
9. Remove from the oven. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then remove each of them from the tin and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Lemon Meringue Pies

For the pastry:
260g plain flour
40g icing sugar
185g cold unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons of cold water

For the meringue:
3 egg whites
165g caster sugar

For the lemon curd:
3 egg yolks
110g caster sugar
Zest and juice of one lemon
90g cold unsalted butter

1. Start by making the lemon curd by whisking the egg yolks with the caster sugar in a heatproof bowl until light and fluffy. Whisk in the lemon zest and juice.
2. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and continue stirring until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon (approx 12 mins).
3. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cold butter.
4. Whilst the lemon curd cools make the pastry. I used the crumb method, but you can also do it by pulsing the butter, flour and icing sugar in a food processor until crumbly and then whilst the motor is still running add the egg yolk and enough water to make the pastry come together. Chill the pastry in the fridge for about 30 mins. Preheat the oven to 200C
5. Roll out the pastry and cut out 12 rounds into a greased muffin tin. Blind bake for about 12 minutes.
6. Remove the pastry cases from the tin and leave to cool for 5 mins.
7. Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, add the caster sugar one teaspoon ensuring it is fully incorporated in between each addition.
8. Increase the oven temperature to 220C
9. Divide the lemon curd between the cases and pipe with a swirl of meringue. Bake for 2 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

In memory of my wonderful nan who had given me so many times to remember. Ada Buxton 16.12.1920 - 25.10.2011

Guest baker - Cupcake Heaven!

For my 10th ever post I thought I would write about a guest baker to Sarah's kitchen. My sister Helen took over the kitchen to make some cupcakes and I might be a little bias but I think they are pretty amazing.

The first cupcakes she made were for a friends birthday. They vanilla cupcakes but decorated in the style of ombré using plenty of red food dye, the theme of the party (for anyone who doesn't know ombré hair is very fashionable at the moment and basically means a graduation of colour so perhaps dark roots fading to blonde ends). The icing was piped using a Wilton 2D nozzle from the centre outward. For anyone who wants icing tips You Tube has loads of how to videos.

The recipe was just a simple sponge and butter icing but if anyone wants it let me know.







She then moved on to make two sets of cupcakes for an afternoon tea and to take to work with her.

The first was again a vanilla cupcake but this time she removed some of the centre of the sponge and hid a whole strawberry under the icing and decorated it with edible glitter and edible lustre.






















Finally she made a dense chocolate sponge using hound almonds for extra moisture and decorated them with chocolate ganache.















Again both of these were piped using the Wilton 2D nozzle.

All in all pretty successful I would say :)