All-American Afternoon Tea

Blackberry pies.

So, you know how my sister, Frakah, and I are into afternoon tea and want to start our own tea/bakery one day? Well, we're coming up with ideas for themed teas, and I came up with the idea for an American tea to celebrate the 4th of July. My family always gets together for every holiday, so I thought this would be the perfect occasion to try out a special tea theme.

It's a pie tree!

My first thought was (shocker) dessert. I knew right away that I wanted to make mini pies- blue ones and red ones, based on whatever I could find at the farmer's market. My second idea was for deviled eggs and mini hamburgers and veggie burgers (because I'm a vegetarian). The rest was based upon what we usually have for the 4th of July: potato salad, chips and dip, and veggies with dip.

I volunteered to make the pies, the burger buns, and the veggie burgers. I had no idea what I'd signed myself up for, but let's just say I ended the 3-day weekend feeling absolutely exhausted.

Aw, so cute! Mini veggie burgers.

My plan was to divide the baking into 3 days for the 3 items: Saturday was for pies, Sunday was for buns, and Monday was for veggie burgers (which needed to be fresh for the grill anyway). Well Saturday evening and Sunday morning saw me failing with my pies (24 mini pies means rolling dough out and shaping 48 pie crusts), Sunday afternoon/evening saw me failing with my buns (the damn dough would not rise!), and Monday morning the veggie burgers worked out perfectly (yay!). I actually had to re-bake my pies (which were baked in muffin pans) because I under-cooked them the first time around. Luckily, the pies turned out to be quite good. The buns, on the other hand, were passable, but should have been fluffier.

Strawberry-rhubarb mini pie.

All of this baking had me thinking: why do I put myself through this trouble? I got to thinking and realized the following: a) the stress of baking takes my mind off of any kind of stress/frustration/bad thoughts and feelings I may have, b) I usually enjoy the end result, and, most importantly, c) I do it for the pleasure that it usually brings other people. Few things make me happier than seeing my nephew get excited over something I've baked, or having my sister-in-law tell me how great something looks (even when I think it doesn't). What it really comes down to is sharing the fruits of my labor with people I care about. It's all about the love.

As for the 4th of July Afternoon Tea, it went over pretty well. I made a berry iced tea and threw some frozen strawberries and blackberries into the pitcher. My mini pies were blackberry and strawberry-rhubarb and though not perfect, they looked pretty darn cute, if you ask me. The family seemed to enjoy everything, and though my nephew did not partake of the meal, he did inquire about a pie. Sadly, boys who don't eat dinner don't get dessert.

Happy Independence Day!

Mini Pies


4 discs of chilled pie dough
1 recipe strawberry-rhubarb filling
1 recipe blackberry filling (below)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll out 1 disc of pie dough to about 1/8 of an inch. Cut out 12 4-inch circles of dough (you may have to roll out the dough a little thinner) and fit them into the muffin tin. Chill the tin in the fridge while you prepare your filling. Next, roll out the second disc and either cut out 12 3-1/2 inch circles (for strawberry-rhubarb) or use a pizza slicer to cut long thin strips for a lattice crust (for blackberry). Fill each pie crust with filling (abut 3/4 full) and top with the top crust, crimping the edges together.

Bake one muffin tin for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce the heat to 375 and bake for another 30 minutes. You want the crust to be a nice golden brown (try not to under-bake!). Let the pies rest until completely cool.

Easter Tea with Lemon Scones

Lemon Scone!

I'm sure you all know by now how I feel about tea as a meal. I love it. If you don't know, read this post. Well, my friends, I'm not the only one who likes tea. My family likes it too. Which is why we decided to do tea for Easter, in lieu of our usual brunch or dinner.

I knew as soon as we decided to have tea that I wanted to make scones, for what is a tea without scones? Nada, that's what. I decided to make the Sour Lemon Scones from my Baked cookbook, because lemon sounded nice and Spring-y. Besides, yellow is one of the wonderful colors I associate with Easter.



I also made these lovely sandwiches.

You might not know it, but I actually really love Easter. I mostly love the colors, but I also love the candy. And the Easter Bunny. And, most of all, the memories of dressing in matching dresses that my mom made for my sister and I and going to church wearing our Sunday finest.

As for the scones, they were well received by all. I actually served them at two teas in one weekend (yes, I was so lucky!). At both teas, they were a hit. They were tender and flaky, best served fresh out of the oven, no accompaniment needed. They were just lemony enough, though I'm not sure why they are called "sour lemon" scones, as there is nothing sour about these scones. Simply delicious.



Enjoy!

 Sour Lemon Scones
from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ginger
3 sticks unsalted butter, cubed and cold
1 lrg egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup grated lemon zest (from about 3 lemons)
2 tbsp raw sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ginger. Whisk until combined.

Add the butter. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until the butter is pea-sized.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, 3/4 cup of the buttermilk, and the lemon zest. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and then gently knead the dough with your hands until the dough starts to come together. Move the dough to a lightly floured surface. Use your hands to shape the dough into two discs (about 1 1/2 inches in height). Do not overwork the dough.

Cut each disk into 6 wedges. Place the wedges onto the prepared baking sheet. Brush each scone with the remaining buttermilk and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake in the center of the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes (rotating the baking sheet halfway through the baking time) or until the scones are golden brown.

Transfer the scones to a cooling rack; they can be served slightly warm or completely cooled.

Note: Since I served these twice, on day one I put one of the discs, wrapped in plastic wrap, in the fridge until the next day when I was ready to bake and serve them.

Saturday Afternoon Tea with Frakah

Scones!

As you may or may not know, my sister and I are a little obsessed with afternoon tea. Not that fussy, frilly old lady tea with lots of floral patterns and doilies. Our tea is more of a come-as-you-are tea. Our tea tends to involve foods created out of whatever we have on hand. In short, our tea rocks.

Tea Time

My sister, Frakah, and I have been doing afternoon tea for several years now. It's not a regular thing (yet), but it's something we really enjoy doing when we can. I'm not even sure how it all began. Perhaps it was when my brother got married and I threw my SIL-to-be a bridal shower tea. I catered the whole thing with mini scones, mini cupcakes, and four types of mini tea sandwiches (curried chicken salad, cucumber, smoked salmon, and caprese). I discovered that preparing tea foods is a lot of fun and allows for much creativity. It is really fun to think up new tea sandwiches and fun desserts to pair with tea.

Lately, my sister and I have been tossing this idea around for our own tea house/bake shop. We both love to bake and love tea and we also have a bizarre sense of humor. Why not have a tea shop that involves all of those things? So we got together on Saturday to discuss our ideas over tea.

Charlotte

My contributions to the tea were buttermilk scones, wasabi cucumber sandwiches, and a strawberry charlotte I picked up at La Petite Provence. I found the scone recipe on foodgawker, and the sandwich I came up with myself. You see, last Monday I went to the Crystal Ballroom to see the Bellydance Superstars, and before the show my mom and I had dinner in the pub below. I ordered a delicious ahi tuna sandwich with wasabi mayo. I've known for awhile that I really love the tuna-wasabi combo, but I thought, why not use wasabi mayo in other sandwiches. Hence, wasabi cucumber tea sandwiches.

Frakah's contributions to the tea were some lemon-ginger straws, lemon curd, and some savory saucer scones. I'd forgotten how much I love lemon curd and it paired nicely with the giant scones I made. The straws were tasty, but looked nothing like the picture in the recipe.

Frakah and I enjoyed our feast, of course, and we were stuffed to the brim by the end (as we usually are). Afternoon tea is always a good time- the food is good and it's nice to have company.

Samwiches

Wasabi Cucumber Sandwich

2 slices white bread
1 tbsp cream cheese

1 tbsp mayonnaise

1/2 tsp wasabi paste
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh mint
9 thick cucumber slices

Spread the cream cheese on one slice of bread. Combine the mayo and wasabi and mix until thoroughly combined. Spread wasabi-mayo mixture onto other slice of bread. Sprinkle chopped mint over the cream cheese. Arrange the cucumber slices, slightly overlapping, on the cream cheese slice of bread. Top with the other slice of bread. Cut into squares. Enjoy!

Frozen scones!

For the scone recipe, follow this link. Note, you are given the option to cut the disks into quarters or eights. I chose quarters and wound up with some huge-ass scones, even though they looked small when I cut them Do not be deceived! They will grow and become very puffy!