Christmas is certainly one of my favourite times of the year and putting on a festive themed afternoon tea is always great fun. Items on the menu this year featured interpretations of some of the more traditional items one might find on offer. Look for them in the...
2016 was an extremely busy year and as you can tell by the date of when this afternoon tea took place, I’m very behind posting this blog. Nevertheless, I remember it well! Autumn was a significant influence in what to include on the menu along with wanting to...
There’s a lot being said about ‘staycations’ these days; choosing to stay home rather than holiday further afield. A bank holiday weekend might be one of those occasions to take to the road and get away with the extra day on offer. As it turned out, a certain six...
With 2016 being the 400 year anniversary of Will Shakespeare’s passing and with all manner of commemorations taking place around the country, we thought we’d pay our own little tribute to the Bard with a ‘cake knees up’ of our own. It wasn’t necessary to find a link,...
This recipe uses rhubarb (Yorkshire rhubarb to be exact) as the base fruit flavour but you can replace this in equal quantity with any other soft fruit you prefer, e.g. raspberries, strawberries, etc, and follow the same method of preparation. There are two parts to...
For our theme this time we’re ‘Going Local’. This could encompass anything from local ingredients (whether home grown or sourced from a local supplier) or a recipe reflecting traditions or cuisine local to your area. Our hosts for the evening were...
The baking theme for this month was an encouragement to shake off the dust of those cookery books seldom used or to put to use what might have appeared under our Christmas trees. There weren’t many of us for our gathering but it was none the less great fun with lots...
There could be no better way to start the year off than with an afternoon tea. A private booking no less where ‘the fat man in a red suit’ had adorned the relevant Christmas trees with gifts of an afternoon tea at Chez Shamwari. It had all been secretly planned with...
Is it just me, or has this been the fastest year on record? To whizz by that is? Such is the busyness of life I have to diarise my Christmas baking ‘weekend’. All my festive baking (mincemeat, pudding & cake) takes place at the end of September or beginning of...
With autumn in full swing and the festive Christmas season knocking on the door, it was to this seasonal ‘palette’ of flavours and treats I turned to for inspiration when designing this menu. I also had had an extremely busy time with my day job and therefore needed...
