"I love meeting other people who are a bit mad"

Sam recently took a road trip over to Manchester for her annual pilgrimage to worship the shiny things on sale at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair.

This is a fabulous event. Everything on sale is handmade and is generally being sold by the artists or makers. From sublime gold, silver and precious stone jewellery to modern wall hangings made with fluorescent plastics, hand thrown & glazed pottery - this is an Aladdin's cake of treasures.

This year Sam particularly liked the jewellery that liked frogspawn and the Orange felt hat that looked like the Sydney Opera House.

But the one stall that knocked our socks off completely was Helaina Sharpley's wire work.



Helaina Sharpley makes 2D and 3D wire sculptures/pictures. Her particular inspiration is "everything related to tea and tea drinking - tea cups and saucers, tea sets and tea parties are the artists main passion (verging on obsession!)"

Helaina had a wonderful collection of life sized, perfect wire cups and saucers. She had gorgeous 3d pictures which were mounted on tea trays. Her biggest piece (which took five weeks to make) was an intricate, massive building, the road up to which exploded away from the base frame and extended towards the viewer, making you feel like you could step into the picture and get totally wrapped up in Helaina's wire world.

We had to stop and express our admiration, and we found out that: 1. Helaina lives in Huddersfield, and thus is highly likely to be able to make some of teaandcake's future tea parties (where she will, of course, be guest of honour). 2. Helaina brews up approximately every half hour and takes tea with her everywhere (she had a very fetching gingham thermos hidden away on her stall)

We told Helaina about teaandcake and her immediate comment was "I love meeting other people who are a bit mad". This is exactly how we felt about you, Helaina.

Check out more of Helaina's work (which includes functioning clocks and Georgian architecture as well as teacups and cakes) at www.helainasharpley-wirework-artist.co.uk

Twinings Tea Tests!

Twinings very kindly sent teaandcake a bundle of their teas. We’ve been taking them out and about to our events this summer to gather feedback and see what folks thought about each.


Blackberry & Nettle

The packet said: “A fruit flavoured infusion inspired by Autumn. Blackberry’s distinctive sweet taste and aroma takes on a rich quality in this infusion. Its richness is perfectly balanced by the peppery taste of nettle to create a satisfying refreshing drink”.

Three testers tried this and were most impressed.

A most agreeable tea which I shall buy. Ross

Fruity and warming. Perfect for autumn. Maybe a bit weak. Sam

It’s good – better than most fruit teas. Lacks that edge that some fruit teas have – it’s very easy to drink. A good alternative to a caffeinated tea if you fancy something hot and fruity. Janine.


Blackcurrant, Ginseng & Vanilla

The packet said: “A luscious infusion – with blackcurrant and subtle spice flavour. This rich combination of sweet blackcurrant, ginseng root and vanilla has a delicious taste. It has an exquisite rose blush colour… it’s particularly perfect for a touch of warmth as evenings get colder”.

One tester tried this and liked her choice.

Very smooth and refreshing. Relaxing on a summer afternoon. Would have been even better if slightly stronger. Claire


Blossom Earl Grey

Possibly the most popular tea we had for testing – 10 people tried it, all of the liked it and all of them would consider picking up a box of it to take home.

The packet say: “A delicate tea, blended with bergamot and the floral taste of orange blossom. A black tea that brightens your day and warms you from the inside out”.

Our Tea Testers' Quotes:
Lovely Earl Grey, one of the nicest I’ve tried. Nice rounded warm taste with a hint of orange (but not too overpowering). Adam

Hint of orange was interesting but generally I’d prefer regular earl grey (especially since I prefer earl grey tea with milk, but we couldn’t see that sitting well with orange). Anna

I’m not usually a fan of every earl grey. I’m having this without milk and enjoying it. It’s quite floral but not overpowering. J9

A great tea. Richard.

Nice perfumed taste. Daz

Soooo good! Susi

Nice and light and refreshing. Kenny

Good flavour. Well balanced. Refreshing. Jane


Camomile & Spearmint

One tester tried this, and was very happy with it:

The packet says: “Camomile – known for its relaxing properties – is balanced with cooling spearmint for a clean yet refreshing taste. This bright, golden infusion is ideal for drinking throughout the day and into the evening”.

V. refreshing – delicious! Siobhan


Green Citrus Tea

One tester tried this and said that they would happily take another cup (if not a box).

The packet said: “A refreshing green tea with a hint of citrus. We’ve taken high quality green tea leaves and added the natural flavours of zesty lemon an lime, balanced by the juicy sweetness of orange.”

A very refreshing tea! Ross


Green Tea with Apple and Pear

One tester tried this – they’d consider taking another cup, but not a whole box.

The packet said: “A refreshing balance of green tea and mellow, orchard flavours. The natural flavours of crisp, red apples and smooth, ripe pears create a delicious combination when blended with high quality green tea leaves.”

I liked the way the fruit brightened up the green tea, but the tea aftertaste was a bit too strong and wiped out the fruit. I would try it again.
Anna


Green Tea & Cranberry

One tester tried this and gave it the thumbs up.

The box said: “We’ve blended top quality green tea leaves and natural cranberry flavour to create this tea’s golden colour and juicy taste”.

Pleasnt aroma, nice taste
Barry


Green Tea with Orange & Lotus Flower

One reviewer tried this and liked it, but wouldn’t go out and buy a box.

The packet said: “A lightly aromatic green tea with a delicate scented flavour. This distinctly oriental blend combines the zesty flavour of lotus flowers, which have long been associated with purity in China.”

It’s surprisingly nice considering I don’t really like orange! Steve


Golden Oolong

Three people out every four liked this and might buy it again – the fourth would prefer something else, please.

The packet said: “A sunny and sweet Oolong tea with a fragrant taste of spring.

Our Tea Testers' Quotes:

Don’t leave the teabag in too long. Paul

Could be a bit stronger. Olga

Lovely rounded warm taste. Adam

Green tea for beginners! JM

Quite bitter and I didn’t like the scent. Brewed quite strong and quite quickly too! Sam

Tastes quite like a white tea but with quite a strong aftertaste. Rosemary

Light taste, refreshing. Easy to drink. J9

Nice scent. Indifferent flavour. Jane


Peppermint

Two testers tried this and both declared that they’d be happy to have a box in a cupboard at home.

The packet said: “A refreshing infusion with a clean, fresh taste. The cool aroma of mint is refreshing and peppermint leaves have traditionally been used to soothe the stomach and aid digestion. The peppermint leaves, with their naturally high essential oil content give this infusion its really refreshing taste”.

Very refreshing!

Nice smooth drink! Sandra


Peppermint & Nettle

Four people tried this – three would go out and buy a box, and one was unconvinced.

A lovely surprise!  I’ve had these flavours separately but was surprised when I saw them in one, as I couldn’t imagine the combination. It proved to be a really nice mixture that I really enjoyed.
Claire

Matches the description perfectly. Nettle is peppery and peppermint is minty. Nice subtle tea.

I liked this blend – nettle alone can be bitter, and peppermint can be a bit sickly, but together they balanced out very nicely. Anna


Rose Garden

12 people tried this, and most liked it and would consider buying some. There was a bit of a split, with some tea testers liking it with and some without milk.

The box said: “A light black tea with the sweet scent of rose. Make a cup, take a moment and prepare to be wooed”.

Our Tea Testers' Quotes:

Turkish delight in a cup! This is like marmite – you’ll either love or hate it. JM

Fruity rather than rosy. Better without milk. Lynn

Peculiar! Nicer with a drop of milk. Robert

Subtle flavour, light on the rose flavour, nice aftertaste. Nice light black tea for a non-tea drinker. Phil

Surprisingly well balanced without overpowering florals. Quite tasty! Improved by a dash of milk – much smoother! Kirstin

Where can I buy it? Not seen this variety anywhere. Excellent! Ursula

This is stupendous!! Make it more available! Tim TW

Definite taste of rose without being overpowering. Might be nice iced! Amanda


Spring White

This tea split our eight tasters - some liked it and others were not in favour.
Those who liked it said they might pick up a box.

The box said: “An easy and light white tea made from spring picked buds, this is tea at its purest. Handpicked while the dew glistens to create a delicate, refreshing flavour bringing a little hint of crisp dewy mornings with every sip.”

Our Tea Testers' Quotes:

Little bit too “earthy” for my taste. Adam

Don’t leave the tea bag in too long! Paul

Aftertaste too bitter. Daz

Light, clean flavour.

Tasted like English breakfast but vastly inferior. Richard

Refreshing but tasty. V nice!

Nicer than green tea. Delicate taste.


Twinings Voyage Russian Tea / Russian Taiga – available overseas and brought to this tea party by a tea tester!

3 people tried this – two liked it a lot, and one was indifferent.

Soft, touch of citrus. Low tannin. I could drink this all day. JM

Palatable black tea, not overpowering with the lemon flavour which is good. A tea to be enjoyed slowly, and no perfumed aftertaste. Phil.

Very good – a strong crisp tea. Refreshing with a hint of lemon. I would love to see this range introduced into the UK.

dutch bonfire cake

People often wonder what the motivation is behind teaandcake.
There are lots of reasons why Mike, Janine and I put time into this site... but the one I'll confess to today is that it's really just an excuse for me to hound people for cake recipes I like and to then store these in an easy to find place.

That this place is public and I could improve the quality of cakes in the wider world by sharing the best recipes... that's just a fringe benefit.

Without further ado, I shall hand over to the lovely Tina Sparkle who said "of course you are welcome to the recipe. It is a Dutch one, from my father's stepmother..." We all know those are the kinds of credentials every Truly Great cake has.

This is a seasonal recipe for autumn gales and winds. The sugar sprinkled on the top gives it a lovely fairytale sparkle.


Dutch Bonfire Cake

8oz self raising flour
pinch salt
4oz butter
40z sugar (I use brown)
1lb coking apples, diced
6ozs raisins (if wanted, I don't bother cos I'm not a fan)
1 beaten egg
2tbs milk
1tsp cinnamon or mixed spice (the original recipe uses mixed spice, I use cinnamon)
sugar to sprinkle on top

Rub in flour and butter.
Add sugar salt, spice, apples and raisins.
Mix to stiff consistency with eggs and milk.
Turn into greased baking tray (recipe says 8" square, mine is maybe a bit bigger) and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake at 180 degrees c for 50-60 mins.
Cut into squares.

The First, First Tea Company Enlistment Fair!

TeaandCake team up with the Extraordinary Dr Geof for teaandcake based mayhem with a comic twist. Also happening in the main Piece Hall is Big D's Mods & Rockers themed Biker show with DJs, stalls, and a giant sand pit. £3 entry (free to concessions).

This Sunday (8th August), Legacy Comics, Piece Hall, Halifax, 11-5pm.

Laura's Carrot Cake

I first ate this at a friend’s wedding. I then spent six months asking around to find the woman who’d baked it for the recipe. Huge thanks for Laura for writing out the below on the back of a scrap of paper for me – she works at Café Concerto in York, where the cakes are wonderful, and this is their recipe. I’ve only amended it slightly (the recipe I was given was expressed in catering quantities and baked 5 cakes, I suspect is a bit more than most of us would take on). The honey and high lemon content make this carrot cake something really special.

Cake Ingredients

170g strong white flour
145g wholemeal flour
100g raisins
100g sultanas
270g grated carrot
2tsp bicarbonate of soda
1tsp baking powder
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/2tsp ground nutmeg
50g chopped nuts (walnuts are traditional, however I like pecans and could imagine this working with hazelnuts
170ml milk soured with
the juice of half a lemon
3 eggs (mixed)
140g butter or margarine
½ a jar of honey

Icing Ingredients

140g cream cheese such as philedalphia
75g butter, softened
360g icing sugar
Grated zest of ½ a lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
20g whole nuts to decorate (note as above).

You will need
A large springform tin
To bake the cake on gas mark 3 (160 degrees c)


To Bake

Put the oven on to pre-heat (160 degrees c, gas mark 3)
Mix all of the dry ingredients in one bowl.
Melt the butter and honey gently and put aside to cool slightly.
Whisk the eggs, and mix the lemon juice with the milk.
Then add all of the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mix quickly (it will be quite a liquid batter), flatten the top and pop into the preheated oven.
Bake for 45 minutes (a skewer inserted into the centre of the tin should come out clean.

Leave the cake in the tin to cool.

When completely cool, remove from tin and put on display plate.
Mix all of the icing ingredients together until well combined and spread evenly over the cake, using the nuts to decorate as desired.

picnic in the park

To celebrate teaandcake.co.uk’s second birthday we’re meeting up for a picnic in Rounday Park on Sunday 25th July at 1pm.

Last year was such fun, we wanted to do it again! The Park Rangers are expecting us this time ;-)Also, we were recently contacted by Twinings tea, who very generously offered us some of their huge selection of teas for tasting. We’ll bring them on the day for you to drink and give us your feedback for the website.

We’ll have:-
- Golden Oolong
- Spring White
- Blossom Earl Grey
- Limited Edition Rose Garden
- Green Tea Selection
- Mint Tea Selection
- Fruit and Herbal Selection
- Black Tea Selection

Oh and some Yorkshire tea too... so please bring along your own mug, and a thermos of hot water (we'll provide the tea bags!) if you can manage it and any cakey creations you’d like to share.We’ll be at the bandstand near the top lake (just look out for the bunting!) with an assortment of teas, cakes & sandwiches and we’d love to see you there.

Where: Roundhay Park, LeedsDate: on Sunday 25th July
When: from 1pm

Fingers crossed for a fine day, and we hope you can come along and join us

Love
Janine, Sam and Mike

P.S. This isn’t a formal organised event, there are no fees for attending, and we don’t have public liability insurance or anything, so come at your own risk. The biggest risk factor we can identify is the British Weather, the bandstands in Roundhay are fairly big, so we’ll be there regardless!

P.P.S. If you can't make it along, don't be too disappointed - there is still a way to join in with the tea testing! Order a couple of teabags from Twinings: http://www.twinings.co.uk/shop/teabag-pick-n-mix.html & send your feedback on what they taste like through to us at info@teaandcake.co.uk ! :D

P.P.P.S afternoon tea in London?
Are any of you familiar with London and places for afternoon tea? Janine is looking for a place to go in London for a special occassion afternoon tea. Please email janine@teaandcake.co.uk with any suggestions! Many thanks in advance

Granita

We had a grapefruit that needed using, and S has started liking chamomile (when did that stop being chalomile? Is it just inside my head that it was ever chalomile?) tea, but tea can be a bit much in this weather, so I suggested grantia. Granita is probably the simplest frozen dessert imaginable, unless you're in the habit of filling ice cube trays with OJ; it's frozen juice, just broken up a bit. So I made a litre of chamomile tea, got all the flesh out of the grapefruit, cut most of the zest away from the pith (slicing finger in the process), boiled up the well-steeped tea with the flesh and zest and about 75g sugar (dissolve sugar, bring to boil then boil for 2 mins), strained the lot and after cooling naturally, froze the results. You're supposed to break it up with a fork every half hour, but I forgot; no matter, breaking it up when you remember is fine, and if you really forget just tip the whole lot into a blender and blitz it. Results taste awesome and look like this:

I imagine that any citrus and aromatic tea - not ordinary black tea, though, the tannins could be too much for most citrus - would work quite well. If summer continues in a similar fashion expect further experimentation.