A Mad Hatters Tea Party!

This weekend we decided to be decadent and book Afternoon Tea at The Sanderson Hotel.....described on the hotels website as, "Mad Hatters Tea". Having experienced the truly indescribable delights of a Sketch Afternoon Tea a while ago I was so excited to try this one and thought I should blog about it! 

So, hat on head and very hungry we set off on our way to 50 Berners Street, W1 for an afternoon of total indulgence! 



Take two! Smile Tilly! 

Now, looks are a little deceiving from the outside of The Sanderson but you must not be put off, the second you walk through the doors you are certainly not disappointed.  Everywhere you look there is something intriguing, unique and uber stylish to look at. From the stained glass window (triple height ceiling) billiard room to the ultra long cocktail bar complete with chairs with eyes on the back, this place oozes style and sophistication.

The tea itself takes place outside in the "garden" area- the heart of the hotel. Abundant with outside heaters, as it is still jolly cold, we were greeted by a very very attentive waitress who explained what we would be trying and tasting and asked us which tea we would like first- with of four little sniffing pots! For our first pot of tea(we ended up having two!) we tried Rhubarb and Custard! I was slightly concerned that this may come tasting like some sweet and slightly sickly Sunday crumble, but instead it was subtly infused, warming and delicious! 

Now, please forgive me for going a little mad with photos, but this place truly is an experience and you will most certainly come out feeling like your senses have well and truly been assaulted- oh, and VERY full!!! 

Sugar cubes in a beautiful musical dancing ballerina jewellery box

Riddle: The more you have it, the less you see? What is it? (Answer at the bottom of page!)

Queen of the Tea!

An edible cake in a cup! Oh, and some childhood reminisant popping candy! 

I don't want to give too much away about what each delectable item is as each one is an experience in itself! But I will say that this's such a special place and would be amazing for any first date, birthday or mummy and daughter day- or to be honest, any occasion really! Just make sure you go with a big appetite. . . a camera and something warm as even with the big outdoor heaters it can be pretty chilly! 

Following in the Alice and Wonderland theme, this was a layered mango and cream drink and definitely left you wanting more!

This was a white chocolate shell with delicious cream cheese and mango filling....It reminded me of an egg!

And then the yolk burst!...

The amazing thing about The Sanderson Afternoon Tea is that if you are STILL hungry- and this's for the serious foodies amongst us- then you can have more... as much as you like! Needless to say, my hungry boyfriend managed to demolish 3 more sandwiches AND a huge bowl of jelly! 

I urge everyone to try and Afternoon Tea at The Sanderson, you will not be disappointed!  

Emi x 


Answer to the riddle: Darkness

"Chocohola" Truffles, Pure Decadence!

For those, like me who are obsessed with anything chocolate related, especially when rich and decadent and covered in more chocolate or nuts....will appreciate this one. 

I actually recently made these for the first time and they were so successful that I have decided to share with you lot! 

The batch I made made up about 50 chocolates in total! I literally couldn't believe how far the mixture went, it just kept going!

I personally made them for the guys I work with as a little Christmas treat and they seemed to go down really well, which was pleasing. I packaged them up (about 8 truffles each) in a box, that I decorated with my own home-made paper with a tag noting their name and what truffles they could choose. I had so much mixture left over I used some for a dinner party I had with a great food and restaurant blogger friend of mine!

Ingredients:

280g good-quality dark chocolate , 70% cocoa solids

284ml pot double cream

50g unsalted butter

The Making Process:

• Chop the chocolate and tip into a large bowl. For mine, I used 2 100g bars of 70% orange chocolate and 80g of 80% chocolate.

• Put the cream and butter into a saucepan and heat gently until the butter melts and the cream has started to simmer. Do NOT stop stirring as the cream can stick and burn really easily.

• As soon as it's really begun simmering, remove from the heatand pour over the chocolate. Stir the chocolate and cream together until you have a smooth mixture of chocolaty velvet!

• Add any flavourings to the truffle mix at this stage - I added a tsp of Vanilla essence. But you could also try bourbon, Grand Marnier, coconut rum or the zest and juice of an orange), or just leave plain. 

• Leave in the bowl to cool and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hrs.

• To shape the truffles, dip a melon baller in hot water and scoop up balls of the mixture- or you could also use spoon measures or just a plain old tsp (so long as the mixture is malleable enough!
• Roll the truffles into a ball - can be VERY messy!!! -  then drop the truffles onto greaseproof paper. Apparently a good tip is to - lightly coat your hands in flavourless oil (such as sunflower) and roll the truffles between your palms. I however just totally went for it and was head to toe of quickly melting  chocolate. 
• Now the fun part: Cover your truffles immediately after shaping. Tip toppings into a bowl and gently roll the truffles until evenly coated, then chill on greaseproof paper. 
• Try: crushed, shelled pistachio nuts; lightly toasted desiccated coconut; chopped up flake, or shave some white chocolate, or roll in cocoa powder, or just stick a plain old whole almond on top of the truffle. 
• To coat in chocolate, line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Melt 100g milk, dark or white chocolate for 10 truffles. Allow chocolate to cool slightly. With a fork, pick up one truffle at a time and hold over the bowl of melted chocolate. Spoon the chocolate over the truffle until well-coated. Place on the baking tray, then chill.
• Serving is totally up to you. For me I placed 8-10 truffles in a grease proof lined card box, tied with ribbon and a label, noting especially that "THIS ITEM CONTAINS NUTS"!! You could also put them all in individual foil or paper cases inside small, lined boxes tied with ribbon. Keep in the fridge until you're ready to give them as they melt VERY quickly!

I took this recipe off the BBC Good Food Guide but have heavily adapted it to my own personal experience.