As a Brit, there is a fiercely patriotic streak that runs through me and basically forces me to comment on the impending birth of royal baby #2. Palace officials announced Kate & Will’s happy news yesterday and my heart wanted nothing more than to do all the stereotypical English things in celebration.
I exercised some minor self control in not fetching the massive British flag and draping it from the window, but I did throw together a how-to guide for royal baby appreciation. Disclaimer: the following recipes are not particularly healthy because when it rains year round you really don’t want to sacrifice your heavy whipping cream or your butter…you just feel like you’ve earned the right to indulge. That being said, if you have healthy adaptations, #cayisa and let us see!
Mary Berry is like the Martha Stewart of England. Present judge on reality tv show The Great British Bake-Off and a brilliant baker, she has this recipe for the classic Victoria Sponge. I was raised on this stuff. When made correctly, the sponge is light and fluffy and the strawberries make it a refreshing treat.
The only exact recipe I could find for these was in French. My elementary French skills were not enough to make sense of the directions, so I’m sharing a basic shortbread recipe as well as another blogger’s instructions for making the actual tea-bag shape!
Celebrations at Home says:
Here is a great idea from Kim at Frost Me blog, for shortbread “tea bag” cookies. These are so clever and cute for any tea party treat or take home favors. Simply cut out the shapes from your favorite shortbread recipe, poke a hole through the dough with a wooden skewer, and bake. Dip in melted chocolate and tie on the tag with bakers twine. Accent the Party has made it easy to create hang tags by offering the free printable tags below.
Now comes the important part: the actual tea. I’m addicted to earl grey, but Adagio is my favourite place to try new loose leaf tea because they have so many varieties. Their earl grey lavender is what I want to try next, but you can’t go wrong with a traditional English breakfast blend. With fall approaching, their chai mixes are also looking pretty delish.
If you need something for serving tea, World Market has cute teapots like this plum flower cast iron one:
You could also score this Cath Kidston teapot with John Lewis’ international delivery!
Comment your favourite tea-time traditions or share with us by #cayisa!
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