Afternoon Tea- Peppermint Mini Meringues

Meringues are gaining in popularity at the moment so I thought it was only right to add a recipe for some Mini Meringues!

The recipe I've written here is for Peppermint and chocolate Meringues, however you can easily substitute the Peppermint Extract with Vanilla Extract if you want something a bit more neutral. Due to the size of these I think they're lovely for afternoon tea, and as the meringues themselves contain no fat, a slightly healthier alternative to that big slab of cake!

I think these are lovely as a dinner party desert- 
Simply serve next to a bowl of whipped cream for sticking together or dolloping on top, natural yoghurt, fresh fruit, a bowl of melted chocolate, sprinkles and anything else you fancy and let your guests create their own desert. It's a really fun way of serving dessert and a relaxed end to an evening. 

 Makes 30-35 small meringues (About 15 sandwiched together)



Ingredients-
100g egg white
200g caster sugar
1/4 tsp Peppermint extract
Dark chocolate- For dipping

Method-
1) Preheat your oven to 150C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. (A really good non stick tin should work if you don't have any greaseproof- I regularly run out!)
2) Beat the egg whites together on a slow speed for 1 minute until soft and foamy. (You'll need to use either a stand mixer or a hand mixer, your hand won't be able to beat quickly enough!)
3) Increase to medium speed until the meringue mixture reaches the firm peak stage- This is when the mixture can stand up on its own.
4) Add the Peppermint extract and start adding the sugar a table spoon at a time. Mixing the whole time until the mixture looks glossy and is stiff.
5) Transfer to a piping bag and pipe out small shapes onto the greaseproof paper.- I like to use a plain circular piping nozzle and pipe "drops" of the mixture.
6) Bake for 40 minutes, turn the oven off and let cool in the oven slightly for about 15 minutes, then remove from the oven.
7) When the meringues have cooled, and dried out completely in the oven melt some dark chocolate in a bowl and dip the bottoms of each meringue in the chocolate, then place back on the tray to set.

Serving-
* Lightly whip some double cream and use it to sandwich two meringues together.
*For a healthier option- Serve with natural yoghurt and fresh fruit.

TIP-
You will get better results if you use a clean glass bowl to whisk your egg whites in. It's important that the equipment you use is completely free of grease as this can effect the egg whites.

Flavour Alternatives-
Vanilla Meringues- Swap the peppermint extract for vanilla extract.
Chocolate Meringues- Leave out the peppermint extract and sift 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder over the meringue mixture and carefully fold through.- I think these are particularly lovely when spooned onto your tray, when baked they look like lovely chocolatey clouds. (If spooning the mixture onto the trays, and making them larger they will take longer to cook. I would start at about 1 hour 15 minutes)

Afternoon tea- Mini Victoria Sponges

The way to my heart is cake. I think it's the perfect accompaniment to breakfast, lunch, dinner, a cup of tea, a chat with friends, a picnic in the park, or a night in front of the TV. For me there is nothing better. That's why I think these little beauties are the perfect recipe to have, being mini sponges they are the perfect size for one person to munch upon, and look really lovely when dusted liberally with icing sugar and arranged on a cake stand.

I've just made these to take to my Aunty's house tomorrow, as I'm going to visit. The mixture below was enough for 8 mini sponges using the muffin tin, and also 4 heart shaped sponges, using 10cm tins.

So what's stopping you, pre heat the oven, invite your friends round, and host an afternoon tea feast!

12-15 mini victoria sponges

Ingredients-

Sponge-
225g Plain Flour
225g Caster Sugar
225g Unsalted Butter- Softened
3 tsp Baking Powder
4 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Butter icing- 
500g Icing Sugar
160g Unsalted Butter- Softened
4 tbsp Milk
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

Method-

For the sponge-
1) Preheat your oven to 180C and grease a muffin tin with butter.
2) Weigh all the ingredients into the same bowl and mix together until just combined- Be careful not to over mix.
3) Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin- Filling each hole a couple of millimetres from the top.
4) Bake in the oven for 20 minutes- Or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
5) Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for about 15 minutes, then carefully remove and place on a wire rack to cool fully.
*You might find you have a small amount of mixture left- Don't be tempted to fill the muffin holes all the way to the top as the mixture will overflow when baking and you won't be able to get them out!*

Butter icing-
The butter icing can be made when the cakes are in the oven cooking to save some time.
1) Sieve the icing sugar and place the rest of the ingredients into the bowl with it-Start mixing using a folk.
2) When the mixture has come together mix with an electric whisk (Or a lot of arm power) for around 5 minutes- Or until the icing is really light and fluffy.

Constructing- 
1) Take a sponge and cut it in half across the middle (This is easier if you use a serrated knife.)
2) On one half of the sponge pipe a swirl, or spoon on the butter icing.
3) If desired- Spoon some jam onto the other half of the sponge and stick the two halves back together and sieve some icing sugar over the top.
4) EAT!!!!

Sponge-

 

  

Icing-

Constructing-

                        

Afternoon Tea- Buttermilk Scones

I'm hard pushed to find anything that beats a scone in afternoon tea, they're always the thing I reach for first. These scones are lovely served straight from the oven with lots of jam and clotted cream (I never said they were diet friendly!) or they can be warmed in the microwave for a few seconds if you're making them in advance. They're really simple to make and the recipe can easily be doubled if you want to make more..happy baking!

Makes 8-9 scones.

Ingredients-
300g Plain Flour
20g Baking Powder
55g Unsalted Butter
55g Caster Sugar
225g Buttermilk
Milk or egg- To glaze
Optional- 55g Sultanas or raisins

Method-
1) Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2) Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl
3) Add the butter to the bowl and rub the mixture together until it resembles breadcrumbs (Tip- Use the tips of your fingers to rub the flour in, keeping your grip light)
4) Add the sugar to the bowl and mix through (If you are adding sultanas or raisins you will add them now)
5) Add the buttermilk to the bowl and mix together- As soon as the mixture has come together stop mixing. You don't want to over work the dough.
6) Roll out the dough until it is about half an inch in thickness, and cut out using a 3 inch flutted cutter.
7) Place onto the baking tray and let them rest for about 30 minutes.
8) While the scones are resting you can turn your oven on to 200C
9) Glaze the tops with egg and bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Until golden on top.
10) Serve with lots of jam and clotted cream and enjoy!

Afternoon Tea- Mini Dark Chocolate and Orange Tarts

Everybody loves a tart don't they!?...No not that kind of tart! What kind of blog do you think this is?
I'm talking about little pastry tarts, that adorn the top rows of cake stands at afternoon tea. I'm going to show you a lovely little recipe for dark chocolate and orange mini tarts that you can bake at home.

This recipe is a little more time consuming than some of the others I've posted, with quite a few different steps but if you've got the time the results really are worth it and you're left with some lovely little tarts that are perfect for one person to have at afternoon tea!

I've used a cutter and a muffin tray to make the tart cases however you can get a variety of small tart tins if you wanted to make them a little bigger.

Makes 12 little tarts

Ingredients-

Sweet shortcrust pastry-
200g Plain flour
100g Unsalted Butter
50g Caster sugar
2-3tbsp Cold water

Chocolate orange ganache-
130g Dark Chocolate (The higher the cocoa content the better!)
50g Double Cream
8g Liquid Glucose (Dr Oetker do a tube of this, which is available in most supermarkets)
20g Unsalted Butter- At room temperature, cut into small chunks
1 tbsp Orange zest (About 3 orange's worth)

Decoration-
Dark Chocolate
Orange segments

Method-

For the Pastry-
1) Preheat your oven to 180C
2) Sift the flour into a bowl, cut the butter into cubes and add this to the same bowl.
3)  Rub the butter and flour together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. (Tip- The best way to do this is to use just the tips of your fingers and thumb)
4) Add the sugar to the bowl and mix it into the flour and butter.
5) Start adding the water to the bowl gradually, stirring the mixture together with your hands- Once the mixture has come together as a dough stop mixing. You don't want to over mix!
6) Wrap the dough in cling film and rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
7) After 30 minutes, lightly dust the worktop with flour and roll out your dough until it is about 2-3mm thick the whole way across and cut out using a 3.5 inch fluted cookie cutter and place in your muffin tin, pressing the pastry in lightly.
8) You will need to blind bake your pastry cases- To do this place a small square of greaseproof paper on top of each pastry circle, and fill with rice (Or baking beans if you have them)- This will stop the pastry from expanding when baked. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. 
9) Remove the tart cases from the oven and remove the rice and greaseproof paper from each one- Then put them back in the oven for a further 5 minutes. Or until a light golden brown.
10)Remove from the oven and let cool in the tin slightly, then remove from the tin and transfer to a wire rack.

For the dark chocolate and orange ganache-
1) Chop the chocolate into small chunks- About the size of chocolate chips.
2) Add the double cream and glucose to jug and heat in the microwave until the cream reaches boiling point (This can also be done in a pan on the hob- Just remove it from the hob when it starts to boil)
3) Add the chocolate to the cream and swirl the jug around- Don't mix at this point
4) After about a minute add the butter and orange zest and start stirring the mixture together- Leave to cool slightly.

Constructing the tarts-
1) When the pastry cases have cooled melt some dark chocolate in a bowl and using your finger or a small brush line the inside of each pastry case with a small amount of chocolate (This will help to prevent the pastry case from going soft with the addition of the ganache)
2) Dip half an orange segment into the rest of the melted chocolate- Enough for each tart and place on a sheet of greaseproof paper for chocolate to set.
4) When the ganache has cooled slightly, spoon it evenly into each pastry case.
5) Place an orange segment on top of each tart.
6) Show off to your friends with your fancy baking work.

Pastry-

 Ganache-

                                    

Constructing-

Afternoon Tea- Flapjacks

Today I want to share with you my first "Afternoon tea" recipe.

This recipe is so easy, and I hope fail proof! A batch can quickly be thrown together ready for an afternoon catching up with friends, or to take on a summers picnic. 

In the step by step pictures you might notice that the quantities look smaller than the ones you'll have in your own pan and that's because for the purpose of trying to be slightly healthy I just made half a batch (Which still works really well!) 

Makes 12 flapjacks.

Ingredients-
175g Unsalted Butter
175g Light brown soft Sugar
175g Golden Syrup
350g Porridge Oats

Method-
1) Preheat your oven to 150C and line a baking tin (About 8 inches square- But a little larger won't matter) with greaseproof paper, or grease the sides with a little bit of butter
2) Melt the butter in a pan on a low heat with the sugar and golden syrup- heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. (Tip- if you run a metal spoon under hot water before spooning out your golden syrup it will come off the spoon much easier.)
3) Remove the pan from the heat, add the oats and stir together until all of the oats are coated in the melted butter mixture.
4) Tip the mixture out into your tin and press down- Making sure to get it into the edges
5) Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
6) Once baked remove from the oven and leave it to cool in the tin, before cutting and serving.

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Afternoon Tea Recipes

In my opinion there is nothing better than afternoon tea, weather that consists of going to a cafe or hotel and being served tea, cakes, sandwiches and other delights on a pretty stand, or inviting friends and family over and devouring a plate of freshly baked scones or flapjacks while setting the world to right.

Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to try to post my favourite recipes that I think are afternoon tea worthy, and will be right at home presented next to a cup of tea while you catch up with friends and family on a summers afternoon.

I'm thinking scones, flapjacks, tarts, cupcakes, biscuits, and any other bakes I think of along the way...I'll start these recipes with the title "Afternoon Tea- ??????" so keep an eye out and let me know if there is anything you would like included.

Until then, promise me you won't reach for Mr Kipling, buy local instead!