Afternoon Tea in London

Afternoon tea in London - what a spread!

Never mind tea at the Ritz, Grandma Abson’s Afternoon tea was served up last weekend in London to the delight of family and friends. The sun put its hat on and came out to shine as we sat in the garden.

Jane's delectable cucumber sandwiches

It was a combined effort to prepare a wide variety of delicious cakes, scones, teabreads and biscuits. My son’s neighbour, Jane, crowned our efforts with fabulous cucumber sandwiches on beautiful trays and brought out her gorgeous cake stands to display Grandma's cakes superbly. 

It’s always fascinating to see which cakes are the most popular when we do these parties. Grandma's Bridlington Cake is a lemon cake which takes everyone by storm, wherever it’s served up. It’s not a standard sponge cake and not made by creaming, rubbing-in or melting methods but the texture is somewhere between a sponge and a meringue. It’s also a versatile cake to decorate. This time, I used homemade lemon curd and a meringue topping with amazing results. I’ve decorated it before with lemon butter cream and glace icing or feather icing. 

There was much talk amongst the guests of the delights of afternoon tea as an alternative to dinner parties. Grandma’s baking recipes are easy to make and leave the host plenty of time to have a leisurely chat with guests. 

Serious debate about Grandma's afternoon tea!