Mother’s Day and Afternoon Tea: beloved and beautiful institutions practically made for each other. First, consider your mother’s favorite flavors, flowers, and sweets. The goal is to make our most important guest feel honored and indeed, treasured. Swap in her favorites or use our suggested menu which features delicate butter cookies and a spectacular pedestal cake presiding over the tea table.
Menu
Beverages:
Jasmine White Tea
Vanilla Almond Herbal Tea
Cucumber Water
Savories:
Classic Cucumber Sandwiches
Lobster Salad on Miniature Puff Pastries
Mushroom Turnovers
Spinach Frittata Squares
Breads and Scones:
Banana Bread
Buttermilk Scones with Lemon Curd
Sweets:
The Queen’s Shortbread
Vanilla Bean Spritz Cookies
Apricot Custard Tartlets
On the Pedestal: Pink Champagne Cake
Beverages:
Jasmine White Tea
Vanilla Almond Herbal Tea
Cucumber Water
Savories:
Classic Cucumber Sandwiches
Lobster Salad on Miniature Puff Pastries
Mushroom Turnovers
Spinach Frittata Squares
Breads and Scones:
Banana Bread
Buttermilk Scones with Lemon Curd
Sweets:
The Queen’s Shortbread
Vanilla Bean Spritz Cookies
Apricot Custard Tartlets
On the Pedestal: Pink Champagne Cake
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Classic Cucumber Sandwiches The fresh taste of cucumbers will complement the other savory flavors in your Mother’s Day Tea. These basic little sandwiches, just thin slices of cucumber on very fresh buttered white bread, will remind your guests, and your mother, that simple things are often the best. Lobster Salad on Miniature Puff Pastries Everyone knows that lobster is expensive, but for Mother’s Day let’s splurge. You will need three cups of cooked and shelled lobster, which you can buy at a reliable fish market. The salad will look regal, served in choux pastry puffs, a French style unsweetened pastry that can be used for savory salads or cream puffs. Mushroom Turnovers We haven’t found anyone who doesn’t adore these puff pastry turnovers, bursting with sautéed mushrooms. They are a favorite with all the mothers at our Mother’s Day Teas. Check your local market for any unusual mushrooms; we’ve found cremini, enoki, and cartons of “chef’s blend” mixed wild mushrooms that all make delicious fillings. Spinach Frittata Squares We have never met a frittata we didn’t like, but this Spinach Frittata, garnished with a fresh Spinach Salad and flavored with subtle hints of nutmeg, hot sauce and your mother’s favorite cheese, will also delight the guest of honor and everyone else. Banana Bread Homemade Banana Bread is an old fashioned favorite, and it is easy to make. To capture the deep banana flavor that makes this quick bread so popular, make sure the three bananas needed for this recipe are very, very ripe. Buttermilk Scones These warm, fluffy Buttermilk Scones, lightly browned on the tops and bottoms, will be charming served with Lemon Curd at your Mother’s Day Tea. We suggest adding currants and a little freshly grated orange zest to the dough, although any kind of chopped dried fruit or nuts that your mother prefers can be included instead. You can even make nut and spice scones by adding up to 2 teaspoons of ginger, cinnamon or nutmeg and 3/4 cup of toasted chopped nuts (such as almonds, pecans or walnuts). Lemon Curd Lemon Curd is the perfect accompaniment for the Buttermilk Scones that will highlight the tea table at your lovely Mother’s Day Tea. The bright taste of lemon will also harmonize well with the other springtime delights on this very special menu. Although you can buy prepared Lemon Curd, we recommend making it yourself, as the homemade version is so much more delicious than store bought. You can make your Lemon Curd a day or so in advance and refrigerate it in a clean, tightly fitting glass jar. For this rather formal occasion, serve your Lemon Curd in a small crystal bowl with a silver serving spoon. The Queen’s Shortbread Rumor has it that this is the very recipe used at Buckingham Palace to bake Shortbread for Queen Elizabeth’s Afternoon Tea. Vanilla Bean Spritz Cookies Spritz cookies are elegant little butter cookies than can be formed into flower shapes using a cookie press. They are also lovely sprinkled with white sugar crystals or sugar crystals in your mother’s favorite colors. Apricot Custard Tartlets These pretty little tarts are perfect to honor Mother. The buttery crusts, luscious homemade custard and sparkling golden apricot topping create a wonderful taste combination in every bite. And what could be sweeter than a lovely little edible violet on top? Pink Champagne Cake We love champagne and we love pink; what could possibly be better than pink champagne cake? Here, we up the champagne taste quite a bit with champagne in the cake batter, the frosting, and in soaking syrup that keeps the layers nice and moist. The cake edges are left exposed to reveal the pastel pink color of the cake itself. Billows of creamy frosting peek out from between the layers and crown the top. We’ve sprinkled the cake with a mix of sizes of edible decorative pearls to mimic champagne bubbles. Use you prettiest cake pedestal to show off this three-layered beauty. |
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