Fortnum & Mason tea delight

When I lived in England, something like visiting Fortnum & Mason would have felt a bit decadent, and maybe unnecessary. It's got a 'stands the test of time' type reputation for serving the best of everything, having royal warrants and for sitting in a beautiful building right near The Ritz and Piccadilly. But you could hardly say it's everyday food, or everyday eating for that matter - and the prices do match.

But when visiting from Australia, it felt so totally right to go there. I love a good tea rooms, especially when served properly with all the accoutrements. And they do really know how to do it at Fortnums, after all, they have been doing it since 1707.

They have done a fabulous job of making the whole Fortnum's experience feel quintessentially English, but not old, fussy and laborious as some English institutions seem to feel.
The shopfront is stunningly decorated - much like so many other places in London, we saw quite a few that felt like they had been rigourously designed, and that really knew how to stop people in their tracks (especially Selfridges, who were showcasing young designers when we were there).

 I fell head over heels in love with this fantasy tea set up - a bit Alice in wonderland with those not quite real tea pots, especially the gold one sitting in the middle of one of the stacks. How whimsical to be able to serve tea in a gorgeous girlie sets, surrounded by posies, butterflies and cute cushions.

The building itself is large, and very grand inside, with original looking lifts and people dressed as if they might be organising William and Kate's wedding in the afternoon. It was a joy just to look around the place - seeing the amazing range of teas, coffees and sweets on offer. Unfortunately I already had too much luggage, so had to leave it to looking only.

Those little veggies are actually marzipan, the detail in them was incredible. So fiddly.

For our morning tea we headed down to The Fountain Restaurant, which sits under the building and is just one of four cafes/restaurants at Fortnum's! The tea menu itself was as long as the food one, with a number of teas I have never heard of. My brother ordered a full English breakfast, which was brought to him within 2 minutes of ordering - so impressive. I had a pot of Earl Grey, my current favourite tea for such occasions. Served in giant silver pots no less, and silver strainers and jugs to match.

We ended up as eight having morning tea as extended family members kept showing up. Here I am with my lovely cousin Jane who I haven't seen for over 10 years.
Thank you London for putting on a show. xx

Foodie gifts

Sorry for the sporadic blogging. I've been away in the UK for a fortnight, and couldn't quite manage to keep writing when I was over there. I'll be blogging on one of my favourite London food experiences in the next day or so.

Today I'm blogging about a beautiful and thoughtful Christmas gift from my lovely friend Meg. (Yes, I realise it is mid-February, but it's been way too hot to bake in Sydney!).  I love love love the presentation - the layers in the jar are really enticing, even before the ingredients make their way into the mixing bowl. 

It's so personalised, and is a relatively inexpensive way to share the love. I would love to hear about other gifts like this that you have received - dry ingredients with a few fresh things to be added, or other foodie homemade gifts that you have been given.

These the jar contains white and dark chocolate, caster sugar, flour and cocoa. Just add eggs and milk. Thanks Meg, you're a star.

Baby shower high tea

I had a great weekend. Really special.
Firstly, I went to my friend Katie's 30th birthday at the Harbour View Hotel in the Rocks. It was held in one of the function rooms, and is nestled under the Sydney harbour bridge. So, amazing view of the park under the harbour bridge, and you can see right up onto the bridge and where the trains cross every few minutes. I love that it is so iconic for Sydney but also such an active piece of architecture for Sydneysiders - we really couldn't do without it. The pub itself is quite hidden, even the tourists wandering through the Rocks don't really find it without specifically looking for it. The bridge climbers might though, as the first stage of the climb is along a precarious iron pathway under the bridge that goes right over the balconies of the hotel.
Katie totally rocked it in a designer dress, quite the birthday girl. Loved catching up with a few good friends too.

On Sunday, we held Sarah's birthday shower at my place - she's got a month to go, but is still looking radiant and gorgeous, despite Sydney's super humid summer.
Between Lorraine and I we managed to make the place look really girlie and vintage, and put on a spread to match. Lorraine has been hunting and gathering old fashioned English china for months at Rozelle markets, and other op shops in the Inner West and now has a gorgeous collection. I also pulled out a few of my grandmother's cups and saucers, as well as a lot of decorative silver forks and spoons.  It was just the sort of party she would have loved, so it felt very special to be able to use them too.

The spread:
Dips & fruit platter
Lorraine's rocky road
Cupcakes from My little cupcake in Neutral Bay. It was way too hot to spend the whole of the day before baking. This shop is totally worth a visit for gorgeous cupcakes, but also girlie decorations, tea sets, aprons, baby toys and cupcake displays.
Lemon Polenta Cake
Jasmine's chicken sandwiches
Meringues


I thought I would just leave you with the recipe for the Lemon Polenta Cake (modified from Nigella Kitchen)
It's a flourless recipe - so also great for gluten intolerant people, and is richer and heavier than flour based cakes.

Ingredients:
For the cake:
200g unsalted butter (room temperature)
200g caster sugar
200g almond meal
100g fine polenta ( you can also use cornmeal)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (use gluten-free if needed)
3 eggs
zest of 2 lemons

For the syrup:
Juice from 2 lemons (save from above)
125g icing sugar


Method:

Line a springform tin with baking paper and grease the sides. Preheat the oven to 180.

Beat the sugar and butter until it is pale, and whipped in texture.

Mix together the dry ingredients (almond meal, polenta, baking powder) and beat some of this into the sugar/butter mixture, alternating with the 3 eggs until everything is combined.

Finally, add in the lemon zest, then beat until the batter is even.

Then pour into the springform tin and bake for 40 minutes.

When ready, it will be golden on the top, and the cake will have started to come away from the sides of the tin. A cake tester will also come out clean.


To make the syrup, pour the lemon juice and the icing sugar into a small pan. Heat over a low flame until the icing sugar is incorporated.

Prick the cake with a cake tester, or a piece of spaghetti, and then poor the lemon syrup over the cake (whilst still in its tin). Leave to cool in the tin, sitting on a wire rack.

Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Thanks to all the girls for making the afternoon really special, and to Lorraine for organising everything.

sexy summer salad

I've been asked by a few friends exactly what is in the salad that appears in the banner for my blog - and as today was such a stunning Sydney summer today, I decided to make it again for a light but exciting lunch.

It's a really simple salad, although it looks and tastes amazing.

Ingredients:
100g proscuitto or serrano
1 nectarine
50g soft ricotta (eating not cooking)
100g baby spinach or rocket leaves
balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil to serve

It would also make a great share plate for an entree at a summer party.
enjoy!

Yummy pumpkin and chia seed muffins

I love these muffins. And they're really not the evil ones that you find in cafes. You know the ones that contain the same amount of calories as a meal, laden with fat and sugar. These really are ones you can feel good about - all the ingredients are good for you, but the sweetness of honey and the basil make these really special.

This is based on a recipe by the lovely Sarah Wilson. She has opened my eyes to the healthy possibilities for food. How chia seeds work, how to avoid gluten (if necessary), the delights of kale to name a few. She writes a food based blog every Tuesday having studied at INN, which is something that really interests me too. 

I decided to bake them again today for my little girl. She loves trying everything at the moment, a complete turn around from the food fights and tantrums of a few months ago. We struggled to get her to eat anything other than yogurt and some fruit purees. Now she eats nearly anything that I give her - what a relief!

Makes 6-8 largish muffins


Ingredients:
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup honey
2 tbs grapeseed oil (or another non-flavoured oil like camelia)
1 cup grated pumpkin
1 cup almond meal
2 cups gluten-free flour (buckwheat or besan) or plain flour for gluten tolerant people
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 handful chopped basil leaves
1 fistful chia seeds

Pre-heat the oven to 180.

Prepare the muffin tins with squares of baking paper, approximately 10cm x 10cm.

Mix the egg yolks with half a cup of honey and the grapeseed oil. A stab mixer works well here.

Next add the pumpkin and almond meal, along with the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, basil and chia seeds.

Stir in half a cup of water and the whisked egg whites.

Finally, spoon the mixture into a muffin tray and place into the oven for 15 minutes.

To serve, roughly tear some more basil leaves.  A yummy, healthy morning or afternoon tea. These also make a wonderful bread replacement for a light lunch.

PS - Always love the opportunity to roast some pumpkin to add to salads. Even if you buy a small piece of butternut pumpkin, there will always be some left over.
I drizzled honey and olive oil over mine.