Bonjour!

Welcome back

As promised, I’m continuing with some tips and ideas for a Spring or Mother’s Day Tea at home.

If you surveyed 100 moms, I bet at least eighty of them would tell you that their favorite gift for Mother’s Day would be time spent with their family.

Here’s a great way to grant her wish. Invite her to tea at your place. You can do this. Read on!

Buffet Afternoon Tea (Less formal)

This is the easiest tea service. Most of the setting and prep can be done the day before. Dishes containing lemon slices, curd, clotted cream, and jam can be filled in the morning and covered with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator until serving time. After everything is delivered to the tea table, you will want to keep an eye on the teapots to make sure they have not been emptied.

You will need:

Teapot(s) At least one for each type of tea brewed.

Find Teapots

Pitcher for the milk. Always offer milk, never cream unless you’re also serving coffee, then you’ll need both. Cream is too heavy and rich in fat for tea. It will overwhelm the taste of the tea.

Sarah B Peony Sugar and Pitcher set

Tea Wares

Pink Luster Pitcher and Sugar

Guess what? We have a teapot that matches this.

Sugar bowl. Sugar cubes are preferable, so you’ll need sugar tongs. Cubes are neater and provide less mess than granulated sugar. Though sugar crystal stirrers are fun, they are very messy and sticky. If you decide to use them, provide each guest with a separate saucer or dish to place it after using.

Rose Shape Sugar Cubes

These will look stunning in your sugar bowl

Patisserie Sugar Cubes

Reminiscent of a French Patisserie, this sugar come in shapes of Macarons and sweet pastries. They make a nice hostess gift because they are packed in a lovely gift box.

Morning in Paris Sugar Cubes

These sugar cubes bring to mind a typical breakfast in Paris at your favorite boulangerie. Croissant and café anyone?

Don’t forget a plate for lemon slices with a small fork.

You’ll need bowls for clotted cream, jam and/or lemon curd and a small spoon for each dish.

Silver Teaspoons with Embossed Handles

These petite spoons come in a set of six.

Place the tea tray with the teapots, milk, sugar, clotted cream, lemon curd and sliced lemons at one end of the table, towards the center leaving room for teacups and saucers and teaspoons to the right. This can also be on a separate table or counter.

On the right, set out the necessary number of cups and saucers and teaspoons.

Plates, flatware, and tea napkins are placed on the left of the tea service items or on another table or counter area.

Platters of tea foods can include tea sandwiches in fancy shapes, scones, various kinds of nut breads, cakes, pastries, and cookies.

Lunch Napkins ~ paper

Colorful Paris style luncheon napkins

Find Napkins

Your guests should serve themselves offered foods first and deliver their plate along with flatware and napkin to their place at the table. (Make sure you have serving utensils available.) Then they can return to the buffet for their hot tea selection and desired condiments. This ensures their tea will still be hot when they start to eat.

These tea brewers will come in very handy for brewing tea for your guests effortlessly. The Noelle water kettle is great to have so you always have hot water on hand to refill those teapots.

These tea brewers and electric kettle will come in handy when brewing teas for your guests. They make lovely gifts as well.

Find brewers, kettles & tea wares

Instructions for tea brewers when brewing by the pot:

For a 4-cup teapot, use 5 level teaspoons of your favorite loose-leaf tea. Add the tea to the tea brewer and fill with hot water from the Noelle kettle. (See below) This electric kettle raises the water temperature to the perfect level for brewing tea. If your water is too hot it will scorch the tea, too cold results in a lifeless tasting brew. Pour hot water into the teapot and let it sit while the tea is brewing. This will ensure your teapot stays hot. Refill the Noelle kettle to get ready for the next pot.

After the tea has brewed, empty the teapot, and sit the brewer on top of the teapot to dispense the hot brew into the pot. Fill the pot the rest of the way with more hot water. Repeat for each pot brewed.

Coffee Masters Magic II tea brewer

So easy to use.

Vahdam Imperial Tea Brewer

So convenient! You’ll love it.

If you are brewing multiple teas, it may be wise to use teabags. You’ll need four teabags per 4 cup teapot. Preheat your teapot, after it sits for about 3 minutes, dump that water, and re-fill the teapot from the Noelle kettle, with hot water. Add the teabags and let it steep 3-5 minutes, depending on the type of tea. Take the teabags out before serving. Don’t forget to toss your teabags or loose tea in the compost.

Noelle Electric Tea Kettle. I use this everyday! It stays on my counter top.
It’s sleek design looks nice in my kitchen.

If you have been invited to tea, here are a few tips for you when attending an afternoon tea buffet.

An invitation to tea . . .

Read the tips below on serving yourself at an afternoon tea buffet.

Guest Notes

Using serving tongs or a fork provided, take foods first and deliver your plate along with flatware and napkin to your place at the table. Never use your own flatware to serve yourself at the buffet. If you don’t see a serving utensil, ask your hostess for one. Return to the buffet for your hot tea selection and desired condiments. This ensures you tea will still be hot when you start to eat.

When adding sugar and milk to tea, add the sugar first. This gives the sugar time to dissolve before adding milk which cools the tea and stops the sugar from dissolving. Lemon is squeezed into the cup after tea. At the buffet, place your lemon slice on your saucer and wait until you’re seated to squeeze into your cup. Then place it back on your saucer. If your hostess has provided a discard bowl, you can place your squeezed slice in the bowl. Never add milk AND lemon or you’ll be looking at buttermilk in your teacup. Just a sidenote: Some teas and herbal tisanes, especially those with citrus or a high fruit content, will cause milk to curdle also. Proceed with caution. If it happens, it makes a great conversation starter. Ask your hostess for a fresh cup and saucer.

Try not to hit the sides of your teacup when stirring. After use, place your teaspoon on your saucer at the back of the teacup.

Scones anyone?

Let your warm scones stay cozy wrapped in a white napkin or tea towel.
Offer clotted cream, jam or preserves and/or lemon curd.

Will you be serving scones at your spring tea?

Paris Vanilla Scone Recipe

Ingredients

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (We always used King Arthur’s brand)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons butter, (you can use less, but the more the richer)

2 tablespoons granulated sugar, to taste. You can use up to 8 tablespoons for sweeter scones or drop to as little as 1 teaspoon if you’re making savory scones. Adjust depending on what you may be adding like chocolate chips, or dried fruit. We always added raw sugar crystals to the tops of our vanilla scones, so we reduced the sugar as in this recipe.

1 cup buttermilk

1 ½ teaspoon of real vanilla extract.

1 large egg, whites separated for egg-white wash. Reserve yolk for another project like lemon curd.

coarse raw sugar crystals, for sprinkling on top, optional

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 500°F.

Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

In a large mixing bowl, blend the dry ingredients together thoroughly.

With a pastry blender, pastry fork, a mixer or, if you prefer to use your fingertips, work in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. If you're adding any "extras", like 1 cup of chopped nuts or chocolate chips, now is the time to add them. Stir in to distribute.

Add the liquid ingredients. Stir for about 30 seconds. Don’t over mix. You want the dough to look slightly rough and undermixed.

Turn it out onto a well-floured board. Flour your hands and the surface of the dough well. Knead it very gently about 10 times, just enough to bring it together. It won’t look smooth like bread dough. Sprinkle on more flour as you need it to keep the dough from sticking.

Cut the dough in half, and roll each piece gently with a well-floured rolling pin into a 6 inch circle. Your dough should be about ½ inch thick. If you want higher scones go to ¾ inch thick

Use a round 3-inch biscuit cutter. You can use a 2-inch cutter, yielding more, but smaller scones. Just watch your baking time. You'll find it easier if you dip your cutter in flour after each cut. Make sure you press it straight into the dough, then out. Don’t twist or saw. You don’t want those edges to pinch together. It should be a clean cut, otherwise they won’t cook or rise properly.

Transfer each piece gently to the prepared baking sheet, leaving a half inch or so between them.

If you are making your scones a few days ahead of time, you can set the cookie sheet in the freezer for an hour. Once the scone pucks (that what we called them) are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag, make sure it’s airtight. (Air causes ice crystals to form) Put them back in the freezer until the morning of your tea. Set the frozen “pucks” on a parchment lined baking sheet and leave out at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Skip to the egg wash section below. You can bake them off just before your guests arrive. They’ll be greeted by the aroma of freshly baked scones.

Or you can mix and bake them the morning of. Skip the freezer part and read on.

Use the egg whites to lightly brush the top of each scone and then sprinkle the tops with raw sugar crystals.

Reduce the temperature to 450°F, put them in the oven, and bake for about 13 to 15 minutes, until they're a light golden brown.

Remove the scones from the oven, serve warm, or put them in a basket and cover with a tea towel. They will be just as delicious at room temperature.

Here are some additions to your dough if you want to try something different or are offering two scone flavors. Add to your dry ingredients: 1 cup of currants or raisins, 1 cup of almonds, pecans or walnuts, or a cup of dried apricots or mango. You can also add white chocolate, caramel, or butterscotch chips. You can switch out the vanilla extract for another extract or flavoring. Bon appetit!

I’ll be signing off now.

Thanks so much for reading Le Blog.

Please let me know if there’s anything you would like to see here.

PS. Don’t forget the 10% code for the month of March only! You can get that extra teapot or cups you may need for your afternoon tea.