7/28/2019 Vintage Blossom Tea Party

1/4

( feature )

Do you have the ultimate dinner

party tricks up your sleeve, or the

perfect house for entertaining?

Send laura.rowe@mediaclash.co.uk

pictures of your dining space,

a suggested menu and 50 words

on why youre the host with most.

You might just be our next

Supper Club star

Blossom

party

7/28/2019 Vintage Blossom Tea Party

2/4

52 crumbsmag.com

( feature )( the supper club )

A

summer garden tea party is a quintessentialEnglish affair, right? After all, we might notalways have the weather (or the religious-like obsession with meat and smoke) for

regular barbecues, but boy do we knowhow to hang the bunting, put out the ne china and chowdown on some homemade Vicky sponge. But it doesntalways have to be prim and proper, says Long Ashton-based food blogger Angela Gareh.

Angela, whose home is set high in the Long Ashtonhills, overlooking the rolling Somerset countrysidebeyond, wanted to prove that you can use exotic avoursin familiar dishes to keep things fresh and exciting. Bornand bred in South Africa to Greek parents, Angelas tastesare denitely inspired by the Med.

I cant live without lemons, olives and feta, saysAngela. In fact, I buy my olive oil and olives in bulk, justbecause I got fed up with supermarkets tiny bottles ofolives, which never seem to last long enough. We tend tolead quite a healthy lifestyle so am always on the look outfor healthy things to cook, and I generally improvise a lotof dishes based loosely on recipes I nd.

Angela started her blog, Ginger Fig, in September of

last year as a collection of her recipe ideas, and as a wayto indulge her love of food photography and styling. Scrollthrough the feed and youll soon discover a theme

Ad et quamus excersp ienditi quatiss imusdae eum faceperit

atur? Hent quosaped que sa cus dolent, nimus dolorum cuptius

doleceptiis dolorepel modisquis et asit officiis eresti quam, sam quis

aut dererovid quiaecus quae vel imil eventur? Fuga. To volorendit

This might look like a traditional British afternoon tea set-up, but

each bite promises a taste of the Med, from rose-scented Swiss rolls

to tomato and feta quiches; Angela decorated her table with a mix of

vintage cloths, crockery and platters alongside garden flowers

crumbsmag.com

( the sup

53

7/28/2019 Vintage Blossom Tea Party

3/4

( feature )

( the supper club )

55crumbsmag.com

sunshine ingredients. (Think thick Greek yoghurt,fragrant rosewater and salty feta cheese.) It was with thisin mind that she planned her garden party menu.

Set out on a separate cake table a great way to temptguests before you sit down to eat proper was a rangeof sweet and savoury nibbles with a twist. Mini quiches(a staple of any British buffet worth its proverbial) werepeppered with a colourful trio of cherry tomatoes, fetaand spinach and stacked high on a tiered cake stand.Simple open sandwiches of sliced white and wholemealbread, spread with a variety of cream cheese, hummousand sh pat, had been transformed into a kaleidoscopeof colours with the help of wild, Trifd-like pea shoots,microherbs and edible flowers. Effortless and yetsupremely effective.

Strawberries had been dipped in white chocolateand decorated with crimson gems of a pomegranate.Cupcakes had been topped with pink and blue icing andfresh owers. A coloured layer cake was smothered with

white chocolate icing and tied with ribbon, while a Swissroll was bulging with strawberries and rose-scented cream(see the recipe on page 57). Turkish delights, from a TessaKiros book, were customized with melted chocolate.

Mini quiches got Angelas sunshine treatment, while open

sandwiches were made sublime by flavoursome microherbs,

pea shoots and colourful edible flowers

7/28/2019 Vintage Blossom Tea Party

4/4

crumbsmag.com

57

( the sup

Despite the name, a Swiss r oll has becomaddition to any English cake spread. Andmight be familiar with the Christmas chocolator even a simple strawberries and cream offAngela shows that, with the simplest of addcan still keep your guests guessing. We reckoalso work well with orange blossom water

grated orange zest if you arent a fan of rosew

roll uproll up

Uful cac BRISTOL VINTAGE; 07791 898650; info@bristolvintage.co.uk;www.bristolvintage.co.uk

www.gingerg.blogspot.co.uk

Mini Greek shortbreads (or kourambiedes) wentperectly with our loose lea tea. Made with butter, eggyolk, vanilla, roasted almonds, four and icing sugar (seeAngelas blog or the recipe), they melted in the mouth.Talking o tea, Angela didnt settle or English breakastor Earl Grey oh no but matched her summery menuwith a love potion o lavender and chamomile, and a wildrose black tea, alongside a rereshing ruit punch summercooler o pineapple and cranberry juice. This was servedin a variety o mismatched vintage crockery and glasses,thanks to Bristol Vintage, which hires out crockery (iyou dont ancy raiding the attic or car boot hunting eachweekend), as well as a range o bunting, jugs, wild fowers

and even wind-up gramophones.Angela co mplemented this with ant iques ro m her

own amily. The tablecloths were hand-me-downs, thedoilies were handmade by her grandmother, while asilver serving tray was given as a git to her grandparentsat their 25th silver wedding anniversary. Angela alsodecanted the pretty tea into a variety o empty jam jars.

Im addicted to collecting jars and bottles, and indit hard to throw away an empty bottle as I know therewill always come a use or it, says Angela. This is greatdebate between my husband and I! They are an ideal wayto personalise the decor or a dinner party, whether youchoose to make handmade lanterns or vases rom them,or even use them to serve ood.

The great thing about having a dinner party like thisis that you can prep everything in advance, and thenmake the most o the sunshine with your guests. Theresno sweaty slog over a barbecue that just wont heat up,or rushing to and rom the kitchen; everything is ready

to serve. Its relaxed and inormal, but still exciting anddierent enough to keep your guests interested. Now wejust need to wait or another sunny day

Metho

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas marka 22x31cm baking tray with non-stick baking p

Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla extractand creamy and the mixture leaves a ribbon surface of the mix. Fold in the flour, groundbaking powder and icing sugar.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin an15-18 minutes, until slightly golden and spong

For the filling, whip the cream. Add the rose

the sliced strawberries and icing sugar into th Cool the sponge for a few minutes and rethe baking tray using the non-stick paper. Lebefore carefully removing the baking paper aonto another piece of baking paper. Spread of your filling all over the sponge and we (Otherwise it will crack when you try to roll it.)

Roll the sponge from the short end using tpaper to help you roll. Dust with icing sugar an

IneIents

For the cake:

3 medium free-range eggs

100g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

55g plain flour

55g ground almonds

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp icing sugar

For the filling:

200ml whipping cream

2-3 tbsp rosewater

1 punnet fresh strawberries, sli

2 tbsp icing sugar, plus extra for du

SSS roll wih

StrberreS a

roSe crem

SERVES 810

Fd blggr Agla (cd frm rig) kp r gu uiably

ydrad i arly ummr u wi a frui puc ad uuual

l laf a, wic rvd i Bril Viag pry a cup