Tea Party

Various Assortments of Sweets for a Perfect Tea Party!

The other day I realised that I haven't yet used my new cupcake 3 tiered stand that I received for my birthday last year! So I decided to host a tea party to put the stand on display. It was a lot of fun preparing and organising this tea party as I decided to go all out with sweet food (and on healthy fruit platter to balance) and delicious pink tea. I baked Honey Bee Cupcakes, Meringue Cupcakes, Sour Cream Apple Slice and Gingerbread Biscuits. It was such a lovely tea party and the food was delicious!

Honey Bee Cupcakes

Meringue Cupcakes

Sour Cream Apple Slice

Gingerbread Biscuits

Zucchini and Feta Quiche

Recipe modified from taste.com.au

I have never made a quiche before but I have always loved eating them, so when I was planning what to cook for dinner I decided to use the feta cheese in the fridge a d make a zucchini and feta quiche, and  might I say it is a delicious combination!

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs 
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3 tblsp butter, melted
• 1/2 cup self raising flour 
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup cheese, grated
• 1 large zucchini, sliced into pieces
• 1-2 sheets of frozen puff pastry, thawed 
• 100g feta cheese, crumbled into small pieces
• 1 tblsp freshly chopped chives
• 1/4 tsp chilli powder
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

Method: 

Preheat oven to 180'C. Whisk eggs, milk, butter, and flour in a large bowl. Fold in Parmesan cheese, grated cheese, chives, chilli powder, and garlic. Spray a quiche dish with canola oil spray and place puff pastry inside to make the case for the filling. Arrange the zucchini in the pastry case. Sprinkle feta cheese over the zucchini. Pour in the filling. Cook for 40-50 minutes or until set. Serve with hot vegetables or a cold salad.

Towering Alaska

Recipe from 'Gorgeous Cakes'

I made this cake for my mum's birthday yesterday and it was extremely delicious and looked amazing! I have never made meringues before, but it was fantastic and looked beautiful with all the layers and different colours. I would strongly recommend making this cake in the future, although with all the meringues it is difficult to find a place to insert the candles!!

Ingredients:
For meringues:

• 3 medium egg whites, at room temperature
• 120g caster sugar
• 3 different types of food colouring

For cake:

• 4 medium eggs, separated
• 175g caster sugar
• 225g ground almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder, sifted

For filling:

• 200g black cherry jam (or another dark jam), stirred until smooth
• 300ml thickened cream, whipped

Method:
To make the meringues, preheat the oven to 120'C fan forced. Separate the 3 egg whites into three bowls. Whisk each egg white with electric beaters until stiff peaks form. Whilst still beating, divide the sugar portion between each bowl. Continue whisking until the egg whites are stiff. Add 1-2 drops of different food colouring into each bowl and whisk again until the colour is mixed in completely.

Line three baking trays with baking paper. Drop teaspoons of the meringue mixture onto the trays, leaving plenty of space between each meringue. Put the meringues in the oven and turn it down to 100'C fan forced. Cook for 1 hour, rotating the trays every 20 minutes. The meringues are done when they are crisp on the outside and, if you tap the base, it should sound hollow within. Remove and leave them to cool.

To make the cake, turn the oven up to 180'C fan forced. Prepare a cake tin by spraying canola oil and flouring the tin thoroughly. Whisk, with electric beaters, the egg yolks and sugar together, without allowing the mixture to become too pale and thick. In another bowl, stiffly whisk the egg whites. Then gently fold them into the mixture. Fold in the ground almonds and the baking powder.

Pour the cake mixture into the tin and give it a couple of taps on the worktop to bring up any air bubbles. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top feels springy to the touch, the sides are shrinking away from the tin and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Turn the cake onto a wired rack to cool.

Place the cake on a serving plate and spread the surface with the jam, right to the edge. Smooth the whipped cream on top, then the meringues. Serve as soon as possible, though the cake will keep well in a cool place for a couple of hours.

Black Forest Cupcakes

Recipe by Yasmin

This is a lovely little treat that is extremely simple to prepare but looks really intricate in detail. It was made specifically for a birthday; however, it can be made for high tea, dessert, or any other occasion. I really enjoyed making this and I'm sure you will too!

Ingredients:
For cupcakes:

• 2 tblsp butter or margarine, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup self raising flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp instant coffee, in 1 tblsp boiling water
• 2 tblsp cocoa

For filling:

• 300ml thickened cream, whipped

For icing:

• Homemade chocolate gnash or bought chocolate frosting

Method:

Prepare several 3x4 cupcake trays by placing cupcake cases in each section. Lightly spray each case with canola oil spray. 

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl with electric beaters. Place spoonfuls of mixture into cupcake  cases. Cook for 15 mins at 180'C fan forced or until inserted skewer comes out clean.

When cool, use a knife to cut a hole out of each cup cake with the removed cake to become lids. Spoon whipped cream into each cupcake. Ice cupcake lids with chocolate frosting and place on top of the cream filled cupcake. To complete the cupcake, add a cherry on top.