As you may have figured out by now, I'm a tea addict. Yes, I confess....I dream of tea times, tea paraphernalia, tea parties, tea flavors, and tea travel.  I LOVE TEA! And one of my all time, was my only at one point, favorite teas is Earl Grey. There is a saying among teaists to the effect that if you are an Earl Grey drinker, than you are an Earl Grey drink to the death...however, as much as I continue to adore Earl Grey, I am eager to sip other namesakes as well. 

All this being said, to get to the point...in a round about way...today is simply glorious! sumptuous sunlight, cool breezes, and that particularly delicious smell of late summer/early fall (although it is neither) came flooding into my house this morning. Immediately I was overcome with the intense need to be outside...and what better way to enjoy tea time than with the aromatic and sensation enhancement of a perfect day. 

I also had the urge for a London Fog. If you don't know what this is...well it's England in a cup...or in literal terms an Earl Grey latte. Sadly, I had neither milk nor a frother :( What to do. Then I was struck with a bolt of brilliance..."I have whipped cream!" The tea was brewed the cup filled with billows of cream and a mock London fog accompanied my almond cookie and serene backyard atmosphere. I enjoyed myself so much, I had to share my new cheat concoction ideas with you all...don't forget...nothing goes better with a London Fog than some Lizbeth's cookies ;)

Mock London Fog
Essentials: Earl Grey tea leaves, can of whipped cream, sugar, water, tea kettle, tea pot
*Opt. vanilla, whipping cream

Bring water to 195* F
Place 1 tsp of loose leaf (or bag) Earl Grey tea (for the pot) plus a tsp (bag) more for each additional cup into tea pot
Poor water slowly over and allow to steep for 3-5 minutes
Fill bottoms of tea cups with whipped cream and add a bit of sugar if you like it sweet
Once tea is suitably steeped, strain and pour over cream and sugar  
Enjoy!

*Alt. 
Pour 1/2 cup of whipping cream into sauce pan and heat til almost at a boil
Place a tsp of Early Grey tea leaves (tea bag) into steamy cream and allow to steep 
Strain cream and refrigerate til chilled
*Opt. add vanilla extract for more intense flavor
Once chilled, whip the cream til soft peaks form 
Use this cream in place of can whipped cream in above recipe

This second option makes for a more intense flavor but is a bit more time consuming. Either way, both options can be used with other tea flavors such as Chai or English breakfast to make easy tea lattes. 
P.s. in my opinion, it's better than frothed milk!


Much Sweetness!

How cute are these!?!?!
I cannot express how much fun I had making these adorable tea party cookies for Harper's 2nd birthday! I love everything about them and I hope Harper and her little friends will too. 

We're accepting orders for this Year's Christmas design "The Tree Trimmers." This set would make a great gift for teachers or hostesses. Perhaps a stocking stuffers? Or the perfect gift for that person you never know what to get.
Each set cost $9.95 which includes shipping and handling. All you have to do is fill out a form with the address and name of the recipient and we'll do the rest. All orders will be mailed the week before Christmas and will arrive fashionably wrapped with a holiday greeting card revealing the senders name. Doesn't get any easier!

If you weren't able to get out to the Bazaar this weekend, here's a little peak at what ya missed!

Today's blog is brought to you by the letter "L" for leftovers.
Yes, leftovers. Those pathetic reminders of what was and the nagging feeling of what they could have been but never quite were...but today, today I will elevate leftovers from the infamy of forgotten places at the back of the fridge to the cake stand of magnificent! I will boldly go, where no caker has gone before....to the depths of the frozen waste lands of food faux pas... 
Ok, I'm done being ridiculous...for now.
The three photos below are of my most recent mini tea cakes, and if it weren't for my utter disdain of waste...they would never have been. How sad would that be?!?! :)
Remember that cupcake bouquet for my niece? Well, by the time all was said and done, I had quite a bit of
leftover royal icing and vanilla cake batter.
Not wanting to throw perfectly good unborn desserts away, I baked up the batter into mini cakes and put them in
the freezer...with future plans already rolling about in my head. I also piped what felt like, to my very tired wrists and fingers, a million roses with the leftover icing.
Said roses and cakes have spent the past couple weeks carefully packed away, just waiting for the right moment...and then it came. My best friend's birthday!!!
I Just can't stand to let a birthday go to waste (are you sensing a pattern?)...so of course, it was time to release the leftovers and give them a nice up-cycle.
Sadly, the second cake was made for a much less happy event, but I'm a firm believer in the power of love shared in
the form of sweets.
I filled them with raspberry jam and made fresh buttercream to ice the cakes and for the leaves...which leads me to my next leftover adventure!!! More about that after you've feasted your eyes on these cute little bundles.

So, after I finished these flappers, I had about half a cup of perfectly good buttercream frosting, just sitting in a bowl with no where to go. Then, a thought popped into my head.
Remember my sister's Doctor Who cake? Well that bad boy left a mess of scraps and chunky crumbs after I finished hacking and shaping it. Again, the inner hoarder could not throw away the pile of moist, chocolaty mess.
So, here's what I did. I kneeded all the scraps together and shaped them into a dome then chucked 'em in the freezer. They've been there ever since...so guess what happened to the leftover buttercream...it gave new life to my chocolate mound and oh was it good!

I admit, it's not one of my prettier creations, definitely the ugly child, but it did give me an idea for what I will do with all my future cake scraps and unused frostings. So here goes...

The Ghost of Caking Past or Birthday Cake Revisited 
Recipe
Save all your cake scraps no matter the amount in an airtight bag/container stored in the freezer (mixing flavors works if they are complimentary).
Once you have a few cups worth, defrost and place into a large mixing bowl.
Add a 1/4 of buttercream frosting, or a small amount of milk, or some melted jam/chocolate. (Experiment and have fun! You can throw in other stuff too like chocolate chips, sprinkles, nuts, or fruit. Go crazy people! This is no time to be timid!)
Use your hands to mush it all together and work it into a congealed mass.
Place the lot into a lined pan, buttered mold, or just form it into a shape you find pleasing.
Now you can either store it in the freezer for future enjoyment or frost it for immediate gratification (fondant, ganache, or icing works too.)
Might I add, this process makes for a very dense, rich texture. Very yum. I suggest washing it down with a hot beverage or chilled milk.
And if that wasn't cool enough, leftover cookies can be reborn in a similar fashion, just chuck 'em in the food processor or mash 'em in a bag with a rolling pin and have fun!
It doesn't get much better than playing with your food :)
Much Sweetness!
~Lizbeth

Last week was my oldest niece's 6th birthday. My brother in-law and sister in-law commissioned me to make something girly and fun that would fit in with the "Dolly and Me" theme party tonight and this is what I made. A bouquet of flower cupcakes for the main display and regular sized flower cupcakes with matching dolly mini cupcakes for the kids. The painted set of cup and teapot cookies are the favors. 
I am falling in love with butter cream flowers. They are so much fun to make and eat! I also think the bouquet would make a great engagement party, bridal shower, baby shower or anniversary cake so I'm very excited to have it in my repertoire.

Last night was my first public event. It was such a fun experience. For the event, I made nutella fudge brownies, vanilla cupcakes, chocolate cookies, and sugar cookies. For the display my husband and I did a little antique shopping and recycling of items we already own. With $20 cash in my pocket, we stopped by Lisa's Antiques on Mantoloking Rd. where we found two glass candlesticks, a glass cake plate, two lace table runners, and a large basket. Also I purchased two new, well old, cookie cutters that I plan to use for a new set of cookies. We purchased the whole lot for $15. I already had a small wooden tea tray, a large doily, and Tim's old baseball card holder and all these combined with my antique finds became my event display. 
The  antique table runners were laid out on the counter where everything was set up. I used the doily to dress up the little wooden tea tray and filled it with tea time cookies.Three of my own dinner/dessert plates were stacked in between the candlesticks to make a tier for the cupcakes. The Cake plate became a brownie stand and Tim spray painted his baseball card holder to make a display for the round flower cookies. The little ledges of the baseball card holder propped the cookies up for better viewing. The large basket made an excellent vehicle for transporting the cookies which I wrapped in a tablecloth for protection. I was so pleased with the overall look of our display. Not only was it very affordable, it was so vintage, which I adore.
We had a great evening and sold lots of a sweet yumminess to happy customers. 

My order of vanilla beans arrived today, just in time for the Showcase cookies. I've used vanilla beans in the past, but this time I didn't want to waste the fragrant pod, so here's a little story about my adventure with vanilla beans.
My beans arrived tucked up in an airtight bag labeled beanilla and when I snipped open the corner, a lovely mellow scent slipped out. Using a very sharp paring knife and little glass cutting board I slid the edge of my knife from one tip of the bean pod to the other, splitting the pod in two and revealing the grainy black cream hidden inside. With the back of my knife I scraped the beans from their coat and dropped them into a bowl with butter and sugar.
The pods lay there so bare and sad. I couldn't stand to throw all that delicate flowery flavor into the trash, so I wound each into two tiny glass jars and buried one in sugar and the other I drowned in raw honey. The leftover, unused pods were tightly wrapped in plastic and placed in glass jars for another day.

Vanilla bean can be added to almost any dessert and can be used as a substitute for Vanilla extract. There are some debates about substitution ratios. I personally used half a bean pod in exchange for one teaspoon of extract. The leftover pods are great for flavoring things like, honey and sugar to be used in coffee or tea. The pods can also be dried out and crumbled into powder that can be added to baked goods, frosting, tea, ice cream topping, puddings, etc. 
If you'd like to have your own bean adventure, I highly recommend purchasing your Vanilla beans from http://www.beanilla.com/ they are very affordable and shipping is free!

A dear friend of mine purchased a box of my tea time cookies. She's a photographer and in true photographer form, could not resist the temptation to capture some mouth watering poses. Here are a few of my favorites.
If you'd like to see more of Jess' work, including my own wedding photos, stop by her site and her facebook. Don't forget to give her a "like." 
http://capturedmomentsphotography09.shutterfly.com/ https://www.facebook.com/CapturedMomentsPhotoFL

Anyone who knows me, knows that I absolutely adore Tea Time. I always have but after visiting England, it became a serious addiction. American Tea Time had never risen to the refined deliciousness of a genuine English Afternoon Tea and once I participated in this delicate and exquisite ritual, I was hooked! Like a true Englishman, I believe tea really is the answer to every problem, in at least a small way. 
There's just something unspeakably soothing about tea. It's a kind companion when you're all alone and when shared with others, it has an uncanny way of loosening tongues and bonding friendships. 
If you've never had the delight of being served an Afternoon Tea, I highly recommend indulging as I do, at least every few months. However, as this can be a bit of a monetary splurge and sometimes requires travelling miles to find a decent Tea Parlor, I get my in-between fix with homemade Tea Time. It is one of my life's greatest pleasantries and provides me instant stress relief as well as rendering a more amiable human.


How to do "Homemade" Afternoon Tea 
what you will need:
a hot pot of tea (my personal favorites are Early Grey and Vanilla Almond)
tea cup & saucer
strainer (if you use loose tea)
spoon
sugar or honey
milk or lemon (never both)
finger sandwiches
scone
clotted cream or devonshire cream
jam or preserves (any type will do)
small desserts (Lizbeth's tea time cookies would be a great addition)


At a Tea Parlor,  tea and scones are served first, then finger sandwiches, and finally desserts, but when I set out my tea at home, I just have it all on the table at once. If you own a fancy tiered stand, it's fun to arrange your desserts, sammies, and scone on this. Personally, I just pile up my tea tray with all the goodies and indulge. As I'm often home alone in the afternoon, I like to enjoy my tea time while watching a British film or show; it makes the experience feel more "authentic." For more tea ideas and recipes, keep an eye on this blog.


Much Sweetness
~Lizbeth