Afternoon Tea: A British Tradition

Afternoon tea is a British tradition, something to savor and take pleasure one of life's little perks. Whether going out to a tearoom or a castle in the countryside or at your Grandmas house or even at home by yourself. Once in a while its fun to bake a cake sit down and savor a good cuppa with a slice of homemade cake. I have so many fond memories of cake as a child my mum would bake a lot and we would often have cake in our lunch box. But my Grandma is the families cake maker she is famous for her chocolate cake. She tells me that baking is therapeutic and lifts her spirits if she is feeling a wee bit low. When we stayed at the cottage in the Cotswold's my Grandma brought not just one but three cakes for all - a chocolate 3 layer none the less, ginger and a fruit cake and my great Aunt brought a malt loaf. 

heres Jasmine eating it!

One of my favorite British cakes and my sister in law's (an Indian that has been romanced by the British tea shops he he) is the Victoria Sandwich. Named after Queen Victoria as it was also her favorite. I have featured it on Chow and Chatter before but couldn't resist a shot with my new little tea cups I got in England. Its a simple sponge cake with butter cream and Jam in the middle.

Mine didn't rise perfectly aw well it was delicious anyway

Ingredients:

• 6 oz of self raising flour
• 3 eggs
• 6 oz of butter 
• jam 
• icing sugar
• 6 oz of sugar

Method:

1. cream the sugar and butter, slightly melted butter works better
2. then fold in the flour and eggs to make a smooth batter
3. add to a baking tin and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes 
4. when cool cute in half and fill with butter icing and any desired jam then sprinkle with icing sugar

Or make two cakes with 4oz proportions in two tins I was a bit lazy lol

Butter icing - simple mix in icing sugar to a gold quality butter

Garnish with fresh strawberries for a treat

Cirencester cathedral 

The beautiful village where we stayed in the Cotswold's 

Join me tomorrow evening at 5pm for a chat about Tea and Cake, memories, history and fun, feel free to call in and tell us about your memories of cake, tea and family

Tea and Cake in the Cotswold's

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