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Mid-August is Afternoon Tea day, meaning we should enjoy a lovely afternoon tea. If you’re wondering what afternoon tea or think its just tea and crumpets, you are hugely wrong.
When did afternoon tea begin?
Afternoon tea is a very British thing, most countries think that Brits only drink tea, again this is not true. I want to tell you about when afternoon tea started.
Anna Russell, the Duchess of Bedford introduced afternoon tea in 1840. The reason she introduced it was because around 4pm, she would get rather hungry, especially as her evening meal would not be served until 8pm. This would mean that there is a long time between lunch and dinner.
What does afternoon tea consist of?
If you’re wondering what is afternoon tea? Then this is the easy bit to explain. It consists of sandwiches, usually cut into finger length, sweet pastries and cakes. It was not until the 20th century that scones with clotted cream and jam were introduced.
Since then, afternoon tea has really changed and now can include sausage rolls, scotch eggs and quiche.
Products
There are a number of brands that have sent me some fantastic products to try for afternoon tea and picnics. I want to give you my opinion on them and tell you where you can get them from.
Roberts Bakery – Bread, Rolls and Thins
Roberts Bakery has a fantastic new Picnic range which is perfect for picnics and afternoon tea. The range doesn’t just include loaves of bread, oh no, there is so much more that they offer.
Roberts Bakery really know how to make a good loaf of bread, however, they have made bread healthier, crazy right? They have a lovely loaf called Vit Hit. This is a loaf with 50/50 wholemeal and white flour, this is a tasty loaf for people wanting to eat a little healthier but not ready to take a full jump into wholemeal bread. In addition to the Vit Hit loaf, they have an Energy Balance Good for You Bloomer, Soft While Ready to Rolls and for those not eating much bread, these Brown Sandwich Lites are perfect.
The Skinny Food Co – Jam
No picnic or afternoon tea would be complete without jam. Jam must form at least one element of the afternoon tea or picnic in my opinion.
If you’re trying to eat relatively healthy when you have afternoon tea it can be difficult, especially as jams always contain so much sugar. Well, that was until The Skinny Food Co came along and brought with them low sugar jams.
These Skinny Food Co Jams are a game changer for sure!! There are 6 varieties including strawberry, raspberry, black current, apricot, black cherry and orange marmalade.
These jams make a perfect treat in a jam tart or they could cause an argument when placed on a fruit scone. The argument being is it cream first or jam first? This is an age old disagreement between Devon and Cornwall, where are you on this?
Personally, I like to put the clotted cream first and then the jam on top. That is my preference, meaning I use the Devon method.
Devon – Cut Scone, clotted cream and then jam.
Cornwall – Cut Scone, jam and then clotted cream.
OGGS® Marvellous Mini Cupcakes
No afternoon tea would be complete without some amazing cupcakes and Oggs have you covered here. OGGS have these delicious Marvellous Mini Vanilla Cupcakes and they are oh so moreish.
Now these cupcakes are certainly a treat, not only are you getting a cupcake that has wonderful frosting, but they are less than 100 kcal per cupcake!! Meaning you can have one of these and still be eating healthy. Who said that eating cake isn’t good for you?
Cocchi Negroni in a Box
Picnics need a good cocktail or several, especially in the wonderful summer sun. The Cocchi’s Negroni In A Box is what is needed.
If you’re wondering what is Cocchi’s Negroni In A Box, then I will explain. Negroni is a popular Italian cocktail made from gin, vermouth rosso and Campari. It is classed as an apéritif, however, this works perfectly for a picnic. All you need to do is add ice and orange peel and you have the classic cocktail.
As you only need a couple of extras to make this cocktail, it means that it is ideal to be taken to the beach, summer picnics, festivals and more.
INNERJI Drinks
Now with afternoon tea or picnics, you need drinks and it would not be right if I didn’t talk about some fantastic drinks.
INNERJI is an all-natural, caffeine-free fizzy drink made with Jiaogulan and the flavour of the drink is tropical lime. If you’re wondering if a caffeine free drink can taste good, the answer is yes, for sure. There is no need for cola here.
If you haven’t heard of Jiaogulan before, it is a dioecious, herbaceous climbing vine of the family Cucurbitaceae. It is used to make drinks because of it’s healthing and wellness properties. Tests have shown that Jiaogulan is proven to increase strength and endurance without the need for caffeine.
If you’re wondering about the taste, it’s really nice and refreshing, make sure it is cold, so if you’re planning on taking it on a picnic, make sure it’s in a cool box. If you fancy something a little stronger, this is delicious with gin.
Piglet’s Pantry – Traditional Afternoon Tea for Two at Home
No afternoon tea would be complete without an array of traditional afternoon tea treats. Piglet Pantry have created a range of perfect afternoon tea’s which are available directly from their website or via Red Letter Days.
If you’re wondering what is in the afternoon tea from Piglets Pantry, you will be in for a treat, it includes:
As you can see from the picture, there are mini sausage rolls, scotch eggs, sausage rolls with cheese and pickle and cheese and chive quiche. Now with the sweets, there are carrot cake with cream cheese icing, blueberry, banana and lemon curd icing and chocolate chip and caramel drizzle. As well as fruit scones, jam and clotted cream.
As you have all of this delicious food, you need a good quality tea to drink with it, there were 2 Tea Pigs tea bags included and these were matched perfectly.
