Afternoon Tea at Eastwell Manor

One darkening autumnal afternoon, that was flush with the fresh bite you get in country air, the ladies and I decided to escape from the realities of life for a bit with a visit to Eastwell Manor for a spot of afternoon tea.

Eastwell Manor will always hold a special place in my heart; it’s where Steve and I got married.  Returning to it always feels a little like coming home – in fact (unabashed bragging here) my family does have ancestral ties to the Manor, a fact we discovered only after we had booked the place for the wedding.  Unfortunately they aren’t strong enough to boot the current owners out and take up a permanent residency.

Eastwell really is the quintessential country park and estate, originally built over the course of 10 years between 1540 and 1550 as a private residence for Sir Thomas Moyle.  Nowadays the Manor serves as a country house hotel, complete with golf and fishing facilities and the land also operates as a working farm.  

To me, it is just beautiful.  Situated in the village of Boughton Lees, between Canterbury and Ashford, you enter through the great gates and drive up the sweeping track, past the fields of sheep until you reach the Manor proper.  There, you pull in across crunching gravel and cross the courtyard lit by the yellow gleam of the Manor’s windows.  As you are walking, the scent of wood smoke hits you immediately from the great fire in the entrance hall.  It feels like you are stepping back in time. 

Upon entering, we were led into the bar area where our table had been set up in the bay window.  This bar has some seriously impressive spirits and liquors behind it.  When my grandfather offered to buy Steve a drink on our wedding day, he was very, very tempted to opt for the Napoleonic brandy that was encased in a locked, glass cabinet.  It's lucky he didn't - I think it was about £500 a measure!  We weren't interested in the bar though, and instead sank into deep sofa’s, glanced at the menu options, and all four of us ordered the Champagne Tea at a very reasonable £29 a head.  Champagne for myself, Kir Royale for Claire and Ellie and a Bellini for Jo.  

The afternoon tea at Eastwell is seasonal, with the flavours and ingredients being selected to complement the time of the year.  We were treated to sandwiches filled with roast beef and rocket, crayfish and smoked salmon, cream cheese and cucumber and egg mayonnaise.  The scones were fresh baked, some filled with dried fruits, and served with clotted cream, spiced fruit jam and, much to Jo’s delight as it is one of her most favourite things in the world, lemon curd. 

The cake and pastries were the crowning glory though.  Each one invoked the soul of autumn in every flavourful morsel.  There was sticky maple and pecan tartlets, spiced apple trifle with walnuts and brandy soaked pieces of lady finger, moist chocolate brownies and pumpkin cake topped with cinnamon cream.   

I was chatting with The Demon Gin a few days after this, comparing notes on afternoon tea, and she noted that her fella had commented that, for the price of an average afternoon tea, he could get an enormous steak, pile of chips and a few beers.  Well, yes, I'm not going to argue with that, but afternoon tea is more than just the pots of tea and scones.  It's the entire experience - being in luxurious surroundings, waited on hand and foot, spending time with your nearest and dearest and, for a few hours at least, escaping from the real world.  Eastwell manages to carry this off with finesse.

The tea menu is extensive.  I opted for the Eastwell blend, a mixture of Assam and Ceylon teas that was perfect for me.  Ellie, being the only non-tea drinker with us, had an entire teapot of hot chocolate prepared for her at no extra charge.  The solid silver milk jugs added a touch of luxury to the meal.  They were seriously heavy!

Afternoon tea never looks as though it will be enough to sate your appetite, but we had to be rolled out when we had finished, and there were still a couple of items left uneaten.  We had been there for a good few hours and had been left to enjoy ourselves, the tea and the surroundings in peace by the staff, only occasionally being interrupted to see if there was anything else we required.  

Post tea, we went for a stroll around the gardens, partly to walk off some of our excesses, partly to enjoy the surroundings.  It is from the gardens that the most impressive views of Eastwell can be enjoyed.   

I didn’t know the girls when I got married, so I showed them the Italian garden where our ceremony took place.   It looked a bit forlorn in the early evening light; the last time I was there the place had been bursting with flowers and blooms in every colour imaginable.  The views back over the down's are still as impressive as ever though.

The grounds really are beautiful, wide avenues flanked by meticulously trimmed hedges leading onto sweeping lawns and the great fountain presiding over it all quietly in the centre.

However it is the Manor that draws my eye time and time again, the mishmash of neo-Elizabethan and Victorian-Tudor style architecture forming an utterly recognisable silhouette against the skyline, lead piped windows and red ivy covering the grey brick work.

Given the choice, I would happily stay here forever.

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Earl Grey and Lemon Cupcakes

Last weekend I had the girls over.  We were all running low on our Neal's Yard supplies, so I threw a party, sent Steve to play football, invited Stella to be our consultant and filled the house with feminine voices, soft music and the scent of geranium and frankincense muddled with cups of steaming tea and the aroma of freshly baked earl grey cupcakes.

The rain pounded down outside, but inside my small living room we were perfectly content, hands cradled around our mugs of tea and coffee as we pampered and preened ourselves until our skin could not cope with any more creams and unguents. 

To match such a gentle afternoon, I wanted a gentle cupcake.  I didn't want gaudy colours or gauche flavour combinations - no peanut butter and caramel this week.  I wanted something that was sophisticated, that could have been enjoyed whilst taking the waters of Bath with Catherine Morland. 

Admittedly my decoration isn't the most sophisticated in the world.  I sometimes think that my cakes would look better if I just handed over the icing bowl to Steve's 2 year old godson, but it is the flavour combination that was important here!

Earl Grey and lemon is such a classic afternoon tea combination, and it translates so well into cupcake form.  The cupcake is lightly scented and the lemon icing is sharp and cool and combines perfectly with the earl grey.  The cake itself is light, moist and crumbly; it is a famous recipe I've appropriated so it should be really!  It was the Primrose Bakery cookbook that came up trumps for the cupcake (although they suggest combining it with the plain vanilla icing - I think the lemon goes one better).

Ingredients: 
125 ml semi skimmed milk
4 Earl Grey tea bags (or you could sub with your favourite variety)
110g unsalted butter
225g granulated sugar
2 large eggs
125g self-rising flour
120g plain flour

Icing:
Dash semi skimmed milk 
Juice and zest of 1 lemon 
500g icing sugar 
Few drops of food colouring

Method:
Preheat oven to 180c/ gas mark 4.  Line a 12 hole tray with cupcake cases.  This will make enough for about 20 small cupcakes or 12 large ones.

Heat milk in a saucepan over a medium heat until it begins to boil. Remove from the heat and add teabags. Cover with a lid for about 30 minutes and allow the milk to infuse and turn a dark coffee colour.

Cream the butter with sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until the mixture is pale and smooth.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.  Scrape the bowl down with a spatula to make sure that the mixture is well combined.

Combine the flours in a separate bowl. Add a third of the flour to the butter and sugar mixture and beat well. Pour in a third of the milk/tea mixture and beat. Repeat until all the flour and milk has been added.

Carefully spoon mixture into cupcake cases, filling each one two-thirds full.  Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes. Test to see if they are cooked. Leave in tins for 10 minutes, then place on wire rack to cool.

To make the icing, beat the milk, lemon juice and zest and half the icing sugar until smooth.

Gradually add the rest of icing sugar to produce a creamy and smooth consistency. Add a drop of colouring (sepearating the mixture into bowls if required for separate colours) and beat thoroughly.

Decorate any way you see fit!  I used pearlescent food spray and some edible sprinkles I didn't even know I owned.

Tuck in!  Best served on the same day as you make them, although they will keep for a day or so in an air tight container if you have leftovers to bring into the office!

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Chocolate Cafe

If you have a sweet tooth that you have trouble controlling you may wish to look away now.

No, don't read any further.

Stop right there.

You didn't stop, did you?

I'm sorry, but I can't help you. I did warn you and I am not responsible for your next actions.

I've walked past the Chocolate Cafe so many times in the past but have never really ventured in.  There was this one time when Steve and I stuck our heads through the door just before Christmas before deciding that was a bad mistake (the queues were rather daunting and there was nowhere to sit) but other than that I have never been beyond the front doors.

Part of that is a self-preservation thing.  If I don't go into a chocolate shop, I won't eat my way through the counter and bring the leftovers home.  However temptation finally got the better of me and I met Ellie there for a leisurely weekend lunch one cold January day.  

It is a beautifully decorated place, a little bit gauche in places it must be said but there is a theme and they have run with it.   It has that plush, decadent feel of a velvety chocolate truffle or a rich fudge cake oozing with hot chocolate sauce and slathered in cream.  Browns and golds with the gilded hues of sweetie wrappers cuddle you in out of the cold and the wall murals reminds me of the chocolate shops in Italy.

Everywhere you look there is texture and warmth, seducing you to come further.  The lighting is warm and quirky with carved ornate lanterns and hanging teapots that looked suspiciously like the friendship drinking bowls you find in Vallee D'Aoste in the Italian Alps.  There is a large space upstairs filled with snug armchairs and wooden tables, whilst downstairs tables line the glass windows allowing for a spot of people watching as you indulge your sweet tooth.

Once you enter, you are greeted by the counter piled high with chocolate treats.  They sit there, just begging you to choose them and take them away with you.  You can spend a long time deliberating between the different flavour combinations, especially as there are some particularly unusual ones there (blue cheese in a truffle?  How about melon, apple and Parmesan?).  We resisted for the moment and grabbed a table.

The menu is extensive and draws you in.  Black Tea Hot Toddy or Vanilla Ice Cream Porridge or a slice of Green Tea Cake or keep it simple with chocolate dipped strawberries? There is a full hot chocolate menu as well (you would expect nothing less from a Chocolate Cafe). 

I knew I would be diving headfirst into a pile of chocolate a bit later on so I behaved myself and ordered light to start with.  I am a sucker for herbal teas, the more unusual the better and when I saw that there was a Yerba Mate tea on the menu I had to try it.  I have never had one before and I had no idea what to expect.

I was presented with a very light and delicately fragrant herbal tea in a fruit gourd with a metal straw.  It originates from South America and has an almost citrus flavour.  You are forced to let the tea infuse for the perfect amount of time as it cools, due to the fact that the straw is just too hot to use otherwise!

The straw comes with its own filter to prevent you from accidentally swallowing the leaves (which apparently are a relation of the holly tree).  It tastes like a light, slightly woody green tea and was absolutely delicious.  Ellie had an orange and apple smoothie filled with anti-oxidants which she seemed to rather enjoy!

I have heard mixed reviews about the service at the Chocolate Cafe but when we visited we found the servers to be attentive and the food arrived quickly and piping hot.  I ordered the fresh soup of the day; a Roasted Red Pepper, Tomato and Rosemary soup.  It was thick and clearly packed full of fresh ingredients and came with a great slab of fresh bread.  It was incredibly filling, and at around £5, good value as well.  Eating it makes you feel positively virtuous, important for later on.

After the soup I ordered another tea, this time a White Chinese Flower Tea.  These are a bit of a novelty and mine tasted like a bitter Jasmine tea, an acquired taste and one I happen to like.  There were three different varieties you could order from the menu, each one with a different flavour profile.  You can see why they are a novelty; they look beautiful.  The tea comes served in a glass teapot and you watch the flower expand and the colour bleed out of the flower and steep into the water as it infuses.  You should be given a little timer for the tea to measure when to pour but I think that the servers forgot mine so I just judged it by eye.  You can always ask for a top up of water if it becomes too bitter for you. 

For dessert there was a plethora of chocolate options, from cakes and muffins and brownies to bowls of liquid 'drinking' chocolate (more like a bowl of molten chocolate).  Ellie and I went for the chocolate buffet - a selection of 4 chocolates from the chocolate bar.  I chose a white wine and pistachio chocolate (couldn't taste the wine, which was possibly a good thing), a white chocolate and cranberry popsicle truffle (divine), a dark chocolate and ginger truffle (my favourite) and a white chocolate, chili and cardamon truffle (nice flavour palate but I would have liked a little more chili heat at the finish).  They don't look very big but they were incredibly rich and I was struggling to finish mine at the end! 

The Chocolate Cafe also sells a selection of home made cakes, breads and muffins to take away or eat in as well as goodies from their shop.  There is free wi-fi throughout and we weren't made to feel rushed at all during our stay.  We got so caught up in our chatter as well that 3 hours had vanished before we realised it and not once did we feel like the staff were hinting that we should leave.

They have just started doing kids parties at the 'Chocolate Spa', which, if the photo's are anything to go by, look brilliant and extremely messy!  I found that the prices were a little bit dearer than a bog standard cafe but the quality was excellent and well worth the slight increase.

There is a full wine bar as well and on some evenings the Chocolate Cafe does acoustic music nights, comedy nights and even workshops for kids.  It's well worth following them on Facebook to keep up-to-date with their activities.

I have a feeling that this place is going to be bad for my waist line.