OUR FAVOURITE RECIPES
Here's a few of our all time favourites to tempt you and inspire your next tea party or celebration.
A jam sponge filled with jam and whipped cream and sprinkled with icing sugar is a must for a tea party. Did you know that the real English sponge contained no butter and was originally made with eight or more eggs which provided the lightness. One early Victorian recipe for a rich sponge called for 16 eggs! Thankfully today our modern methods using self raising flour give a consistent result without the heart stopping cholesterol intake!
Ingredients
175 grams butter
175 grams castor sugar
3 eggs well beaten
175 grams self-raising flour
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Butter and flour two 18cm sandwich tins.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and pale, then add the beaten eggs a little at a time, adding a tablespoon of flour when about two-thirds of the egg has been added. Lastly add the remaining flour and stir it in lightly by hand.
Divide the mixture between the two sandwich tins and smooth the tops.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen and golden on top. Let the cakes cool a little before turning them out of the tins on to a wire cake rack. Cool completely beforee filling.
Serve
Spread one cake with jam (strawberry or raspberry is best) and the other cake with whipped cream and sandwich the two together with the cream above the jam. Dust the top with icing sugar. This sponge deserves pride of place on your tea table - serve it on one of our goregous Depression glass comports or a pedestal cake plate.
Heirloom's Rating - Easy as and simply delicious!
Ingredients
280 mls of cream
200g Energy chocolate
2 egg yolks
3 tablespoons of Cointreau or Grand Marnier
20 grams butter
Method
Break up the chocolate into small pieces. Heat the cream through but do not boil it. Add the broken chocolate to the cream and melt, stirring all the time until the two ingredients have combined to a smooth consistency. Add the egg yolks and Cointreau and beat lightly to combine with the chocolate mixture. Cool the mixture slightly (it needs to be warm but not hot) then stir in the butter until its is completely melted and blended with the chocolate mixture.
Serve
This mixture should fill 6 of our demitasse cups - leave a little room at the top to add raspberries, sliced strawberries or sliced mandarine and sprinkle with a little icing sugar. Serve with a slice of biscotti on the saucer.
Heirloom's Rating - Easy and deliciously decadent!
Rose Champagne (non-alcoholic)
Ingredients
8 litres boiling water
1.5 kg sugar
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
4 sliced lemons (Llisbon variety are best)
2 cups of fragrant rose petals (rose petals need to have a strong perfume and the reds and pinks will leave a lovely pink hue to the champagne)
Method
Add boiling water and sugar to a large pan, completely dissolve the sugar and cool. Then add sliced lemons, vinegar and the rose petals. Leave covered with a clean tea towel for 24 hours. Next day squeeze out the lemon slices and rose petals. Strain the liquid and bottle screwing down tightly, but leaving a small gap at the top.
Serve
Serve this refreshing non-alcoholic drink in one of our punch bowls or serve in our hollow stem champagne glasses. Try frosting the rim of the glass with sugar for a spectacular effect. To do this simply dip the rim of the glass in lemon juice and then in sugar - shake off any excess sugar before filling the glass. Float some mint leaves on the surface or float fragrant rose petals to enhance the rose coloured hue of the champagne.
Heirloom's Rating - Easy - an impressive non-alchoholic alternative!
Ingredients
1 sugar cube (optional)
2-3 dashes Angostura bitters
Champagne
40 ml brandy (or try half and half brandy and Cointreau or Grange Marnier)
Orange slices and maraschino cherry for garnish (optional)
Method
If using the sugar cube place it in the bottom of the champagne glass and use the dashes of Angostura bitters to saturate the sugar cube. Otherwise just add the dashes of Angostura bitters to the glass. Add the brandy and fill with the champagne.
Serve this classic in one of our hollow stem champagne glasses. Try frosting the rim of the glass with sugar for a spectacular effect. To do this simply dip the rim of the glass in lemon juice and then in sugar - shake off any excess sugar before filling the glass. Garnish with orange slices and/or a maraschino cherry.
Heirloom's Rating - Easy as and so impressive!