the tuesday just gone was my mum’s birthday and sadly I couldn’t make it down to south to see her. I thought it only fair that I push the boat out and make amends with a proper afternoon tea.
so out came the tea set and the brand new pink teapot and we ate a floral inspired spread all washed down with black earl grey tea.

rosemary scones topped with cream cheese, white grapes and parma ham
take an ordinary scone recipe, replace the sugar with flour, add 2 tsps of chopped fresh rosemary and a pinch of fresh ground black pepper.
violet petal shortbread
a basic vanilla shortbread recipe with a small piece of crystallised violet pressed in to the top whilst they are cooling.
lemon and rose drizzle cake
taking this recipe as a starting point, use 2 tbsp of rosewater for the cake mixture instead of lemon juice. For the drizzle, use a mixture of 2 tbsp rosewater/1 tbsp lemon juice to prevent too strong a perfumey taste and add a little pink food colouring. decorate with rose petals instead of lemon zest. It needs baking for 50 – 60 mins max though – not 1hr 15 like the recipe suggests.
Perfect for a beautiful sunny day. Happy birthday mum!
Filed under: baking , birthday, cake, lemon, rose, summer, tea, violet



