Excess in an Age of Austerity

My quest to sample afternoon teas beyond zone 1 yesterday took me out to West Hampstead and back to the 1950s. I had arranged to meet up with Miss O and remembered hearing about a place not far from her called Bake-a-Boo. To make sure I wouldn't be disappointed after my journey up the Jubilee Line I phoned the day before to see if I could book a table. I was told I could but if I wanted the Afternoon Tea, I would have to book in advance and pay a deposit. I was somewhat taken aback but we were keen to skip lunch and make an afternoon of it so I went ahead, reserved and paid the 50% deposit.

When I arrived at 3pm the cafe was very quiet, with just one other table taken. And there, right in front of me, was our table all laid out with our pretty coated-iron tea stand laden with all sorts of goodies. It was a surprise to see it there waiting for us, but a pleasant one. All we had to do was choose our tea. Bake-a-Boo sell quite a selection of Martyn's Teas - it's good to see another tea room supporting this local business - and they had a large selection of tea on their menu which they had split into those available in bags and the loose leaf variety. As I always choose loose leaf if available, and like a black tea with milk when I'm eating cake, I had the choice of English Breakfast, Assam & Earl Grey. Between us, over the course of the afternoon, we tried all three, and were impressed by them all - although, in truth, I wouldn't have minded a couple more to choose from.

The attention to detail in the cafe is fantastic. There's a lovely 1950s vibe with pastel spotted bunting and chintzy, old-fashioned crockery - all pleasingly mismatched. One thing that I loved was the large china jug of water on the table - even though I find tea incredibly refreshing, when I'm drinking a lot of it I do like to have some water too. There were plenty of nice things to look at, such as interesting cards, packs of tea, party invitations, and, of course, lots of cakes - many of which were on our table.

But we began proceedings with sandwiches. Each of us had 6 finger-sandwiches, with either cream cheese, cucumber or egg mayonnaise filling. Unfortunately, the downside of preparing the afternoon tea in advance is that these kind of finger sandwiches inevitably go a little dry. Coupled with that, the fillings were somewhat on the meagre side. To give you an idea, I would usually use about twice as much filling at home. Perhaps I like a particularly full sandwich, but Miss O was in agreement. Still, the sandwiches are just the foundations upon which the glorious edifice of the afternoon tea is built: they may be important, but if the layers above are good then nobody really minds too much.

That certainly proved to be the case with this tea. To say there was plenty would be quite an understatement. We each had: two scones (no fruit but still nice); a teapot shaped butter biscuit (very cute); three chocolate-dipped strawberries (the nicest I've ever had, thanks to the chocolate having a ganache quality rather than the usual hardness); a selection of old-fashioned sweeties (fudge and flying saucers); a slice of banana cake with an absolutely fantastic passionfruit buttercream topping; and lastly a full size cupcake (vanilla sponge with a thick fondant icing). To go with our scones, the table came equipped with a large bowl of strawberry jam and another large bowl of whipped cream. I hate it when you're given those rather measly little ramekins so it was great to have enough topping to match the scones - the only disappointment being that the cream was whipped rather that clotted. For me, whipped cream just can't match up, but I dare say my arteries will appreciate the break just this once.

The highlights for me were entirely unexpected: that banana cake and those strawberries were really good. They sounded straightforward but both had a delicious twist. The other really lovely thing was the atmosphere of the place. It was clearly run with love and an attention to detail that you can appreciate as soon as you walk in. And it's obviously loved by quite a few locals too. Come 3.30pm the place was absolutely chock-a-block with mums and their offspring on the way home from school. Apparently, they are planning to start offering courses in the mornings (they are currently closed until 2pm) which will hopefully see even more business coming their way. The afternoon tea may not have been absolutely perfect, and at £15 it wasn't a total bargain like others I've had, but it was certainly very enjoyable. Let's put it this way, I could very easily be tempted into a return visit. Next time I'd probably just go for tea and cake - you know, the healthy option... But a business like this, that puts so much care and attention into their premises - and makes some pretty mean cakes to boot - deserves our custom, and I for one intend to do my duty.

A Greener Start to the Day

This morning as I walked, still bleary-eyed, into the kitchen, I was hit by a horrible realisation: we had run out of milk. Although this didn't pose a major problem for breakfast - fruit, yoghurt and granola is my preferred option at the moment - it did mean I couldn't start the day with my usual cup of tea. In the old days I used to like a latte first thing in the morning, but over the past few months I find I just can't wait for that first cup of lovely, refreshing tea. A fairly strong black tea with milk is now, definitely, my preferred way to start the day.

But this morning, with no milk in the house, a rethink was needed. Obviously there was no shortage of other options, as anyone who has seen my somewhat chaotic tea-cupboard will tell you. But what to choose? A white tea? An oolong? A pu-erh? Or a green tea? In the end I decided to go for a Genmaicha, for no reason other than the fact I just fancied it. For those of you that don't already know, Genmaicha is a Japanese green tea that is blended with roasted brown rice. It was traditionally seen as a cheap tea - and certainly considered to be of a lower grade than some other Japanese teas such as the revered Matcha - as it has always been drunk by Japan's poor; the rice serving to bulk out the tea leaves and keep the cost down.

Today though, Genmaicha is widely drunk in Japan by people of all classes. And it's also a real favourite in my house. I absolutely love the combination of the grassy green tea and the nutty roasted rice. I find something very comforting in the flavour, although it has been known to divide opinion wildly. For instance, Coffee Boy is not at all keen, or at least he wasn't on the one occasion he tried it, but other friends I've made it for have absolutely loved it and vowed to buy their own tin forthwith.

Anyway, this morning, Genmaicha was my breakfast brew; and do you know, I really enjoyed it. It was just the right combination of refreshing and gutsy with a lovely rounded flavour and I didn't miss my usual breakfast blend at all. Although my consumption of non-black tea has been steadily increasing (from about 5% of my tea intake a year ago, to about 40% more recently), I haven't really changed my breakfast routine. But after this morning's experience that could change. At the very least, I no longer need to worry about running out of milk - although latte obsessed Coffee Boy may feel differently...

High Tea for Two

Living in the centre of London, it sometimes feels like a little bit of an effort to travel anywhere for afternoon tea. There are so many nice cafes right on my doorstep, even heading out to zone 2 can seem unnecessary. But there are tea shops with quite a different feel when you move away from the hustle and bustle in the middle of town: less swish and corporate and more family-run in atmosphere, which means it's always worth seeking them out. This week I had the perfect excuse to make, admittedly only a small, journey to meet fellow blogger Caroline of Caroline, No. Once I discovered that she lived in north London I remembered a tea room I had heard about not far away and suggested we meet there to give it a go.

High Tea of Highgate is located on the pretty, and rather posh, Highgate High Street (are you getting the High theme yet?). As I spotted it, whilst trudging up the hill, my heart warmed. A pretty pink frontage with an art-deco styled, hand-painted sign, this was clearly a place with the personal touch I love. On entering that warm feeling continued: a counter laden with lovely looking cakes; a pretty pink and white colour scheme that had that old-fashioned high tea feel; shelves and cabinets filled with tea paraphernalia, jewellery and really beautiful crockery; and tea-related art on the walls. Having no idea how popular the tea room was I had booked ahead; and with only six or seven tables in the place I was glad I had - true, they weren't too busy when we arrived at 3pm but by 4pm it was packed.

The menus, like the room, were pink and homely with a handmade feel and they contained a pleasing selection of teas. Caroline is a self-confessed coffee addict but she decided to try a Darjeeling as she fancied something light and bright. I was thrilled to see one of my favourite blends, a Russian Caravan on the menu. I just love the slight smokiness of this tea but I find that it's not that widely available. As for cakes, we were spoilt for choice. I was very tempted by the lavender sponge - I just can't get enough of either the smell or taste of lavender - but instead decided to give the the wheat-free chocolate orange a go. Caroline went for one of her favourites, the lemon drizzle cake.

Our tea arrived in really lovely Zero Japan teapots. I had seen them online before but actually using one has made me appreciate their quality. I'm normally in favour of quite an old-fashioned teapot and like nothing better than finding a well-loved, second-hand bargain at a flea market. But these Zero Japan teapots having very modern styling with a porcelain body and an attached stainless steel lid and infuser basket. Yet despite that there is something about the shape of them which does feel old-fashioned, and traditionally "tea time'. And the tea inside the pot was of a good quality too, supplied by local shop Martyn's of Muswell Hill. I was a bit slow in staying Caroline's milk-pouring hand so her Darjeeling ended up a bit pale and milky but she did her best to drink it before moving onto a Ceylon (who's robustness was, I suspect, more up her street being a confirmed coffee-drinker). My Russian Caravan was so good I had a second pot.

The overall experience of the tea room was quite lovely. The staff were helpful, knowledgeable and friendly, and made us feel very welcome despite the fact we ended up hogging our table for almost three hours(!). The ambience of the place was spot on: never too noisy despite being full, and with plenty of interesting things to look at when your companion nips to the loo (tea does take its toll...). The only let down for me were the cakes. With a large oven in the relatively small kitchen area behind the counter, and the smell of freshly baked goods wafting throughout the cafe, the cakes are clearly all homemade. The selection was, as I've said, impressive but, much as it pains me to say it, the two that we tried just weren't the best.

My wheat-free chocolate orange cake was literally oozing with what seemed like a syrupy substance. I'm no fan of dry cakes but this was a bit much even for me. The chocolate on the top was more of a drizzle and as such didn't make much impact on the orange flavour. After a while I realised that Caroline's cake hadn't gone down that well either as she had left most of it. I tried a bit and was surprised that there didn't really seem to be much in the way of that crusty, sugary topping that I would expect to find on a lemon drizzle cake. We also both detected a tang that, despite disagreeing about what it was (metallic/fishy), wasn't appealing to either of us.

It really was a terrible shame that we didn't enjoy our cakes that much as everything else about the tea room was spot-on. Perhaps we just chose poorly: the chocolate cake or scones, or even the tempting lavender cake may have been more to our taste. The place certainly seemed to be full of regulars who were happily tucking into their wares. And despite the cake-related disappointment I can see why they were busy, even on a rainy Friday afternoon. The atmosphere, the tea, the staff and the objects and cards on sale make me determined to return. If they could only get those cakes right it would be a near-perfect tea experience.

The Perfect Mince Pie

I've always enjoyed cooking and especially baking. But in recent years the relentless treadmill of work means there's been little time to do much more than throw together dinner at the end of the day. My decision to become a freelancer, and specifically my decision to take more time off to try and achieve some kind of work/life balance, has changed all of that. Now I'm constantly looking for excuses to cook. Visiting a friend for tea? Quick make some cupcakes. Sister coming over for the day? Get that breadmaker fired up. Upcoming dinner party? Trial some recipes. Well, you can imagine that hosting Christmas gave me the perfect excuse to spend some time in the kitchen.

In mid-December I realised with some surprise that I had never actually made mince pies. Deciding it couldn't be too much of a challenge I got to it. I made it even easier on myself by buying some good quality, ready-made mincemeat and just concentrated on getting the pastry right. You may think this is cheating, but with lots of other things to cook (including my Christmas cupcakes); shopping to do; and the general stress that that time of year brings, I was prepared to cut myself some slack.

The first recipe I tried was from the BBC Good Food magazine. It was actually designed for baking with children so I reasoned that it couldn't be too difficult. It was most definitely a "getting your hands dirty" kind of recipe. You make a very buttery pastry and instead of rolling and cutting you simply ball it up and press it into the bun tin. Despite having greased the tins I found them very difficult to get out and as a consequence they ended up looking really messy. The mince pies were a big success with everyone that tried them but they weren't quite what I was looking for. The pastry was verging on shortbread which although really tasty just wasn't the beautiful, traditional kind of mince pie I was looking for.

So just before Christmas I had another go. The Guardian featured various chefs talking about their ultimate Christmas recipes and Nigel Slater had one for his favourite mince pies. I was heartened to see that he recommended using shop bought mincemeat - hurrah, I wasn't excessively lazy! But frankly, they were a bit of a disaster. The dough was incredibly dry and difficult to work with, and the resulting pie was just not crunchy or sweet enough for my liking. The family polished all of them off and said they liked them but I was incredibly disappointed. My attempt to be the perfect Christmas hostess hadn't gone to plan at all. But I was determined not to be beaten.

Sadly, by the time I returned from my Berlin trip last week, my family had gone home and the Christmas decorations had come down. But I still had two large jars of mincemeat in the cupboard I and was determined to make a really good mince pie. This time I turned to the blogosphere. I have recently started following a number of really good cooking blogs and one of them had a recipe for mince pies. The writer made her own mincemeat but I just took the pastry recipe and used one of my jars.

And finally, here in early January, I had found it: my perfect mince pie. It was the pastry I had been dreaming of ever since I was a child and my friend's mum made some delicious, slightly orangey mince pies - and these were them! They are really delicious and the brilliant news is that I have another jar of mincemeat to use up so I'll just have to make some more. They are absolutely perfect with a cup of black tea - I particularly like them with my Assam-Ceylon blend - so much so that I'm actually wishing I'd bought more of the mincemeat whilst it was still in the shops. Because now that I've found this recipe, as far as I'm concerned, a mince pie is for life, not just for Christmas.

Vietnamese Tea in Berlin

Despite what some people may assume, there is a lot of good food to be had in Berlin. Sadly, if you're a vegetarian, traditional German cuisine doesn't have a lot to offer. True there is Flammkuchen – a kind of pizza without the tomato sauce – and Käsespätzle can be nice on a cold day, but if you're looking for variety you need to seek out the increasing number of good restaurants serving ethnic food. Although Berlin can't really compete with London on that score, I always make an effort to visit the type of restaurants that are a bit of a schlep for me to reach in the Big Smoke.

A couple of my favourites are two Vietnamese places, Si An & Chi Sing, run by the same people. So when I read about a new dessert spot they had opened, Si An Tra, I was determined to visit. But by the time I returned to Berlin on this trip I had completely forgotten all about it until I saw it mentioned in a blog I follow. I was suddenly reminded just how much I wanted to visit this place. What would Vietnamese cakes be like? How would the tea be served? What would the décor be like? There was only one way to find out.

As I made my way through Prenzlauer Berg last Sunday I became increasingly worried. It was after three o'clock and all of the cafes I passed were already full of Berliners and tourists enjoying the ritual of weekend Kaffee und Kuchen. I started to worry that I might be out of luck but on arriving I was hit with a familiar double whammy of emotions: firstly joy that there was only one of the four tables taken and therefore I could get in; then sadness that at this peak time the cafe didn't seem to be doing too well.

The cafe is small but really lovely. Like the restaurants, real care and attention has been paid to the décor. Paper lanterns hang from the ceiling and the tables seem to be supported by branches stripped of their bark. The waitress marked herself out as different to the usual Berlin waiting staff by being incredibly smiley and helpful in describing the teas and cakes on offer.

Although I had been excited about visiting, I have to admit that my hopes about the quality of the cakes were pretty low. In my experience, Asian desserts are not usually anything to write home about – certainly to my western palate anyway. But Si An Tra showed me that that doesn't have to be the case. The cakes were simply fantastic. Coffee Boy and I shared a Ban Chuoi Dua which was a dense coconut sponge topped with a coconut sauce and nuts, and a Ban Chuoi Dau Phung which he described as “hmmmnnn, banana Reeses Peanut Butter Cup!”. That was grossly unfair as, in my opinion, the aforementioned confectionary is not necessarily to be held up as the essence of good taste. This cake was lovely: it had a kind of banana bread base and a delicious peanut and chocolate topping. But as if that wasn't enough, the tea was gorgeous too. I had a Jasmine tea which came served in a fairly large bowl and was full of goodies: ginger; lime; lemongrass; longan; lotus seeds and honey. Coffee Boy eschewed his usual latte and chose a Sencha green tea which had just a hint of ginger and lemongrass.

The whole experience was really very lovely: delightful surroundings with a selection of teapots, teas, crockery and bags to look at; a really nice waitress; and fantastic goods to savour. I can highly recommend it. When we left there was no one else left in the place, which this time left me feeling nothing but sad. It would be a crying shame if they didn't make a success of this great tea room. I hope that next time I return they are doing a healthy trade, but still with one table free for me. That would be just perfect.

Einstein A Go Go

Cafe Einstein is a Berlin institution. The original branch in the heart of Christopher Isherwood's Schoeneberg near Nollendorf Platz is a lovely place to while away a few hours. It's in an historic villa with all the grandeur of a country house. The Unter den Linden branch in Berlin's Mitte area can't really compete in terms of atmosphere but the menu is basically the same.

The original Kurfurstenstrasse branch has gone down in Afternoon Tea Total family folklore ever since I took my parents there and Coffee Boy decided to order an afternoon treat called a Kaiserschmarrn. We waited and waited but although my cheesecake and my parents' apple strudels arrived there was no sign of the Kaiserschmarrn. Eventually, after about 25 minutes, up came the waiter with a huge tray of freshly cooked dessert. It resembled a dish of bread and butter pudding only with plums baked within – but when I say dish, I mean dish, like the kind of dish you cook in the oven, with enough food for about four people. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Coffee Boy ploughed in and made a pretty good job of eating it up. But we've never dared order it since.

This time I met friends in the Unter den Linden branch. Far more utilitarian in feel, and always packed, it doesn't have the same charm as the original but it is considerably nearer to all of our homes and for that reason is worth a visit.

None of us had had lunch so we started of by each having a sandwich, a couple of us chose gravadlax and the others rocket and parmesan. To be honest I found them a bit odd. The bread was of the very pappy white sliced variety without crusts. The rocket and parmesan bread was toasted and seemed to go down fairly well; the gravadlax came on the plain old bread and was somewhat disappointing. But I was prepared to let it slide if the cakes would live up to my memory of them.

Usually, as you know, I would go for a lovely cup of tea, but this was an exceptionally cold day and the lure of Cafe Einstein's hot chocolate proved too much to bear. It comes served in a little jug and the accompanying cup has a lid covered in a swirl of whipped cream. The jug contains enough for two cups so prepared to be buzzing by the end of it. But just to be sure we decided to order a selection of sweet things. I, as is so often the case, couldn't refuse the Sachertorte; another of us went for the cheesecake; and two others chose the apple studel. If the sandwiches had been a disappointment, the cakes were anything but.

My Sachertorte was rich and moist with a nice substantial layer of apricot preserve. Unlike most others the chocolate coating was a hard shell that cracked as you cut into it – unusual but very good, although apparently that is the way the original was served. (Sorry for the lack of picture, and the general quality of the photos. I forgot my camera on this trip and my iPhone camera didn't cope well in the low light). The cheesecake was equally tasty and the apple strudels weren't bad either. They came served warm with vanilla sauce – a sort of runny custard – and although not as big as the Kaiserschmarrn, they were no light snack.

Cafe Einstein is not a cheap place, our sandwiches, cakes and a couple of drinks for four clocked in at €75 including tip, but it is worth visiting. The sandwiches were certainly no great shakes but the sweet offerings, and especially the hot chocolate, are pretty special. Even though this Mitte branch isn't in the same league as the Schoeneberg location looks-wise, when you find yourself on the windy expanses of Unter den Linden in need of refreshment it's well worth popping in. But be prepared to wait and then battle for a table, this is not a town that takes it kaffee and kuchen lightly.

Tea is the Best Medicine

I am a great believer in the healing properties of tea, but here in Germany they take that belief a whole stage further. Walk into any chemist, drug store or supermarket and you'll find a whole stand devoted to medicinal teas. I came down with a fairly terrible bought of flu over New Year a few years ago and a German friend sent me home with a selection of teas she assured me would help me feel much better. I was somewhat skeptical - this was in my pre-tea obsession days - and can't really remember if I drank them, or if I did what impact they had.

Well, New Year, new illness. This time it's Coffee Boy who has been nursing a stinking cold. Whilst purchasing herbal nasal sprays, echinacea bonbons and a variety of more heavy-duty drugs I happened upon a tea especially for colds. It contained such interesting things as Linden blossom, Elderberry leaves, Dandelion and Peony flowers. He wasn't convinced but was prepared to try anything so I prepared him a cup. And I must say, he felt much better after sipping the brew. So much so, in fact, that he has nearly finished the box. So it just goes to show, tea really is the best medicine.