What's with the Milk?

What is wrong with this picture? Have you spotted it yet? Yes, it's the plate full of coffee creamer. Rarely a good thing in my book these little plastic pots, but when served up alongside a pot of tea? Yuk.


I'm not sure what the deal is here in Germany, but when you order tea one of three things happens: a) no milk is brought at all - fair enough for a green tea but I'd like it as an option for black teas; b) these little plastic pots of UHT coffee creamer are brought out; or c) a little jug of hot frothy milk is proffered. What's going on? I find option (c) particularly baffling as surely pouring milk straight from the carton is easier than heating it up and then pouring it?

It amazes me that a country that gets the quality of its tea so right, gets its milk accompaniment so wrong. Thank goodness they have some darn fine cake to make up for it is all I can say.

Tea and Chocolate - A Dream Combination

When Sarah from the lovely Maison Cupcake contacted me recently to say I'd won a giveaway I was thrilled. When I realised it was for a box of tea flavoured chocolates I was pretty much ecstatic! Somehow the existence of Matcha Chocolat had passed me by, which was frankly a miracle as it is a product combining two of my favourite things in the world. Such is my love for tea flavoured chocolates I had previously sought them out at Pierre Marcolini and l'Artisan du Chocolat amongst others but here was an opportunity to have a whole box devoted to that most glorious of combinations. I awaited them with eager anticipation.

When they arrived a few days later I couldn't wait to tuck in but managed to restrain myself for a few hours as it was about nine o'clock in the morning... Instead I spent the intervening time checking out the packaging: a nice square fuchsia box with a Japanese inspired design; and reading up about the company's philosophy. They produce a seasonal selection of chocolates three times a year and make a point of sourcing their tea and chocolate ethically: so far so good. But how did they taste?

To be honest I was blown away. As I've mentioned I've sought out tea chocolates from some of the most renowned chocolatiers in Europe before now and Matcha Chocolat were up there with the best of them. I received the summertime Jade Selection which included five different chocolates: Sencha, Liquid Jade, China Rose, Strawberry Summer, and Masala Chai. It was a fantastic selection with each chocolate having a definite and distinctive flavour. My personal preference was for the chocolates where the tea was really front and centre, namely the Liquid Jade - a white chocolate dome containing a dark chocolate ganache with matcha liqueur; Masala Chai - a milk chocolate ganache full of all the gorgeous flavours of chai tea, covered with dark chocolate and topped with piece of crystalised ginger; and my absolute favourite, the Sencha. This delight features a white chocolate shell filled with white chocolate ganache that is infused with an intense hit of sencha. Despite not usually being a huge white chocolate fan I think its delicateness really let the green tea punch through which I loved.

This is not to suggest that the other two flavours were not also delicious; I for one am always a complete sucker for anything rose flavoured, but I found the tea a bit more delicate and therefore they didn't rate quite as highly for me. Having said that, the other people who tried them (although I wasn't being overly generous with them as I wanted them all for myself) really loved them, with the Strawberry Summer being a particular hit with Coffee Boy. I guess not everyone is as obsessed with tea as me (which is frankly weird) and in that case these flavours provide a great balance.

Overall, what a treat these chocolates are. Very much a box of loveliness that I can highly recommend for the tea lover in your life. Or why not treat yourself to a little box? At £14.95 for the seasonal selection of sixteen chocolates they are not an everyday indulgence but for a special occasion they are definitely a hit. I hope, and presume, the other collections will be just as delicious but I'll have to wait for a special someone in my life to treat me when the time comes. (Friends? Family? Are you reading this..?) Until then I'll content myself with a cuppa and a square or two of chocolate. But it definitely won't be the same.

Where's the Green Tea?

If you're in London, I'm sure the latest craze for frozen yoghurt hasn't passed you by (and if you're in the States you're probably thinking "latest craze??"). I wasn't overly fussed about it having had a couple of fairly disappointing tubs but then I discovered that Frae offered a green tea flavour and I hot-footed (or hot-wheeled) it up to Islington to try some. My anticipation grew as I saw that one of the toppings on offer was mochi - the pounded rice sweets I had so enjoyed in Japan. I also added some mango and was ready to go. Well, it was another disappointment I'm afraid. Sure the mango was deliciously ripe, and the mochi were nice but where was the green tea in the frozen yoghurt? At first I thought I'd been served the wrong flavour but on comparison with Coffee Boy's I could taste that it was a bit different but I'd have been hard-pressed to tell you what the flavour I was eating was.

The fat-free, low calorie and organic nature of the frozen yoghurt is to be commended but I really don't see the point in offering a flavour that is so slight as to be virtually undetectable. I thought this was just a Frae issue but I have been informed by my friend Miss O that it's much the same story in Snog and in various places she's tried in the States. Come on frozen yoghurt companies; the health benefits of green tea are all very well but let us taste some of that good stuff too!

Green Tea cupcakes

Recently I decided to indulge two of my favourite things at once: tea and cakes. But not in the usual way: you know a lovely cake with an accompanying cuppa. No, this time I planned to enjoy both in one creation. Luckily, the lovely Rachel that I met on my cupcake course last year had sent me a recipe for green tea cupcakes that I adapted a little. In truth, although I loved the way the matcha frosting turned out, the tea flavour in the cupcake was a little bit too subtle for me. But then I do love my tea... I might be tempted to up the tea content in the cakes in future and lose the cocoa powder altogether. Still, they went down very well with everyone else so here's the recipe I used.

Green Tea Cupcakes (makes about 18)
3 heaped tsp green tea (you could use green teabags if you prefer)
125ml milk
1 egg beaten
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
100g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
20g cocoa powder
140g of caster sugar
40g margarine (see my previous note about using marg rather than butter)
Pinch of salt

• Preheat the oven to 170º fan/180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4
• Put the green tea in the milk and place in the fridge to infuse. A few hours is enough but longer is better. I left mine about 3 days as I forgot about it
• When you're ready to use it strain the milk, which should now be infused with a lovely tea flavour, and combine it with the egg and vanilla extract
• Sift the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt together and then mix with the butter (I use a handheld electric whisk) until well combined
• Add half the milk, egg and vanilla mixture and beat until smooth. Then add the other half and blend for a couple of minutes until everything is thoroughly combined
• Pipe (or spoon) the mixture into paper cupcake cases until they are half full
  
• Bake in the oven for 25 minutes - I turn my tray 180º after 15 minutes to compensate for hot-spots in my oven. They are ready when a skewer inserted into the cakes comes out clean
• After a few minutes remove the cupcakes from the tray
  
• Place them on a rack and let them cool thoroughly. Do not attempt to ice until fully cooled

Matcha Buttercream
250g icing sugar
20g matcha powder
80g butter
1-2 tbsp milk

• Beat together the icing sugar, matcha powder and butter (beware the powdery mixture doesn't go everywhere!)
• Add as much milk as you feel in necessary and beat entire mixture for around 5 minutes until very light and fluffy
• Pipe or spoon icing onto cupcakes

I was very lazy this time and failed to make any special decorations for the top of my cupcakes. Frankly I was just in too much of a hurry to try them! My favourite bit was definitely the buttercream and I have every intention of trying it with some other cupcake recipes. If I find any particularly good combinations I'll be sure to let you know.

More Than a Fleeting Fancy

It always makes me happy when I read about a new independent cafe. With so many chains filling every high street in the UK it's good to know that smaller enterprises can make a go of it. One such place I was particularly pleased to hear about was Fleet River Bakery. For those of you that don't know the Fleet River is one of London's old rivers that is now subterranean. It starts in Hampstead and flows down to the River Thames just near Blackfriars. Apparently there are certain spots where you can hear the river flowing beneath your feet as part of London's labyrinthine sewer system.

One place it doesn't flow, perhaps surprisingly, is through Lincoln's Inn Fields, the location of the Fleet River Bakery. I first visited the cafe last summer and have been a couple of times since. Every time I go I seem to forget my camera but on my most recent visit I decided to take some quick snaps with my iPhone for fear I'd never get around to writing about it if I didn't.

Located in a nice old building with large arched windows the cafe has an unusual layout. You queue up to buy your hot drinks and food in the front room. They seem to have a rather strange system where you queue at one counter to get your food and order your drink and then you queue again to pick up your drinks at another counter: it's a bit chaotic but it seems to work. Once you've collected your vittles you can either carry your tray down to a basement room or you can do what I tend to do and go down some stairs and then up some others to get to the light and airy back room. It's a nice room with a few long wooden tables to share or a few smaller ones if you want to be more private. It has something of the air of a canteen about it which may be more to do with the fact it's full of staff and students from the nearby LSE rather than anything intrinsic about the decor which include over sized photos and lovely fresh flowers.

On this recent visit I chose a pot of Assam and a lovely looking Lemon Poppy Seed Cake. I was pleased to see that the tea in the teapot was loose leaves popped into a muslin bag for cleaning convenience. It had the usual good robust flavour I'd expect from an Assam and certainly did the trick in sating my thirst after my cycle ride there. But the teapots in this place give me as much pleasure as the lovely tea inside. Whenever I've visited before I've always been given a proper Brown Betty teapot and on this visit although the shape was the same it was a yellow colour. My BB at home has been serving me faithfully for the last 18 years (!) and despite a few cracks and chips it's still going strong. I'm not saying that I don't like pretty fancy schmancy teapots but the classic style and superior brewing power of the Brown Betty is hard to beat in my book.

With the tea all going swimmingly it was time to concentrate on the lemon poppy seed cake. It had a lovely, and properly potent lemony tang but was just a bit too sweet for me - you know the kind of buttercream that actually makes your teeth hurt because it's so sweet? Well this was it. Still, I managed to force the whole thing down so it can't have been too bad... I should also mention that I have previously enjoyed some pretty delicious carrot and chocolate cakes there so perhaps this particular cake was just not quite to my taste. Next time, I'll just have to go for something else...

And there's sure to be a next time. Although the service has a tendency to be a little erratic and dirty cups and plates often hang around on empty tables for too long, there is a nice relaxed vibe at Fleet River Bakery. Coupled with that is good tea and generally pretty fine cake.

The other brilliant thing is their location. Situated just by the grassy expanse of Lincoln's Inn Fields it's perfect for a take-away on a sunny day (although I don't really approve of tea in paper cups...), and is close enough to Covent Garden to provide a welcome escape from the hordes of shoppers. All in all I'd say that Fleet River Bakery is worth half an hour of your time. (But given the size of their slices of cake it might be better to give yourself a little bit longer. After all, what fun is a rushed afternoon tea?)