Tea Party: Earl Grey Cream Puffs and Fruity Tea Spritzers with Nielsen Massey and Waterloo

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Anyone who has been around me for any length of time has probably heard me expound upon my love of all things Earl Grey. The magical combination of bergamot and black tea is one of my favorite flavor pairings in the universe. I even have Earl Grey scented candles, for when I want my house to smell as though I just brewed a fresh cuppa, but I don't want to ingest the caffeine. In fact, I'm a pretty big fan of most tea flavored things; I adore the grassy notes of matcha and the roasted depth of hōjicha, when I want to unwind I always turn to chamomile, and there is pretty much always a hibiscus fruit tea of some kind chilling in my fridge

So a few weeks ago when some friends and I were casually chatting about an afternoon get together, I decided to turn our gab session into a miniature tea party. Since I was expecting a mixed crowd, I knew I had to come up with a versatile drink that would please a variety of palates. I thought back to late last year when I discovered one of my favorite mixers, Waterloo Sparkling Waters. Since then, they've added a mango flavor to their existing line, making for 8 amazing options in all. I decided to make a black tea simple syrup (I boiled 2 bags of black tea in 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar for about 10 minutes), which I put into a squeeze bottle. Then I set up a little station with a bottle of chilled vodka, some ice, and a variety of the Waterloo flavors (I thought the mango, lemon, and coconut flavors worked especially well) so that everyone could make their own fruity tea spritzers!

For snacks, I knew I wanted to highlight my favorite tea of all time, Republic of Tea's Earl Greyer Vanilla (AKA the Downton Abbey Estate Blend). Since I am addicted to The Great British Baking Show, I had the idea of making some Earl Grey cream puffs with a craquelin top in honor of the newest season. As I plotted out exactly how to make the perfect Earl Grey pastry cream, I reached for a bottle of Nielsen-Massey Mexican Vanilla extract. I went with this particular vanilla because of it's warm baking spice notes, which I thought would really bring out the bergamot in the tea. And oh man... let me tell you how good this pastry cream was! I seriously had to stop myself from eating it all with a spoon before I could pipe it into the cream puffs! Mary, Paul, and Pru would all be proud of me.

So what do you think? Will you turn your next get together into an impromptu tea party? Let me know your favorite tea treats in the comments below!



Earl Grey Cream Puffs

Pastry cream

2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup of sugar
1/4 cup loose leaf Earl Grey tea
1 large egg plus 2 egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon Nielsen-Massey Mexican Vanilla extract
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Craquelin Crumble Topping

5 tablespoons butter cut into small pices
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup of flour
1 teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Mexican Vanilla extract
1/4 cup of loose leaf Earl Grey tea, ground very fine

Choux Dough 

16 tablespoons butter
2 cups water
1 and 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
6 large eggs

For the pastry cream: Add milk, half the sugar (1/3 cup), and Earl Grey Tea to a medium sauce pan and heat over medium low until milk is steaming and infused with the tea. While the milk steeps, add an egg, egg yolks, the rest of the sugar (1/3 cup), and cornstarch to a medium bowl and mix until well combined. Once the milk has steeped (about 10 minutes), strain out tea leaves with a fine mesh strainer. Very slowly, add warm milk to the egg mixture, whisking constantly to make sure the eggs don't scramble. Once all the milk has been incorporated into the eggs, add vanilla and transfer back into saucepan. Heat over medium until the mixture begins to thicken, then remove from the heat, add in butter, and whisk until fully incorporated. Let cool.

In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff. Carefully fold in the thickened milk and egg mixture until no more streaks of white remain. Use a hand mixer to fluffy up the cream, then refrigerate over night in an air tight container.

For the topping: Add sugar, flour, vanilla extract, and ground tea leaves to a medium bowl and mix. Add in butter and use your hands to mash it into the mixture. It should form into a loose, sandy-like texture. Spread the mixture as thinly as possibly onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, making sure to break up any large chunks. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the choux puffs: Melt together butter, salt, and water in a medium sauce pan. Once the mixture is at a simmer, take off heat and add in the flour. Add pan back to the heat and mix vigorously with a spatula or wooden spoon until a homogeneous dough forms. Press the dough against the sides of the pan to make sure that all of the flour cooks evenly, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let the dough cool about 5 minutes. Begin adding eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each one. Once all the eggs have been mixed into the dough, transfer to an air tight container and refrigerate over night.

Assembling the Cream Puffs: Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop and form the cooled choux dough into balls about 2 inches across. Dip the top of the balls into the crumble topping, then place them dough side down on the parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until the puffs start to turn golden brown. Let the puffs cool to room temperature.

Load pastry cream into a piping bag with a medium round metal tip. Puncture the bottom of each puff with a knife, then pipe pastry cream into the center.

Makes about 3 dozen puffs.

Tea Time with Brandy: Sparkling Cocktails & Matcha Peppermint Scones

Every year a few weeks before Christmas, Brandy hosts a Wrapping Party. It's a jolly old time with all of her friends; listening to Christmas carols, nibbling a few treats, and sipping a few drinks while progressively getting merrier while their paper cutting skills get worse and worse until inevitably, someone ends up wrapped in clear tape like a mummy. "I find that it's the best possible way to get motivated for the worst chore of the holiday season," she says, "Plus, it's usually an excuse for me to try some more experimental recipes before I give them their big debut."

To keep everyone feeling merry and bright, Brandy made sure she had plenty of cocktail making supplies on hand. One thing she had hit upon as a brilliant base for mixing simple cocktails quickly while ensuring they had great flavor was a new line of sparkling waters from Waterloo. Coming in 7 varieties, the sparkling waters are all calorie free, sugar free, and sodium free, meaning they add brilliant flavor and bubbles to a cocktail without adding anything else. Brandy particularly likes the Lime flavor, which she mixes with vodka and cranberry juice to create a Sparkling Christmas Cosmo. The Black Cherry flavor is also lovely with a splash of cranberry and some honey whiskey, making a lightly crisp version of a Manhattan. All of the flavors (which also include watermelon, coconut, lemon, and grapefruit) are also perfect for sipping on their own as a light and refreshing palate cleanser after consuming tons of sweet and salty snacks.

Speaking of which, this year, Brandy decided to go a little bit out of the gift box, so to speak, for her Wrapping Party provisions. "I like my food to be colorful this time of year," she explained, "But I don't want to overload things with dye and artificial hues." For that reason, she zeroed in on Matcha as a natural colorant as well as a spectacular winter flavor. The thought of tea put her in mind of her home land, and instantly she was craving scones with lashings of cream. "Hmmm... Matcha scones... now that's an idea!" she said to no one in particular. But the idea needed just a little something more to make it feel complete. "Of course! The cream!" she exclaimed. Thinking on flavors that might match well with the delicate Matcha, but also remind her guests of snowy winter days spent snuggled by the fire, she hit on the idea of a peppermint scented buttercream to fill her scones with. And as her cabinets are always stocked with wonderful extracts from Nielsen Massey, it was a sinch to make her scone and cream dreams a reality.

Matcha Scones with Peppermint Cream

2 cups of cake flour
4 teaspoons of baking powder
2 tablespoons of Matcha powder
a pinch of salt
2/3 cup of milk, plus one tablespoon
2 large eggs (one for egg wash)
1/4 cup of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of Nielsen Massey vanilla extract
4 tablespoons of softened butter
Nielsen Massey Vanilla Sugar for topping

For peppermint cream:

1/2 cup of softened butter
1/2 pound of confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoons plus more to taste of Nielsen Massey peppermint extract
about a tablespoon of milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder, matcha powder, and salt. In a second bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract with a hand mixer. Add in one egg and the milk while continuing to mix. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and continue to mix until everything is well incorporated. Using either an oiled ice cream scoop or your flour dusted hands, form the dough into about a dozen small balls and line the baking sheet with them. Scramble the remaining egg with a tablespoon of milk, then use a pastry brush to apply the egg wash to the tops of the scones, then sprinkle on vanilla sugar. Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, or until the tops are slightly brown. Let cool completely.

In a medium bowl, cream together the softened butter, confectioner's sugar, and peppermint extract (start with two teaspoons and add more if desired). Add in milk a few drops at a time to loosen up the cream and give it more of a whipped texture rather than a hard icing texture. Cut the scones in half horizontally and spread a generous amount of peppermint cream on the bottom piece before adding the top back on.

The writers of this blog were sent products from the mentioned companies free of charge in order to facilitate the writing of this post.