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

Some of the products mentioned in this post were sent to me as PR. Free products do not and will not ever influence my opinions.

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: Argo Tea Garden Direct Collection

"There's nothing a good cup of tea can't fix," is one of the many mottos upon which Brandy has staked her life, and now more so than ever, she's been drinking quite a lot of tea. In fact, every time she turns on a television or dares to venture into the depths of Twitter, she suddenly has the urge to drink copious amounts of tea. "My cabinets are almost bare!" she exclaimed recently when she went to make herself a strong pot of oolong after a particularly trying online conversation. "Well, this has to be remedied immediately. I don't want to think about what would happen to me if I ran out of tea! How on earth would I be able to read the morning news?"

That was when Brandy remembered that Argo Tea, her favorite purveyors of delicious tea-based cafe beverages, had recently launched a brand new line of loose leaf teas called the Garden District Collection. The collection includes 24 single estate teas that are sourced from the world’s premier tea growing regions and represent a variety of traditional flavors and blends, from comforting chamomile and delicious darjeeling to exotic jasmine and mysterious hibiscus.

Thinking back to a summer she spent in Morocco long ago, Brandy went with the Armenian Mint. Originating from the Ararat Valley, the tea is naturally caffeine free. When steeping, the leaves turn a vibrant green and an incredible aroma of fresh mint fills the air. The tea has a golden brown hue and a vibrant minty flavor that does well with a touch of sugar added. Though Brandy had brewed the tea hot, she suspected that it would also work rather well iced, making for an especially refreshing summertime drink. "This does take me back to that beautiful time long ago when I used to drink mint tea and wander the tourist street bazaars," Brandy sighed with pleasure. "Ah, those were simpler times. Though I do have to say, the tea has only gotten better."

The Garden District Collection teas are priced from $10.95 - $39.95 and are available for purchase online at and at most Argo Tea Cafés in Chicago and New York.

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

Masterpiece Eat-a-Ter: Afternoon Tea at Home

Next to brunch, Brandy regards Tea Time as the most important meal of the day, or as Brandy puts it, "When I first came to the United States and realized that a proper four o'clock tea was not a recognized tradition, I almost turned tail and ran back home to Old Blighty."  But in recent years, there seems to have been a resurgence in the mid day snack, perhaps due to a few popular British television transplants, perhaps due to the changing landscape of the American work hours, or perhaps people have just finally wised up to how spectacular a good cream tea can be.

Afternoon Tea at Home by Will Torrent

Ryland Peters & Small, $24.95; www.rylandpeters.com

Photo credit: Photography by Matt Russell

Luckily, a new cookbook recently came to Brandy's attention; Afternoon Tea at Home by Will Torrent.  Chef Torrent, a world class patissier and chocolatier who has worked with the best of the best in the British culinary world, has set out to make the sometimes finicky and staunch world of high tea service a little less intimidating for the home cook.  The book is sectioned off into classics and essentials at the front, then recipes divided by season in the middle, and handy menu guides for designing tea service for different occasions at the back. Brandy found the photography absolutely gorgeous, showing off all of the detailed decorations and luscious fillings.  Though the pictures sometimes made the delicacies look complicated, the conversational tone of the writing combined with the clear directions made each recipe very easy to follow.

To design her tea service, Brandy had a few criteria.  "We must have a scone, a cookie, a cake, a sandwich, and something special," she sketched out.  She chose the Blueberry Buttermilk Scones with Honeycomb Butter, a nice little twist on the classic English treat.  The scones had the perfect tender texture with bursts of fresh berries and a little tang from the buttermilk, but the accompanying butter, which had been cut with crispy honeycomb candy, made these goodies very unique and extremely decadent.  For her cookies, Brandy couldn't resist making the Earl Grey Teapots.  These simple shortbreads were spiked with bits of actual Earl Grey tea, making them a fresh and sweet accompaniment to a hot brewed cuppa.  The cakes were a very easy Strawberry and Cream cake, made with clotted cream for an extra touch of Englishness, and came out rather buttery and crumbly, much like an American strawberry shortcake.  The sandwiches she chose were the Bloody Mary Shrimp sandwiches, which had a lovely creamy filling that packed plenty of punch to cut through the sweetness of the rest of the treats.  Finally, Brandy went full molecular gastronomist and made a batch of Lime and Mint Prosecco Jellies, topped with an infused foam.  Not only did these beauties make for a lovely presentation, they were actually quite easy to prepare.

"Oh, how I have missed having a good old afternoon tea!" Brandy exclaimed as she beheld the deliciousness before her, "And with these recipes being even easier than I had thought they would be, I now think I'm confident enough to attempt some of the more complicated goodies.  Now, to find a piping bag, some gelatin sheets, a few pieces of gold leaf and... on second thought, I should probably eat what I've already made."

Bloody Mary shrimp sandwich
The addition of some of the ingredients that make up a Bloody Mary cocktail to a classic Marie Rose sauce takes a simple prawn/shrimp sandwich to a whole new level. The crushed avocado butter elevates it even further, which in my opinion, when done right, is simply stunning.

400 g/14 oz. cooked north Atlantic prawns/shrimp
3 tablespoons
mayonnaise
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon paprika
a splash of Tabasco
1 tablespoon vodka (optional)
a dash of Worcestershire sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

AVOCADO BUTTER

75 g/5 tablespoons butter, softened
1 ripe avocado
juice of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

TO SERVE
8 thin slices brown bread
2 heads little Gem lettuce, shredded
celery salt, to taste

Makes 8

Pat the prawns/shrimp dry with paper towels and tip into a bowl. Add the mayonnaise, ketchup, paprika, Tabasco, vodka (if using) and a shake of Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt and black pepper, and mix well to coat the prawns/shrimp. Taste and add a drop more Tabasco if you prefer the Bloody Mary sauce a little spicier. In another bowl, beat the butter until soft. Peel and mash the avocado flesh, and add to the butter with the lemon juice. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Lay the bread slices out on the work surface and spread with the avocado butter. Cover half of the slices with the prawn/shrimp mixture and top with a neat handful of shredded lettuce. Cover with the remaining bread slices and press gently together. Using a serrated bread knife, cut the sandwiches in half or into neat triangles or fingers. Arrange on serving plates and sprinkle with a little celery salt before serving.

Blueberry and buttermilk scones with honeycomb butter
These are a weekend breakfast favourite of mine but are also perfect on an afternoon tea stand. Super simple to make and even quicker to eat… all of them! Serve warm from the oven with a dollop of honeycomb butter melting over the top – the perfect treat for a lazy weekend morning or leisurely tea. You can use frozen blueberries if you can’t find fresh.

350 g/2. cups plain/all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out
3 teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of salt
125 g/1 stick butter, chilled and diced
75 g/generous .⁄1 cup caster/granulated sugar
175–200 ml/.⁄1/2 cup buttermilk
150 g/1. cup fresh or frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons whole milk
2 tablespoons demerara/turbinado sugar

HONEYCOMB BUTTER
100 g/3. oz. honeycomb or 2 chocolate-covered honeycomb bars
175 g/1. sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
a pinch of salt
2 baking sheets lined with baking parchment

Makes 16

Start by making the honeycomb butter. Tip the honeycomb into a freezer bag, twist the end to prevent any escaping and crush the honeycomb using a rolling pin. Cream the butter and vanilla bean paste in a stand mixer until really soft. Add the crushed honeycomb and mix again until combined. Lay a piece of clingfilm/plastic wrap or baking parchment on the work surface and spoon the butter down the middle to form a rough sausage shape, wrap up the butter tightly to make a smooth log, twist the ends to seal and put the butter in the fridge to harden until needed. Alternatively you can make the butter fresh while the scones are baking and use immediately. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Sift the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the chilled, diced butter and rub into the dry ingredients using your hands. When the mixture resembles sand and there are only very small pieces of butter remaining, add the caster/granulated sugar and mix to combine.

Make a well in the middle of the mixture, add the buttermilk and blueberries and stir to combine using a rubber spatula. Once the dough starts to come together, use your hands to form a rough ball. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Very lightly knead for about 30 seconds to bring the dough into an almost smooth ball but do not overwork the dough. Cut in half and flatten each half into a round disc each about 16 cm/6. inches in diameter. Using a long, sharp knife cut each disc into 8 triangular wedge shapes.

Arrange the wedges on the prepared baking sheets and brush the tops with a little milk, scatter with demerara/turbinado sugar and bake on the middle shelf of the preheated oven for 12–14 minutes, or until well-risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack and serve slightly warm with slices of the honeycomb butter ready to spread on top.
The writers of this blog were given a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.