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.

Revisit: Twisted Tea Party at Commons Club

When Brandy last visited Commons Club in the (at the time, newly opened) Virgin Hotel, she was mightily impressed with the extensive and creative menu of tea based cocktails and the delightful sweet and savory bites in a rather chic, yet comfortable setting. "It's harder than one would think to find a good tea service now adays," as she likes to say, "Either they're too traditional or they're so off the mark that they're unrecognizable."

Hearing that the service had changed somewhat since her last visit, Brandy decided to grab her good friend Starr (otherwise known as Chicago Foodie Girl) and bring her along for some afternoon sipping and noshing.

The cocktails had been themed on the Seven Deadly Sins (a leftover from October, with a holiday transition due imminently) and rather than coming served individually, they now came in a much different form: each concoction is presented in a chilled silver tea pot with either liquor or champagne served on the side so that the drinker could customize the mix to their own liking. Each tea pot contained enough mixture for about two and a half cocktails, making the decision of whether to share a single pot or order a personal one the main dilemma.

In the end, Brandy and Starr decided to order a different pot each so that they could switch between them. "We should have thought to bring more people so we could sample even more of these cocktails!" Brandy exclaimed. First, they tried the Gluttony cocktail, made with brown butter infused rum, chocolate syrup, a caramel flavor black tea from Rare Tea Cellars, with a peanut butter chantilly cream and a flask of champagne on the side. At first, the system was a little confusing to Brandy, but after she had mixed together the cocktail base and the champagne and added a dollop of the cream, she suddenly felt as though she were at a proper tea service, putting sugar and cream into her cup of strong black tea. The flavor of the cocktail was rich and decadent, especially with the cream, and did invoked the spirit of a certain chocolate and peanut butter candy, but in a very playfully sophisticated way.

Secondly, they sampled the Envy cocktail, this time combining vodka with sour grape juice and a house made crabapple liqueur, all poured into a matcha green tea. This one was much more crisp and refreshing, yet still very bold in flavor. Brandy especially enjoyed the experience of pouring the evergreen liqueur into the tea and watching it swirl into a magical potion.

Of course, no tea service is complete without finger sandwiches, scones, and various nibbles. The food had certainly been stepped up a bit since Brandy's last visit, being upgraded from a two-tiered to a three-tiered service tray. The finger sandwiches remained, now represented in Salmon and Cream Cheese, Egg Salad, and a very English tasting Relish and Cheddar. Instead of the expected cucumber sandwich though, there was a bit of pita bread with a smear of spiced humus, a chunk of radish, and the aforementioned cucumber.

Moving on to the sweets, which were abundant, Brandy started easy with a soft and tender chocolate chip biscotti, then she nibbled on a delightful raisin dotted scone. The middle tier held a whole host of deliciousness, like fudgy brownies, gold dusted walnut tarts, scrumptious apple cinnamon cupcakes, and delicate chocolate praline opera cakes. Adorable gingerbread whoopie pies were a favorite, but perhaps the most interesting item was the apricot napoleons with mascarpone and crisp filo.

"There's a philosophy we live and die by back home," said Brandy, finishing her last little bite of cupcake with an indelicate lick of her fingers, "There's no problem a cup of tea can't solve. Well, when your tea contains a decent amount of champagne, I think that old adage is especially true."

The writers of this blog were invited to dine at the restaurant free of charge in order to facilitate the writing of this post.

The Commons Club or High Time for High Tea

The Slow and Savory Review

Brandy sighed, gazing out her window on a cold, rainy Chicago spring day.  She was missing England.  "I do love The Windy City," she moaned, "But sometimes one just longs for things like the smell of sea air, a walk through a foggy moor, or a decent cup of good British tea."  Unable to shake her homesickness, Brandy phoned up her old friend Brocco Leigh Binto and asked if he might be able to invent something that would make her feel better.  "Well, that could take years of research, development, and testing," he told her, sympathetically, "But I did hear that the Virgin Hotel just started up a high tea service.  Maybe a little taste of your home land would cheer you up."

Brandy decided to take Brocco's advice and enlisted him to accompany her to The Commons Club on the second floor of the Virgin Hotel.  The space boasted impossibly high ceilings, a playful library, and a semi-casual dining area surrounding an ornate bar.  Much like its downstairs sister restaurant, Miss Ricky's, the space had just enough rock and roll feeling to it to make it stylish without being obnoxious.

Upon browsing the menu, Brandy discovered that the tea service had a little twist: it featured not only traditional tea time snacks and pots of hot tea, but also six seasonal cocktails, all featuring different Rare Tea Cellars teas.  "They're calling this an Upside Down Tea Party," Brandy observed, "Presumably because you'll be upside down under the table when its over."  "It's a good thing the Virgin Hotel features a Bow Truss Coffee in room pour over service then," Brocco smiled.  And so encouraged by that useful feature of the hotel, Brocco and Brandy threw caution to the wind and ordered round after round of tea cocktails until they found they'd (somewhat) accidentally tried them all.

Gentry Cove (on the right)- gin, vermouth, strawberry, lemon, and Earl Grey Brandy likened this one to a Pimm's Cup, in that it packed plenty of punch with a nice fruity finish.  This was light, infinitely drinkable, and perfect for a spring day.

Pomp and Circumstance (on the left)- gin, aloe liqueur, butterfly pea tea, corn flower, passion fruit This was probably the most stunningly presented cocktail of the day, as its top layer was a vibrant blue, the middle was a royal purple, and the bottom a sweet shot of passion fruit nectar.  The taste was a little too vegetal for Brandy's liking, but Brocco enjoyed it.

Fields of France- vodka, anise liqueur, Campari, tonic, honey, lavender tea Not normally a fan of anise flavored things, Brandy was surprised to have enjoyed this drink, which had a lovely floral quality to it.  This concoction was probably one of the better showcases for the tea that inspired it, which is flavored with various berries and flowers.

Bold as Love- rum, mint, green tea, lemon, verbena This one was both Brandy and Brocco's least favorite of the bunch.  It was a tad too herbacious for their liking, and baring a slight resemblance to a mojito, Brocco wished it would have been a little sweeter.  "Maybe Bold as Love is the wrong name for this," as he put it, "I'd call this the Bold as Like-quite-a-bit-but-not-in-Love."

Sunny Day in London- gin, brandy, sherry, black tea, honey, cream Although most of the other cocktails came adorned with colorful flowers, this one came simply presented over crushed ice in a pretty tea cup, and made Brandy burst into laughter when she saw it.  "What's so funny?" Brocco asked.  "It's called a Sunny Day in London, but it's cloudy.  Get it?" Brocco did not get it.  Regardless, Brandy thought this was the best cocktail for enjoying with the food because of its rich, sip-able flavor.

Spring Fling- vodka, St. Germain, lemon soda, jasmine green tea The last cocktail of the afternoon was also one of the prettier ones, having a vibrant green color which set off the flowers floating on the top and reminding Brandy of a pond covered in lily pads.  Its flavor was bright and fruity with an almost melon like flavor that Brocco quite enjoyed.

As for the food, the offerings were pretty traditional: a few finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, a couple bite sized pastries, and a cookie.  Brandy was a tad disappointed that there weren't more modern takes on the nibbles to match the creativity behind the cocktails, but she thought everything was quite lovely all the same.  The Crab and Shrimp Salad Sandwich was a nice change of pace from the more traditional Smoked Salmon and Cucumber sandwiches, but all three were delicate and tasty.  The scones were tiny indeed, each one about the size of a bite or two, with flavorings like walnut, pistachio and cherry, and cinnamon raisin, while the jam and cream came adorably presented in a tiny tea cup and looking like some sort of dessert in and of itself.  "Whipped cream?  On your scone?" Brocco questioned upon spying the confection.  "No dear, clotted cream," Brandy corrected him, "It's sort of like a buttery spread.  Go on, try it."  And with one scoopful of the stuff, Brocco was a changed man.  The little pasties were nice, especially the rich chocolate tart with candied hazelnuts on top, but the dainty financier with cherries and almonds had its own rustic charm too.  Brandy simply adored the presentation of the shortbread cookie, which had its lower half dipped in chocolate, as it was shaped like a tea bag and even had string tied to it, making it perfect for dipping.  "Sadly, we've neglected to actually order any actual tea," Brandy observed, and then shrugging, she dipped the thing in one of her cocktails.

Whiling away a rainy afternoon with a high tea service at The Commons Club might have normally made Brandy even more home sick for dear old England, but with more than a few cocktails in her system as well as some excellent nosh, she actually felt quite contented.  "Not only did we drink our way through the entire menu, we may have also drunk an entire garden this afternoon," she giggled as she eyed the colorful flowers in her empty cocktail glass, "But I'd say these tea cocktails do make for a lovely change of pace for a tea service.  I can see myself coming back to this season after season as the menu shifts."  Brandy also loved the relaxed, yet refined atmosphere of The Commons Club, where the well dressed servers and bartenders were polite, chatty, and very well informed.  With the tea service only $10 a person and the cocktails coming in at $12 a piece (actual pots of tea were also available for $7, but also several premium selections ranging from $14-$55 for high rolling tea connoisseurs), Brandy also thought the prices weren't too outrageous.  "Well, it certainly wasn't the most traditional tea service I've ever attended," Brandy said grandly as she made her way down to the hotel lobby, "But I do have to admit that I feel quite a better going out than I did going in."

The Short and Sweet Review