AFTERNOON TEA AT THE PALM COURT AT THE LANGHAM, WEST END

It was my birthday last week and we wanted to celebrate as a family and go somewhere special - (I definitely wanted something a little more exciting than Pizza Express)! We decided to go to the Palm Court at the Langham, we had gone for afternoon tea there at Easter and I remembered there was a pianist playing which drowned out Olympia's moaning!! 

Pascal and I had the Wedgewood afternoon tea and my daughter Arabella had the children's afternoon tea with Hamley's which includes a cuddly teddy bear.

I love afternoon tea and what I love most about the Langham is the free flowing sandwiches - they are amazing and we definitely wanted more than one plate. The sandwiches were classic English cucumber, cream cheese and chives; Burford Brown egg, marinated artichoke on rosemary bread; beef pastrami, sauce "Albert", watercress on caramelised onion bread; Scottish smoked salmon, Sarawak pepper and preserved lemon cream; and finally classic "prawn cocktail", iceberg and tomato powder on a potato bun. 

I have to say they were all divine. The pastrami one was definitely my favourite although I was also obsessed by the egg and artichoke - what an original fantastic combination.

Arabella had the jigsaw sandwiches which were also delicious. They were more child friendly flavours - hummus and red pepper, cheese, jam and I can't remember the last one. She adored them and also our cucumber and cream cheese which she kept stealing. Thankfully there was no limit on the amount of sandwiches you can have so Pascal and I had two plates and Arabella a couple of extra. Even the baby Olympia tried some too!

Next up were the scones which are Pascal's favourite part of afternoon tea and these did not disappoint. They were freshly baked - some plain and others with sultanas and then served with clotted cream and strawberry jam. Not surprisingly we had two plates of these as well!

Arabella's cakes were adorable. They consisted of Pedro Pig, a strawberry ganache with vanilla sable. Billy Bee was a mango and passion fruit jelly with chocolate sable whereas Lily the Ladybird was a vanilla sponge with raspberry whipped ganache. Finally Cecil the Sheep, was a crunchy choux with Langham cremeux. 

Arabella isn't the biggest fan of cakes but she did enjoy the Pedro Pig and Billy Bee. She kindly gave me Cecil the sheep which was scrumptious and Olympia gobbled up Lily the Ladybird.

Despite the fact I was already fit to burst, it was then time for my cakes. They were described as an exquisite selection and they really were. They included a Paris Brest (Crunchy Choux pastry, lightened Pecan, caramelised pecans), Babalicious (Blackcurrant and star anise soaked baba, Jivara whipped ganache, crunchy pearls), Decidedly Madeleine (Madeleine sponge, passion fruit jelly wrapped in a coat of dark chocolate), Spherically Challenged (Creamy coconut, liquid raspberry and Manjari mousse) and One in a Million (Caramelised Puff Pastry, vanilla infused mascarpone).

I am salivating as I write this....wow these cakes were outstanding. The Paris Brest was my favourite - I love these - I need to eat more of them!! Between you and me, I ate all my cakes and Pascal's, I couldn't stop.....but it was my birthday!!

Then the waitress surprised me with a birthday cake....

What a fantastic tea - amazing service, huge amounts of delicious food and beautiful piano music. Together it made a very special birthday and I would really recommend it.

The Palm Court at the Langham

1C Portland Place,
London
W1B 1JA
Tel: 020 7636 1000
Email: book@palm-court.co.uk

REESE'S PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE

I am sure I have mentioned before that I am a HUGE Reese's peanut butter cup fan. In fact my greatest food find of this year is the Reese's chocolate peanut butter spread....it has revolutionised our weekend breakfasts as the whole family loves it. In fact I rarely had breakfast before.....now I can't get enough....which is really not good for my figure especially as I have it with both baguette and butter! 

Anyway my daughter Bella and I made a board on Pinterest last week dedicated just to Reese's and this is one of the recipes we came across. It was very easy to make, it took about 15-20 minutes and then needed to be chilled in the fridge overnight. 

Ingredients for 25 squares:

397g tin condensed milk
300g white chocolate
200g peanut butter
25g butter (can be salted or unsalted)
100g icing sugar, sifted
Around 200g mini Reese's peanut butter cups
Around 150g Reese's Pieces (You can add more or less if you want)

Line a tin/dish with baking paper. The recipe recommends one that is 9 x 9" however mine was 10 x 7". I don't think size really matters (this time!), just use what you have. 

In a heavy based saucepan, mix in the white chocolate, peanut butter, butter and condensed milk. Melt on a very low heat so the chocolate doesn't get stuck on the bottom and burn, and that all the ingredients combine together. It might take a while but it is important to do it over a low heat. Mine took around 10 minutes. Pour into a large mixing bowl.

Sift the icing sugar and beat well. I just used a spoon rather than an electric mixer. Once completely combined, add in most of the peanut butter cups and Reese's pieces and fold. Keep some left over to sprinkle on top.

Pour into the baking tin and smooth over the mixture. Sprinkle with the rest of the Reese's and press in. Put in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours but ideally overnight.

We did try the fudge after a few hours in the fridge and it was good but it was much better after it had set overnight. Once set, cut into squares and enjoy. Our squares were obviously very large!!

I love Reese's and I love fudge so this combination was the dream!! My only alteration I would make next time is I would probably add some big Reese's peanut butter cups too....in my opinion you can never have enough. I also added some of this fudge to my bowl of ice cream last night which I highly recommend if you are a little piggy like me!!

PIZOOKIE (A PIZZA SIZE COOKIE)

A couple of months ago I went to a fantastic restaurant on the Chelsea / Fulham border called Megan's and I had the most amazing pudding. It was basically a warm giant cookie with Nutella in the middle served with vanilla ice cream. The waiter tried to suggest it might be too much for just me but of course being such a piglet, I managed to finish the whole lot off and I have been dreaming about it ever since. Megan's isn't very pram friendly so I decided the quickest way I can have this pudding again is to make it myself.

This recipe is from Waitrose magazine and it took about 45 minutes to make. You need to leave it to cool for at least 10 minutes at the end.

Ingredients for 8-10 slices

125g salted butter, at room temperature
150g light soft brown sugar
100g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
250g milk chocolate, broken into chunks

Preheat the oven to 180C / gas mark 4.

Put the butter and sugars in a bowl and using electric beaters, beat for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.

Then beat the eggs in one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Tip into the butter mixture, beat until just combined and then stir through the chocolate chunks.

Spoon into a 20cm ovenproof frying pan or similar size cake tin. I used a 23cm cake tin which I sprayed with cooking spray and then lined with baking paper so it was easy to remove.

Bake in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes until golden, (25 minutes yields a molten centre whereas 30 minutes will be slightly more set).

Cool for 10 minutes at least and then serve with a big dollop of ice cream if you like.

There are no words to describe how absolutely scrumptious this is.....it is so good I have made it twice this week! This pizookie is very easy to make and it tastes heavenly. Mine was incredibly soft, warm and gooey and it went perfectly with the ice cream. One word of warning, it is not good for the bikini body!!! If you manage to resist eating it all in one go, it will keep for a few days.

CUSTARD CREAM BLONDIES

I cannot eat a custard cream without being flooded with memories of my silver Duke of Edinburgh walk in Wales about 20 years ago. Even though I was not a keen camper (I still am not), I did have fun and I think I consumed my body weight in custard creams and Bourbon biscuits. I found this recipe in Olive magazine and decided to cook it for when my ex mother-in-law came for tea - it took under an hour and was very easy.

Ingredients for 12-18 bars (depending on the size):

175g butter, plus extra for greasing

200g light muscovado sugar

125g golden caster sugar

4 tbsp custard powder

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

250g self-raising flour

Salt

15 custard creams, roughly crumbled

150g vanilla white chocolate, chopped into small chunks

Preheat the oven to 180 C / fan 160 C / gas mark 4. Butter and line a baking tin / dish with baking paper (around 20 x 30 cm).

Melt the butter, both sugars and custard powder gently in a large saucepan. When the mixture is smooth and you can't feel any grains of sugar left, take off the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes. This didn't take long. I used this "cooling" time to cut up the biscuits and chocolate. I was on a diet day so couldn't even nibble the milky bar - it was torture!!

Stir in the eggs, one by one, until smooth. Then follow with the vanilla extract, flour and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Quickly stir in two thirds of the custard creams and the chocolate chunks and pour into your baking dish / tin. 

Scatter over the remaining biscuit bits and bake for 30 minutes until golden and set on top. Cool the blondies in the tin before cutting into bars.

I found 30 minutes wasn't enough for me - it was still too gooey inside. My daughter loved it but I preferred it a bit more cooked so I did a further 20 minutes, keeping a constant eye on it so it didn't burn on top.

I loved the combination of the custard creams and white chocolate and it made a great lighter alternative to a brownie. It wasn't my favourite though. My daughter on the other hand thought it was incredible and was begging to have some at breakfast as she couldn't wait for tea. Plus luckily my ex mother-in-law enjoyed it too.