Home-Grown Fresh Lemon Verbena Tea
Bodega Dios Baco Oloroso Sherry
Mini Sherry Tea Cakes with Marcona Almond & Rosemary
Roasted Black Figs, Honey, Fig Balsamic Syrup, Black Pepper, Sea Salt
Cream Sherry Glaze
“You are formally invited to a virtual British afternoon tea party that will take during the week of August 27th! We thought it would be great to follow up our Greek adventures, the original place of Olympics, with a British-inspired culinary theme, the location of this year’s summer Olympics.
Bring a gourmet sweet or savory treat – either a makeover of a classic or your own unique creation. Some general items on a traditional tea menu include: sandwiches, sausage rolls, Victoria sponge, cakes, and scones.”
The 5 Star Makeover Cooking Group hosted by Natasha the 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks! is an outstanding monthly event for sharing ideas and creating gourmet makeovers of selected classic dishes or flavor combinations. August’s theme is TEA PARTY.
Such a charming theme!
Taste With The Eyes will bring a refreshing home-grown hot tea
and makeover a teatime table setting with sherry paired with sweet treats fit for the Queen.
Roasted Black Figs with Fig Balsamic Syrup
Place fresh black figs in a baking dish. Drizzle with honey and fig balsamic syrup. Season with fresh ground black pepper and sea salt. Bake at 350°F until soft. Let cool to room temperature.
Mini Sherry Tea Cakes
The sherry tea cake recipe is adapted from the Bundt Cookbook.
- 1/2 c. butter
- 1 c. sugar
- 3 eggs, separated
- 1 1/2 c. sifted flour
- 1 t. baking powder
- 1/16 t. fresh ground nutmeg
- 3/8 c. cream sherry
Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift together flour, baking powder, and nutmeg – add alternately with the sherry to the creamed mixture. Mix well after each addition.
Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold into batter. Pour batter into greased and floured mini Bundt pan. Bake at 350°F until cake tests done. Cool for 15 minutes then invert to remove cakes. Let cool to room temperature.
Cream Sherry Glaze
Cream Sherry Glaze
- 1 c. powdered sugar
- 3 T. melted butter
- 2 t. cream sherry
Blend all three ingredients together. Add a very small amount of hot water to get the desired drizzling consistency.
Arrange figs and tea cakes on a serving platter. Spoon balsamic syrup from the baking dish over the figs. Place a small amount of glaze on top of each cake and drizzle the glaze over the entire platter in a back-and-forth motion. Then top the cakes with a roasted marcona almond and a few tiny springs of dried rosemary. Top the figs with an edible blossom (these are borage). Garnish with fresh rosemary.
Fresh Lemon Verbena Tea
Lemon verbena was harvested from my garden. The leaves are washed in cool water then arranged in the teapot’s glass infuser.
Bring filtered water to a rolling boil. Pour water into the teapot over the leaves. Cover and let steep 5 to 10 minutes until the tea is a mellow gold color. Remove the infuser. Lemon verbena high levels of essential oil contribute to a strong aroma and lovely lemony flavor. The tea is delightful, refreshing and crisp. I offer honey but don’t think it really needs it…Garnish the tea cups with tiny sprigs of the fresh herb.
Oloroso Sherry
For this party, we have to serve a little booze too. (It’s 5 o’clock somewhere!). Bodega Dios Baco NV Oloroso Sherry from Jerez, Spain has wonderful aromas of nuts, vanilla and caramel. And rich nutty semi-sweet creamy flavors. Oloroso sherries offer a terrific balance between sweet and dry.
Try a sip of sherry and a tea cake together. Then enjoy another sip of sherry paired with the fig. These two mini accompaniments provide very different taste sensations with the sherry. The flavor components of the sweet treats are meant to enhance the flavors in the sherry, and vice versa.
A 5 Star TEA PARTY Makeover
Anglophiles and Lovers-of-Tea please be sure to visit the grand
5 Star Makeover TEA PARTY round-up now posted here!
First of all, thank you for your very kind response and invitation. I’m very flattered!! I honestly would jump on the chance if I have no kids. LOL!!!! Seriously, I’m that tempted. 😉
What a lovely treat you created! I’ve been eying on the glass tea pot for a while too. 🙂
Gorgeous spread, so inviting and beautifully photographed, Lori Lynn!
This is no ordinary tea party! What a gorgeous, delicious spread…as usual, your photos just wow me! This is one party I’d love to crash 🙂
Beautiful, LL! Lovely setting and menu.
I’m particularly fond of the use and pairing of sherry with the cakes and those glorious looking figs.
This is a fairy tale…so incredibly beautiful…but that you LL.
So much refinement..delicious treats! You are such a “bon vivant” I wish you were my neighbour!
what a lovely tea party!! i don’t know that i’m a huge fan of sherry, but paired with figs and tea cakes, i might be a convert 🙂
Your photos are just spectacular LL, they always draw me in and I so wish I was there to partake in all it’s spendor! Just beautiful! I’m baking my container of figs I just picked up, thanks to you!
Oh would that I were there to join in the “real” festivities. Everything looks gorgeous, from the flowers to the teapot to the glorious food and sherry. brava.
Your tea party is gorgeous! The epitome of class and elegance, LL. I love the treats you’ve chosen to feature, especially the roasted figs…I have a pint of fresh black figs in my fridge not earmarked for anything and I’m thinking about roasting them now! 🙂
You have brought this tea party to life with your photos; so elegant! Happy to see sherry included in this menu— especially love the mini bundt cakes!
How I wish I could experience this for real. It’s beautiful Lori.
Wow, Lori Lynn – what a fun evening event! Sherry and figs – what a rich combination! I could see several hours passing like minutes when accompanied by food and friends of this caliber!
Gorgeous! I wouldn’t be able to resist eating the whole plate of those delicious looking cakes and roasted figs!
It is delightful to click onto something so elegant and enticing. Would love to be sitting at the table, perchance with sherry somewhat more palate drying!
Those weensy sherry tea cakes look magnificent, Lori Lynn! And the drizzled icing complements them perfectly. It’s past my dinner time but I wish I had these waiting for afters! Have a beautiful weekend…
So lovely! I’m crashing your house for tea someday. Seriously, I’m just going to show up on your doorstep expecting fresh lemon verbena and tea cakes. 😉
What a beautiful spread! I didn’t realize those cakes were mini bundt cakes until I read the recipe. How cool! They are really adorable, and I love offsetting them with the roasted figs. A really great late summer tea party.
The food looks yummy and the flowers are lovely…did they all come from your garden?
Oh you went all out: tea, sherry, tea cakes and figs? Where to start? I all looks so amazing. I do adore the roasted fig recipe, got to do that. Gorgeous presentation.
I definitely want to come to this tea party! Those figs look heavenly and I know that balsamic and figs IS heavenly!! The sherry teas cakes and glaze and the TEA – delicious! What a lovely table you’ve set! Wish I could join the party, but it’s hard to contribute when I don’t have a kitchen. I could make tea. 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend!
First class all the way. Love the whole concept, from the fig to the sherry. I’ll trade some pork belly for figs?
You know, I was new to sherry with fruit until I found a super recipe for prunes in Earl Gray with Pedro Ximenez sherry that I now make all the time. It’s so good. Now I can’t wait to try it with figs!
You have made such a beautiful setting here with all the flowers and the combination of flavors is just too perfect. Honestly, I am in love!
Okay, you made your own tea – way to go! You always take things to such a high level, and this is no exception. And you brought sherry – you win my heart! A boozy tea party is my kind of tea party. : )
I feel so sophisticated and elegant just sitting here, staring at your gorgeous tea party setting! And we haven’t even started on the food yet! I also love the idea of eating fresh figs for high tea, and you’ve done it with a touch of savory too, how very clever…I can’t stop swooning looking at that serving tray full of figs. 🙂
Very pretty, very elegant. Love the glass tea pot!