Afternoon Tea or Cream Tea ?

It's hard to choose between them but if you are planning Afternoon Tea then you'll probably need to skip a meal !

Afternoon Tea was introduced to England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford in around 1840. As dinner was served at the then fashionably late hour of 8pm, quite some time from lunch, she found that she was often hungry by around 4pm in the afternoon. So began the practice of ordering tea and light refreshments to be sent to her room. In time this morphed into a more social occasion involving special 'tea gowns' and entertaining friends for a gossip in the parlour.

Tea drinking was made popular by Catherine of Braganza, wife to Charles II who introduced the custom in 1662 when she came to England as a bride. Where the court went, the country followed. In 1706 Thomas Twining opened London's first tearoom and the rest, as they say, is history.

So what's the difference ? Well essentially a cream tea consists of tea (naturally) served with scones, fruit jam and clotted cream. Whether you spread the jam or cream first depends on which side of the Devon-Cornish divide you favour. You can read more about that in the etiquette of cream teas (seriously!)

An Afternoon Tea requires a cake stand with several layers as it is not only tea and scones but also finger sandwiches(with the crusts removed) and cake as well. It is an altogether more substantial affair !

Both cream teas and afternoon teas can be enjoyed in a huge variety of locations around the country. Most tearooms, restaurants and hotels will offer one or both. You can enjoy one cruising down a canal or riding a vintage steam train. You can even have a cream tea whilst riding the London Eye.

Now that would have surprised our Victorian ancestors !

I've enjoyed cream teas and afternoon teas in many places but one of my favourites has to be Amberley Castle in West Sussex.

Once a castle now a rather exclusive hotel, popular as a wedding venue and conference centre, it offers a an Afternoon Tea experience. A group of friends and I who were all celebrating our 'golden' birthdays decided to visit a couple of summers ago. Tea was served inside the castle in a room redolent with Gothic and medieval weaponry and artefact's. We had wonderful service from the staff who reappeared at our elbows as soon as the teapot was empty and were kind enough to supply us with 'doggy-bags' as there were so many left over treats.

www.amberleycastle.co.uk


Well worth treating yourself if you are local to the area.

There is as I recently discovered ,a cream tea society. This year National Cream Tea day is Friday 28th June. Should you wish to host a charity fund raiser -holding a cream tea event to raise money for your chosen charity, then you can apply for a pack of free clotted cream and jams from the society.

I just might give that a whirl-who doesn't like a cream tea ?

If you would like more details (or to check out the etiquette rules !) have a look at their website here.

www.creamteasociety.co.uk