Thursday, December 29, 2022

Ask Charlie – Lockdown Afternoon Tea

Charlie Gray of ‘Ask Charlie’ shares her thoughts how to perfect a lockdown afternoon tea and her recipe for lavender scones

During these extraordinary times, I have gone back to one of my favourite pleasures in life – afternoon tea.

 

Now, I know there has been a shortage of flour with the world and his wife taking up baking, but it does give me great delight each afternoon to sit down and enjoy a delicious treat.

 

Ask Charlie – Lockdown Afternoon Tea with Charlie – Charlie Gray of ‘Ask Charlie’ shares her thoughts how to perfect a lockdown afternoon tea complete with lavender scones.
Charlie Gray.

Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford introduced afternoon tea in 1840 taken at 4 o’clock in the afternoon as she simply believed the wait between lunch and dinner was just too long. I, for one, am with her there. It was far from ideal to be getting hungry back in the 1840s and it’s just the same when you’re in lockdown also.

 

I am married to a proper foodie and if something gets the thumbs up from him, I know I’m onto a goodie so I wanted to share this with you: I’ve got him onto lavender scones. He was a little sceptical at first and not so keen to try, but now there is no stopping him.

 

Lavender scones are so easy to make and you don’t even need to wait for them to cool before you can enjoy them. Happy baking.

 

Sussex based mother of three and lifestyle blogger Charlie Gray shares ‘homegrown skills’ and practical advice on her website Ask Charlie. Watch her videos on YouTube by clicking here.

 

My recipe for lavender scones follows:

 

Ingredients

85g butter cold and cut into small cubes.

3 tablespoons caster sugar infused with lavender.

350g self-raising flour.

1 teaspoon baking powder.

½ teaspoon of table salt.

175ml room temperature milk.

A squeeze of lemon juice

½ teaspoon of vanilla extract.

1 teaspoon of dried lavender.

1 egg beaten to glaze.

 

Method

Please dried lavender and some fresh lavender (can just be the leaves) into the caster sugar and leave for 48 hours.

 

Sieve the sugar before using and discard the lavender.

 

Heat the oven to 210°C or use the roasting oven of an Aga.

 

Place 175ml in a jug and add in the squeeze of lemon and vanilla extract, set aside until it is room temperature or gently heat a little.

 

Place the flour, salt, baking powder in a large bowl and in the cold cubed butter.

 

Using your fingertips gently rub the mixture until you have fine breadcrumbs.

 

Add in the lavender infused caster sugar and teaspoon of dried lavender, mixture it through.

 

Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk.

 

Using and knife stir until it comes together in a ball it will be quite wet.

 

Generously flour the work surface and fold the dough over a few times until its smooth but be careful not to over work the dough.

 

Shape into a round approximately 4cm deep and using a fluted cookie cutter cut out as many rounds as you can and place on a lined baking tray, reshape the dough and cut out more. I make twelve at a time.

 

Brush the top with the egg wash, leave to rest for 10 minutes before baking for 10 minutes until golden.

 

Serve warm with jam and clotted cream and remember that these freeze well also.

 

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes and @askcharliehow

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

 

5 COMMENTS

  1. I can only respond with two 1783 recipes off my list, written by Charlotte Starkie of Huntroyd House.
    Both are within contemporary feasability.
    Mace Cakes
    1 lb 1/4 of Flour dried before the fire – 1 lb of Butter rubb[e]’d in it – 1 lb of sugar powder – 1 lb of Currants – 4 eggs. 2 spoonfuls of wine & 2 of Brandy – a whole Nutmeg – a little Mace & cinnamon – mix it all together and drop it in small cakes on Tin

    To make Small Cakes
    Take half a pound of flour,
    ½ lb of fresh butter rubb[e[‘d in the flour
    five eggs
    half a spoonfull[sic] of orange flower water
    a little white wine
    half a pound of fine sugar
    a quarter of a pound of currant

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

£1 per week Supports The Steeple Times

Help journalism to remain honest & independent. You can make a difference to the world today.

3,091FansLike
2,068FollowersFollow
14,723FollowersFollow
4,962SubscribersSubscribe

Subscribe For DAILY NEWS

Please subscribe, like and share this unique site, it helps us tremendously. The Steeple Times in return will send you an email at noon each and everyday, that we sincerely hope you will enjoy & look forward to seeing in your inbox.

AD
Advertisement

Trending Now

Crypto Crook’s Big Short – Will Sam Bankman-Fried Story Be Turned Into Blockbuster?

Crypto crook Sam Bankman-Fried astonishingly gets to hang out with the author of ‘The Big Short’ in spite of being on £207 million bail and now has not only Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer onside but also Prince Andrew’s judge to face also.

Five Unlikely Things Famous Footballers Did Next…

David Lennox shares the little-known stories of what five famous footballers did next after retiring their pitch time prowess – amongst them everything from novel writing to forensic detective work.

Most Popular Articles

Justice for James Scurlock

Power of social media proven after senseless killing of James Scurlock in Omaha, Nebraska allegedly by a controversial bar owner named Jake Gardner who has been photographed with Donald Trump.

Moron of the Moment – Prince Harry

With his marriage to the woman formerly known as Meghan Markle, Prince Harry has morphed into an utter bore   Prince Harry used to be a...

Scobie Orf!

‘MeGain’s’ bestie Omid Scobie deservedly gets slammed by ‘Yankee Wally’ Sadie Quinlan for getting her shut down on Twitter; this childish chap should now just ‘belt up, wrap up and shut up.’

A Massive Media Maelstrom – McCann, Mandelson and Maxwell

Matthew Steeples highlights how the ‘Mandelson Media Method’ is very much in play in both the case of the Prince Andrew-Jeffrey Epstein connection and the renewed interest in the Madeleine McCann disappearance.

The Phil & Matt Show

Phillip Schofield filmed smoking shisha with his alleged ex-lover Matt McGreevy (and pictured in bed thereafter); another image shows the pair together in photograph...

Plane Perverted

EXCLUSIVE – Previously unnamed 9-year-old child pictured on the lap of Jeffrey Epstein on his plane in ‘Daily Mail’ suggested to be daughter of billionaire Glenn Dubin.

Moron of the Moment 2021 – Richard Madeley

As the new Diana, Princess of Wales statue is mocked as looking like him, ‘Dorian Gray of Daytime Telly’ Richard Madeley pathetically claims he got PTSD due to worrying about his son’s wedding.

Most Liked...

Ampika Pickston

Ampika Pickston
Oldham born divorcee and former glamour model Ampika Pickston describes herself as “feisty, fun loving and warm hearted”. Now based in Hale Barns, Cheshire...

Picture of the Week: The Wallies of Whalley

Picture of the Week: A field at Whalley Arches, Lancashire before and after flooding
Image of flooded Lancashire field complete with sign advertising it as a development site for 39 homes illustrates the perils of building on flood...

Was Mucky Minx Meghan Markle A ‘Yacht Girl’ For ‘Randy Andy’?

Was Meghan Markle A ‘Yacht Girl’ For ‘Randy Andy’?
As author Kirby Sommers suggests that the then Meghan Markle likely spent time with Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein before she met Prince Harry, we again highlight the mucky, murkiness and mendacious manner of this alleged “yacht girl.”

Unprecedentedly THAT – Scrag-End Omid Scobie’s Christmas Twitter Missive Stinkers

Unprecedentedly THAT – Scrag-End Omid Scobie’s Christmas Twitter Missive Stinkers
In using Twitter to share rabid rants about everything from Ribena to the royals, Omid Scobie simply shows himself as unprecedently awful.

MeGain’s Mouthpiece’s Moronic Meltdown – Soppy Omid Scobie v Joyous Jeremy...

MeGain’s Mouthpiece Has Meltdown Jeremy Clarkson Meghan Markle Omid Scobie
Matthew Steeples salutes Jeremy Clarkson for expressing honest thoughts about the deviant Duchess of Sussex (and especially for causing the soppy snowflake that is ‘MeGain’s mouthpiece Omid Scobie to have a meltdown as a result).