Everything stops for tea

Putting on the Ritz . . . how to do tea at home

The perfect cup of tea



Michael Ktob

Use freshly drawn water and if the water is hard, use a filter to soften it. Boil the kettle and warm the pot thoroughly. Into the empty pot put one dessertspoonful of leaves per person plus half a dessertspoon for the pot (use a removable filter if possible). Bring the kettle to the boil again and fill the pot up. Steep the tea for two to three minutes. Use semi-skimmed or skimmed milk rather than full-fat. Pour the tea, filling the pot up afterwards with fresh boiling water. When the tea has brewed sufficiently, remove the filter so the tea doesn't stew. If using lemon instead of milk, put the lemon in before pouring the tea. Afterwards, rinse the teapot out thoroughly to prevent tannin build-up. Always keep the tea leaves in a dark airtight container, especially fragrant teas. Experiment with your own blends (my favourite is half assam to half earl grey). Use a good quality china cup and not some thumping great mug.
Michael Ktob is manager of the Palm Court at the Ritz

The perfect cucumber sandwich

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Simon Hopkinson

The finest bread to use for these sandwiches is, without question, the French bread known as pain de mie. It is a firm textured, almost creamy-tasting bread with the palest yellow, fine crumb. Poilâne bakery in Elizabeth Street, London SW1 (020-7808 4910) makes it in a rectangular tin, producing a perfect sandwich loaf which staff will happily slice for you as thinly as you like. The cucumber should be peeled (most important), sliced thinly and then lightly salted and left to leach out excess moisture. Pat dry in a tea towel. Lightly butter (unsalted) the bread, lay some overlapping slices of cucumber on it and then grind freshly milled white pepper on top. Sandwich together and press firmly. Slice off the crusts neatly and cut into three finger-sized sandwiches. If not eating them straight away, wrap in sheets of dampened greaseproof paper.
Simon Hopkinson is the author of Second Helpings of Roast Chicken

Quote:

The perfect cucumber sandwich



Simon Hopkinson

The finest bread to use for these sandwiches is, without question, the French bread known as pain de mie. It is a firm textured, almost creamy-tasting bread with the palest yellow, fine crumb. Poilâne bakery in Elizabeth Street, London SW1 (020-7808 4910) makes it in a rectangular tin, producing a perfect sandwich loaf which staff will happily slice for you as thinly as you like. The cucumber should be peeled (most important), sliced thinly and then lightly salted and left to leach out excess moisture. Pat dry in a tea towel. Lightly butter (unsalted) the bread, lay some overlapping slices of cucumber on it and then grind freshly milled white pepper on top. Sandwich together and press firmly. Slice off the crusts neatly and cut into three finger-sized sandwiches. If not eating them straight away, wrap in sheets of dampened greaseproof paper.
Simon Hopkinson is the author of Second Helpings of Roast Chicken

Continued

The perfect cake
Jane Asher
Sponge cakes, of course, are light and delicious, but sometimes I feel like a slice of old-fashioned madeira, which has that bit more body to it and says "tea-time" in a very English and satisfying way. Less fluffy than a sponge, it looks classically elegant, especially if topped with a drizzle of lemony icing and some beautiful crystallised violets and presented on a paper doily (making a comeback, so they tell me).


Lemon madeira cake 150g (5oz) butter 150g (5oz) castor sugar 4 medium eggs 200g (7oz) self-raising flour 1 tsp baking powder Rind and juice of an unwaxed lemon 225g (8oz) icing sugar


Pre-heat the oven to 180C (350F, gas mark 4). Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Break the eggs into a bowl or large cup and beat lightly, before adding little by little to the butter/sugar mix, beating well after each addition (if you use a food mixer or processor keep it on a high speed and add the eggs while it's running). Sift the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt together in a separate bowl, then stir it into the cake mix. Add the grated rind of the lemon and mix well. Grease and flour a six-inch-deep cake tin, spoon in the mixture and bake for 60-70 minutes until firm to the touch or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let it cool for a couple of minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack and leave until completely cold. Squeeze the juice of the lemon into a small bowl or jug, making sure no pips go into it, then gradually add the sieved icing sugar, little by little, until you have a thick, pouring consistency. Pour the icing over the cold cake, starting in the centre and allowing it to drizzle over the sides. When almost set, add a few crystallised violets and place on a paper doily on a pretty plate.
Jane Asher's latest book is Cakes For Fun, www.jane-asher.co.uk

The perfect fruit scone

By experts from Bettys cookery school Bettys tearoom, Harrogate

As long as they are pronounced sconns, of course.