Tea Party

Sunday afternoon is an ideal day for a lovely tea party. All can be prepared days ahead except sandwiches so not much stress is involved. Prepare freshly brewed English Breakfast and relax with your guests.

For this tea assembly I did Crab& Feta Sandwiches, Zucchini and Feta cheese Muffins, White Chocolate and Peanut Tarts, Traditional Jam Tarts and Vanilla Slice with Fresh fruit Topping.

Crab and Feta Cheese Sandwiches
100g Feta  Cheese
200g Good Quality Crab Sticks
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp chopped chives
1 tsp English Mustard
1 tbsp Ketchup
4 tbsp Mayonnaise
1 tsp sugar
Process everything in a food processor leaving mixture even but rough not smooth paste.  Take two white slices and 1 brown. Cut sides to remove outer crust.  Spread a generous mixture between the three layers of sandwich leaving the brown bread slice in the middle. Cut into 4 equal squares.

Zucchini and Feta Cheese Mini Muffins 
350g Self Raising Flour
100g Feta Cheese
90g butter cut into cubes
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup grated Zucchini (large fitting)
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh cream
Poppy seed

Sift flour in a large bowl and rub in the butter so that mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.  Add Zucchini, milk cream lightly beaten egg, salt sugar and crumbled feta cheese.  Using a metal spoon mix the mixture lightly.  Do not over mix, mixture should look a bit lumpy.  Spoon in small muffin trays till the brim sprinkle poppy seeds on top and bake in moderately hot oven 210c for approx 25 minutes or until golden.  You can freeze after completely cold.  Thaw and re heat in a 180c oven to crisp up.

White Chocolate and Peanut Tarts
1/2 quantity sweet short pastry
100g white chocolate melts
1 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 cup cream
1 egg yolk
100g white chocolate melts extra

Prepare filling by putting 100g chocolate, peanut butter and cream in a bowl over bane Marie until all melts to a smooth paste. Remove from heat add yolk and stir till all combined. On a floured surface gently open pastry until approx 2 mm thickness. Have a non stick muffin case ready and an adequate round cutter so that each round fits in the muffin hole and sides rise to approx 1cm. Cut rounds and fit in Muffin tray, fill with peanut mixture leaving 2mm clearance from sides.  Bake in a 195c oven for 1/2 an hour.  Remove from tray and cool on wire rack.  Melt the extra chocolate and coat the tops.

Classic Jam Tarts
Use the remaining half of sweet short pastry and line muffin trays same as for peanut white chocolate tarts.  Fill in with good quality or home made jam, cut thin strips and cross shape over jam filling.  Bake in 180c oven for 1/2 hour till golden.


Vanilla Cream Slice with Fresh Strawberries
1 roll ready Made Puff Pastry sheet
1/2 quantity Creme Patissiere
100g mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons caster sugar
little milk to brush
Fresh Strawberries and Icing Sugar for decoration

Open Puff Pastry sheet and cut evenly into 2inchx1.25inch rectangles 8cmx4cm). Put on baking tray and prick with fork.  Brush with milk and sprinkle caster sugar.  Bake in 200c oven till golden brown.  Make the cream by whisking mascarpone cheese until soft and combine to creme patissiere.  Spoon mixture into piping bag fitted with star nozzle. Arrange two equal rectangles and layer cream in the middle. pipe some cream on top and decorate with sliced strawberries. Dust with icing Sugar.