Afternoon tea wedding in Stanton near Broadway

Four o'clock on the dot was tea time in my great grandmother's house. If you were late woe betide you. The same tradition passed down to the next generation too so there was always tea and cake at four. It was the same at my paternal grandparent's too - work stopped in the garden and workshop for afternoon tea, and if guests happened to be around or it was a larger family gathering savoury things also made an appearance - you can't beat sardines on toast!

Is it that sense of nostalgia for olde england that makes us love afternoon tea so much? Or it could be that it all just tastes so good. It certainly makes for a great wedding breakfast like this one we served last Saturday in Stanton near Broadway. 

Buck's fizz to start anyone?

Afternoon tea sandwiches:
Smoked salmon and watercress
Chicken and apple
Ham with apricot chutney
Cucumber, cream cheese and rocket
Egg and cress - can't beat the classics!

On the savoury side were mini quiche lorraine, butternut squash filo tarts and sausage and sun dried tomato lattice ("Better than Ginsters!" said the waiting staff. Apparently that's good)

Baking coconut macaroons at 11pm

I was addicted to making these as a tween - then shredded coconut was easy to find. Not so easy now - nowhere sells it. Much more succulent that dessicated coconut (dessicated makes them dry). Finally after a hour's trawling I found it at The USA Foodstore - great fast shipping btw thanks.  

Homemade plain & apple and sultana scones with clotted cream and Dove Cottage Hedgerow preserve
White chocolate and blueberry torte
Fruit crème pâtissière tarts
Rose & vanilla cupcakes
Coconut macaroons

White chocolate and blueberry torte - using the dark choc recipe but exchanging dark choc for white

Added to my collection of cake stands a couple of days before from Forgotten Treasures - based in the same village as the wedding was. I love these - rather than the cake stand handles that everyone else uses they have vintage glasses between the layers - much more individual. Each plate has a story behind it. 

0

Jerk pork with curried nectarine relish and baps

Sacriliege or serious flavour?
Pig roasts have been so popular this year - more this year than ever before. This corporate party in Stanton, Gloucestershire however was only 16 but still wanted the pig roast experience. As a pig roast will feed 50 - 150 in the end we agreed smaller cuts of pork along with a couple of cajun spiced free range Madgetts Farm chickens. I was keen to try out the jerk pork again, and they liked the sound of it too.

Pork, as always, was Berkshire/ Gloucester Old Spot cross from Home Farm in Bredon's Norton. As it was a last minute booking they didn't have all the pork shoulder I needed - the pigs still needed a bit more hanging in the cold room. So it was a combination of 6 hour slow cooked shoulder and roasted loin. Nice combination!
Ever since Nigella had cooked gammon in coca cola I had meaning to try it. Cooking the jerk pork in coke seems to be quite a thing too. I took this recipe and adapted it, leaving the pork to mariande for a couple of days. And after 6 hours of cooking in pork stock, coke, lemon, ginger, garlic, onion, chilli, lime, herbs etc, I drained the liquid and reduced it to a glaze. This made a nice condiment to serve with the pork & baps or for smearing on the chicken they had brought and were just about to roast as I arrived with their delivery on the way to cooking abother dinner party. The loin roasted in about an hour and a half. I then gave them instructions on removing the skin to make crackling.

Curried nectarine relish

I had liked the look of this recipe when I found it a couple of months ago. I took the idea and just made my own - had lots of chutney making experience when young and one of my first jobs as a chef. Nectarines look better than peaches when I picked them up so I used those instead. Couldn't have been much fresher - barely had time to cool before it was on the road.

3

Assiette of desserts

Strawberry and Champagne tartlets
Mini Rum Babas
Mini Strawberry Meringue Roulade
Shotglass of Tiramasu
Mini Crème Brûlée

As served a couple of hours ago at The Guildhouse in Stanton, the grade II manor house, at which I have served many memorable events. In the summer guests can have pre-dinner drinks on the terrace looking out over miles of the Cotswolds valleys and hills below, while in the winter there are the open fireplaces, which, along with the Cotswold stone, create such a cosy atmosphere.

Rum babas freshly cooked earlier in the afternoon, using the same tins as for the mini yorkshire puddings.

Rum baba is a cross between brioche and cake, in that it is yeast based, enriched with butter and eggs. The 'rum' in the name comes from the rum syrup you spoon over after it has been cooked. It should be well soaked & moist. An old French classic, it suits the winter dessert plate perfectly. I also do another verison - normal sized dessert - with Cointreau instead of rum and served with caramelised oranges.

For other assiette desserts we have served see here: http://www.thecotswoldfoodyear.com/search/label/assiette%20of%20desserts

1