A Mad Tea Party for the Twelve Dancing Princesses

 

Are you sitting comfortably, my dears? Then I'll begin.

Once upon a time there was a White Queen. She invited her eleven sisters to take tea with her, and eagerly awaited their arrival.

She had heard tell of a wonderful phenomenon: Mad Tea Parties being held across the world, all taking place on one particular day, and led by the artist Vanessa Valencia of A Fanciful Twist, a great lady renowned for her own magnificently mad feasts.

The White Queen was the eldest of twelve dancing princesses.

Using carrier birds, she sent a note to each sister, with a date to gather them all together for the first time in what felt like so very long.

She lovingly prepared each sweet treat  for the tea party herself.

The rarest raspberries, which she used to flavour a creamy layered heart meringue were grown from her own palace garden, infused with the exquisite scent of rose petals.

Cakes had been baked, macarons made and she had even created her own juice, of beetroot and apple and carrot and grape and pretty much every fruit in the garden.

She sat herself down at the banqueting table and tasted her first treat, when who did she spy but a furry little friend.

It was Nico, the cat who had visited her Mad Tea Party last year!

"Welcome, welcome my dancing dear! But where is Emalina, oh puss? asked the White Queen, 'Why has she let you out alone this time?"

"Mistress Emalina sends her apologies, your Highness, sadly she cannot attend due to her many work commitments" purred Nico, "But I have grown, you see, and being no longer a kitten but a real lady cat, Emalina has let me come on my own. I have been waiting for the honour to attend your party all year, if you will have me."

"Why it is a delight to have you, sweet furry face" exclaimed the White Queen, "such a pleasure indeed. We are waiting for my eleven sisters to join us for tea, but there is no reason why we can't start feasting without them. They are dancing their way across the land to reach me via my style blog Kiki & the Gypsy, and may be some time. See those shoes, up on the pergola there? I have kept an old pair for each of us from our heady dancing days."

"Such beautiful shoes, oh Queen," cried Nico, her nose sniffing the air and her whiskers twitching, "But would you mind awfully telling me more about this feast? I so love to know what I'm eating before I eat it, it adds to the pleasure tenfold."

 

 

"Well, dear paws, we have home made rose macarons, and honeyed banana cupcakes, and orange blossom and almond bird cake, plus a heart shaped rose meringue layered with raspberry cream for pudding. Would any of that suit you? I know you're a feline of such discerning taste."

 

"Oooh honeyed banana cupcakes!" exclaimed Nico the cat, her nose twitching more, "I do so enjoy a cupcake! These look delightful. How clever of you, my Queen, to have decorated them with the prettiest butterflies of the realm, I do so love a butterfly too! Extra crunch!"

And with that, Nico swiped a blue cupcake with her paw and proceeded to munch upon it noisily.

The White Queen watched her, smiling, before quietly and secretly cutting herself a slice of the layered creamy meringue heart.

Once they'd both munched and sipped and were resting their bellies, the White Queen took out an unusual looking mirror. She held it to her face, as if to look through it. But all Nico could see was the reflection of the wooden pergola shining back at her.

 

"I am watching my sisters dance across the land to me" murmured the White Queen "for this is a magic mirror. It helped me find the way many times as I led my sisters through golden woods, silver forests and diamond fields in our heady dancing days."

 

 

"May I look?" asked Nico, intruiged.

"I cannot allow you, my dear puss," said the White Queen, "for while you may be an exceptionally pretty and loveable little cat, you have not been taught how to use magic.

What you may do is listen to my sisters' shoes, hear how they start to hum and buzz with excitement as their owners grow near."

It was not just the princesses' shoes that were humming. The plants in the White Queen's garden were teaming with a buzzing sound. What Nico had taken to be the sound of bees pollinating the flowers was actually a deep tone resonating from the flowers themselves.

Even the White Queen's beautiful  floral crown was humming with pleasure, the flowers clearly full of life and optimism. 

"We cannot help it" exclaimed the White Queen, pointing to her crown, " We are all so thrilled to see my sisters again!"

 

"I am delighted for you, your Highness!" purred Nico, "Congratulations on your happy day. Now I'm just wondering, would it be impertinent to ask for a slice of the orange blossom and almond bird cake? And may I ask, does it include real birds? I do so love a bird."

 

"Help yourself, kitty" said the White Queen "although I must warn you these birds are not of the meat variety, but are made from icing. They're still delicious though, as are the rose macarons of various sizes. Do try them too, they were awfully hard to make but so sublime to taste that they were certainly worth the effort."

 

"Macarons are a little too small for my liking, even the big ones Ma'am. But those honeyed banana cupcakes on the other hand, those are just the size for a grown up lady cat like myself, so don't mind if I do...."

 

 

As Nico ate some more - for she was a greedy little kitty - the White Queen fussed over the table, adding the finishing touches to her feast. Fans and wild flowers, rose tea in a teapot and fresh camellias in vases, it could not have looked lovelier for her sisters' return.

 

 

The sun shone brightly as Nico gave herself a clean, unashamed of her gluttony, but pleased that she'd shown restraint enough not to eat it all. There would be plenty of treats left for the dancing princesses.

 

The air grew still and calm but the humming sound grew nearer, and with it a hundred larks appeared in the sky, to circle above the banqueting table. Nico held her breath as she watched them. There'd be no real birds to eat today, these were swooping and ascending with such skill and grace she knew that they could more than outwit her.

"The time has come," proclaimed the White Queen, "the time we've been waiting for my loyal and furry friend. I can see in the mirror my sisters are approaching!"

 

And suddenly there they were, sashaying and twirling and leaping as they danced their way into the White Queen's garden. The Mad Tea Party was complete!

 

 

 

 

 

Oh how the land rejoiced to see all its beloved sisters together at last!

It was a party to beat all parties, one of laughter and warmth and feasting and enormous hugs.

I cannot tell you all that happened, for only little Nico the cat stayed with the White Queen and her sisters until the very end.

 

But I do know this. Once it was over the White Queen's pergola was aburst with colour, as if every flower in the kingdom had also danced and laughed and exploded with happiness.

And all that was left to show of the dancing princesses?

One very worn, but still humming, pair of red sequin shoes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE END

 

 

Happy Mad Tea Party everyone! Thanks so much for popping by.

Please don't forget to visit the dancing princesses at my style blog Kiki and the Gypsy, where there's more fairytale inspired photography of them dancing their way to the White Queen's tea party.

 

 

All cake and dessert recipes are to come in future posts.

Click here to see my 2012 Mad Tea Party post.
 

 

Now I'm off to visit your mad tea parties!

 

 

White Rabbit, Rose & Lemon Marble Cake

Welcome to the recipe for White Rabbit, Rose & Lemon Marble Cake! There's no need to give this cake too much description, as the White Queen did such a good job of it in the Mad Tea Party post. Suffice to say it is a delicious and oh so pretty party cake, with a moist flavoursome crumb, and a psychedelic glamour all of its own.

Recipe
My own
Serves 10-12


For the white chocolate rabbits and roses:
approx 350g white chocolate, broken into pieces


1. Make the chocolate rabbits and roses in advance. Gently melt 250g of the chocolate over a bain mairie, a heatproof bowl over a pan of just simmering water. Stir the chocolate, and when melted, add the extra 100g, taking it off the heat but continuing to stir until melted.

2. When all the white chocolate has melted smoothly, carefully spoon it into the silicone moulds (I got roses one from Lakeland; the rabbit one from Baked & Delicious magazine). Place the filled moulds on a plate in the fridge for half an hour, before unmoulding. Don't touch them too much when unmoulding as the heat of your hands may soften them. When unmoulded, place the mice back in the fridge on a plate until ready to use.


for the marble cake:
250g unsalted butter, room temperature
250g caster sugar
250g self raising flour
4 eggs
1 large drop of rose water, for rose batter
1 large drop of lemon extract, for lemon batter
1 pin prick pink colour tint paste, for rose batter, I used Ruby by SugarFlair
1 pin prick yellow colour tint paste, for lemon batter, I used Primrose by SugarFlair


3.Turn the oven to 180C (160C fan oven). Grease a 20cm round baking tin and line the bottom with baking paper.

4. Cream butter and sugar together for at least 3 minutes in a large bowl until fluffy.

5. Add the first egg and a tablespoon of the flour, and beat well until smooth. Repeat the process with the other two eggs one after the other, adding a little flour with each and beating until smooth.

6. Then divide the batter evenly into two bowls. To one half of the batter add the lemon flavouring and the yellow colouring, and mix together gently with a metal spoon.

7. To the second bowl of batter, add the rose flavouring and the pink colouring, mixing until combined as before.

8. Dollop spoonfuls of each batter, one after the other, into the prepared baking tin. When all the mixture has been used up, swirl once around the spoonfuls of batter with a skewer.


9. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes. You'll know it's done when a skewer comes out clean.

10. Remove from the oven and leave the cake in its tin for 20 minutes before carefully turning it out onto a wire rack or a plate to cool.


for the icing (this makes more than enough, so there'll be spoonfuls of leftovers for licking!):
500g icing sugar
160g unsalted butter, room temperature
50ml whole milk
2 drops vanilla extract

11. Once the cake is cool, you can make the icing. Slowly beat the icing sugar and butter together using a food mixer or a handheld electric whisk until they are well combined.


12. In a separate bowl, mix the milk and vanilla together.

13. Add a couple of spoonfuls at a time of the vanilla milk to the icing, mixing well.

14. When all the vanilla milk has been added, beat the mixture quickly, and continue beating for a minimum of 6 minutes, until the icing is fluffy and light.

15. When you're happy with the consistency of the icing, spread it over the top and sides of the cake with a spatula or palette knife.

16. Before the icing starts to harden, quickly place the white chocolate rabbits and roses into the icing, pressing them in firmly so that they stay put. Place the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes, then take out at least 5 minutes before serving at room temperature.

This cake was idly baked while listening to Edith Sitwell sing William Walton's Facade

Mini Cupcakes - Chocolate and Rose Flavours

There is something absolutely addictive about these mini cupcakes. Perhaps it's because they taste soooo good and each one is just a mouthful, prompting the thought 'well there's no harm in having just one more'. Perhaps it's because they look so daintily pretty, like something out of a 1950's tea party with their little buttercream tops resembling flowers or sweet sea anemones. Whatever the reason, these little babies are extremely popular. When I served them for a 60th birthday party this week they didn't last long!

Recipe
Makes 35, so serves approx 15 (2 or 3 mini cupcakes per person)
Base and icing recipe adapted from the one given on website Forkd by the intruigingly named lukkie_shipwreck. See her recipe online here. 
Chocolate icing recipe adapted from Xanthe Milton's one for Easter Nest Cupcakes in her gorgeous book Eat Me. Buy the book on Amazon.

for the batter:
125g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
125g self raising flour
125g golden caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons milk

for the chocolate batter flavour:
30g dark chocolate (70% solids)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

for the rose batter flavour:
half a teaspoon rose water
grated zest of half a small unwaxed lemon

1. Turn oven to 190C (170C fan ovens). Fill several mini muffin pans with mini cupcake cases.

2. In a large bowl, throw in all the batter ingredients except the milk, and beat well until combined.

3. Next add the milk, and stir again.

4. To make the two flavours, place half the batter into a second large mixing bowl.

5. To make the chocolate batter, melt the chocolate over a low heat in a saucepan before leaving to cool for a moment. Add the cocoa powder to the batter in the first bowl, and stir carefully. Then pour in the melted chocolate and continuing stirring gently until the batter is smooth and combined.

6. To make the rose batter, stir the rose water and grated lemon zest into the batter in the second bowl.

7. Use a teaspoon to carefully spoon the chocolate batter into the cases, and then the rose batter. Fill the cases until they are two thirds full. My 2 mini muffin trays hold 12 cupcakes each, so I filled them and baked the cupcakes in several batches, covering the leftover batters under plates and cooking the final batch when the first had come out of the oven.

8. Place the mini muffin trays into the oven and bake for 14-15 minutes. You'll know they're done when a skewer comes out clean.

9. When done, leave the cupcakes for a couple of minutes before placing them on a wire rack to cool, and put the next batch of cupcakes to bake in the oven. When all are baked, leave them to cool on the rack and you can get on with the icing.

for the rose icing:

300g icing sugar, sifted 

150g unsalted butter, room temperature

half a teaspoon rose water

pink food colouring tint paste

7. Combine the butter and icing sugar. Stir in the rose water and mix together. Add a pin prick of colour tint (I used Dusky Pink by SugarFlair), and gently stir it in.

8.  Get a pint glass. Place a piping bag with a star nozzle inside the glass, so that the nozzle is on the bottom of the glass. Fold the piping bag edges over the glass rim. Spoon the rose icing into the piping bag, then carefully take the bag out of the glass and twist the end of the bag so that the icing is well contained.

9. Pipe the icing over the rose cupcakes and add any sprinkles or sugar flowers you fancy to decorate.

for the chocolate icing:

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

42g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

142g icing sugar, sifted

half a teaspoon vanilla extract

60ml double cream

170g unsalted butter, room temperature

10. Melt the chocolate over a low heat, and then leave to cool.

11. Mix the icing sugar and cocoa powder in a large bowl. When combined, beat in the butter.

12. Add the vanilla extract, cream and melted chocolate to the icing, and whisk briskly for at least 3 minutes until smooth and the colour has lightened.

13. Follow the same method as before for icing the cupcakes, using a second piping bag, and piping the icing onto the chocolate cupcakes before adding any decoration you like.

These mini cupcakes were idly baked while listening to Roberta Flack's album Killing Me Softly

Gluten Free Rose & Lemon cupcakes

This simple recipe is my own creation, and I'm very pleased with it. The rose and lemon evoke turkish delight in delicate cupcake form. I should say that cupcakes satisfy the girly, romantic side of me, there's something so wonderfully, enjoyably frivolous about them. They're very quick to make and lots of fun to eat, just watch out for the sugar rush as you take your first mouthful of the cream cheese icing! These are both gluten free and nut free. If you'd like to go a step further and make them dairy free as well, then replace the butter in the cake batter with a dairy free margarine, and leave out the cream cheese icing, opting for a simple drizzle made from icing sugar and a few tablespoons of rose water or lemon juice instead.

Recipe
Makes 12 medium muffin-sized cupcakes

125g gluten free self raising flour (Dove's Farm recommended)
1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder (Barkart recommended)
125g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
125g caster sugar
finely grated zest of 1 small lemon
1 tablespoon rose water

1. Turn the oven to 180 (160 fan) and place large cupcake cases in a 12 muffin baking tray. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl, until smooth and fluffy.

2. Add the eggs one at a time and beat in. Then pour in the lemon zest and tablespoon of rose water, stirring well.

3. Next sieve the flour and baking powder into the mixture, stirring gently until the batter is combined.

4. Spoon the batter into each cupcake case, until they are approximately two-thirds full (you want to leave enough room for the cakes to rise).

5. Place in the oven for 20 minutes. You'll know the cakes are done if a skewer comes out clean.

6. Take out of the oven and leave for a few minutes, before moving the cupcakes in their cases to a wire rack or plate to cool.

for the icing:

1 or 2 teaspoons of rose water

100g butter

100g cream cheese

410g icing sugar

food colouring tint pastes (I used Dusky Pink and Grape Violet, both by Sugarflair)

7. Combine the butter and cream cheese. Stir in the teaspoon or 2 of rose water and mix together. 

8. Sift half the icing sugar into the mixture, and stir thoroughly, before adding the other half and continuing to stir until it is a thick paste. Take care stirring the icing sugar, as this is a bit messy, I tend to wear an apron as I've been known to accidentally drench myself in it when stirring too vigorously!

9. When the icing is combined, the only thing left to do is to colour it. If you're making more than 1 colour icing as I was, then divide the icing into 2 bowls and colour each accordingly. With colour tint pastes you only need to add a pin prick amount before stirring it in to give the icing a beautiful pastel colour.

10. Get a pint glass (or 2 if you're icing 2 different colours, in which case just follow the same method for each individual colour). Place a piping bag with a nozzle inside the glass, so that the nozzle is on the bottom of the glass. Fold the piping bag edges over the glass rim. Spoon the paste into the piping bag, then carefully take the bag out of the glass and twist the end of the bag so that the icing is well contained.

11. Pipe the icing over the cupcakes and add any sprinkles or sugar flowers you fancy to decorate. To pipe a rose, you start piping in the middle of the cupcake and work outwards. To pipe a classic swirl, you start piping at the outer edge of the cupcake and work inwards.

These cupcakes were idly baked to the sounds of David Bowie's Singles Collection, the Space Oddity and Ziggy Stardust years.

Gluten Free Sticky Spiced Nectarine & Poppy Seed Cake

You've probably worked out by now that I love baking with fruit. It's a win-win situation: delicious and healthy are qualities that every cake should aspire to. My favourite cakes are the ones I can enjoy eating with gusto rather than guilt. The below was made with the first nectarines of the year, and if that isn't cause for celebration then I don't know what is.

By the way, the glitches with the Google comment system seem now to be resolved which means that I can respond to your comments. Do keep writing to me as I love to read them and am happy to reply if I can.

Recipe
Serves 8

Adapted from a recipe given on an old leaflet from the Abel & Cole fruit and veg box company. For similar ones see their cookbook Cooking Outside The Box. Buy the book on Amazon
I've added an extra egg, swopped the lemon in that recipe for an orange and a lime, and added poppy seeds to give a sweet crunchiness to the taste.


Ingredients:
3 nectarines, cored, halved and thinly sliced
4 tsp ground cinnamon
125g gluten-free mix self-raising flour (I use Dove's Farm gluten-free)
1 tbsp fresh orange juice
2 tsps grated orange peel
1 tsp lime juice
100g & 3 tbsps light muscovado sugar
1 tbsp poppy seeds
150g unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 eggs

1. Turn the oven to 180C (160C fan oven). Line and butter a 23x7inch tin.

2. Beat the butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Add 100g of the sugar and beat until smooth.

3. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, then add the orange juice, orange peel, lime juice and poppy seeds. Add the flour and mix until well combined.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Arrange the nectarine slices on top in concentric circles to cover the top of the cake and press them lightly into the batter.

5. In another bowl combine the cinnamon and the left over 3 tbsps sugar, then sprinkle them evenly over the cake.

6. Bake for approx 1 hour until golden. Let it cool for 10 mins before carefully cutting around the cake and placing it on to a plate. Serve at room temperature with tea, or while still warm with ice cream or cream as a dessert cake. The rose from the garden is an optional extra topping.

An idle tip - for a lighter version of this cake, just swop the light muscovado sugar for caster sugar. This will create a paler cake topping showing off more of the pretty nectarine circles.

This cake was idly baked to the sounds of Florence and the Machine's album Lungs

Home made Rose Petal Jam and a cup of Balmy Lemon Tea

Rose Petal Jam

from Richard Mabey's book Food for Free
Buy the book on Amazon

1. You will only need to prepare a small potful, as it is very sweet. Take two cups of wild rose petals (only supplement with those from garden roses if absolutely necessary as the thick, fleshy petals of the garden varieties are very difficult to reduce to jelly).

2. Sort through the petals, and remove any withered ones (cram them down into the cup when measuring).
Dissolve two cups of caster sugar in half a cup of water, mixed with one tablespoon each of lemon juice and orange juice.

3. Stir in the rose petals and put the pan over a very low heat. Stir continuously for 30 minutes, or until all the petals have 'melted'. Cool the mixture a little, pour into a small glass jar and seal.

Lemon Balm Tea

1. First find some wild lemon balm leaves nestling amongst the nettles in the garden. Boil a kettle. Pick 4 small lemon balm leaves and place them in a cup. Pour the boiling water in and let stew for a few minutes. That's it folks! Enjoy the fresh citrus taste of the tea.

My spies tell me that lemon balm lifts the spirits and can be also used to aid digestion and headaches. Scatter it in salads. I'll have to see if I can make a cake with our lemon balm one of these days.

Rose Petal Genoese Sponge Cake

This lovely plain genoese recipe has a rose flavouring, inspired by the gorgeous roses growing around our cottage door which have sprung to life and are giving off the most wonderful aroma. With this in mind, I made a delicious celebratory layered rose sponge cake. It's lighter and softer than your average sponge, and needs a lot of eggs and a good whisk to make up for the lack of any raising agent.

Recipe
Serves 8 - 10

To make 2 sponges:
8 eggs, room temperature
250g caster sugar
2 tsps rose water
250g plain flour or gluten free mix (M&S or Dove's Farm recommended for gf flours)
2 pinches of salt
120g butter, melted and warm

Filling:
Rose petal jam or Raspberry jam

1. Turn the oven to 180C (160C for those like myself using a fan oven). Start by greasing two 23cm x 7cm sandwich tins  (or 20cm x 8). Cut 2 circles of greaseproof paper, put them in the bottom of the tins, and grease with more butter. Flour the base and sides of the tins.

2. Whisk the eggs, sugar and rose water flavouring in a large bowl over a bain mairie, which is a pan of almost simmering water, until the mixture is foamy and thickened. Remove bowl from pan and continue beating the mixture until it has cooled.

3. Sift the flour with the salt. Then sift half on to the egg mixture. Fold it in with a metal spoon, lifting gently.

4. When combined, sift the rest of the flour on top and next add the melted butter, stirring gently until combined.

5. Pour the cake mixture evenly into the 2 prepared tins. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 35 - 40 minutes.The cakes are done when the tops are brown, and springy to touch.

6. Cool in the tins for 15 minutes, turn out onto a wire rack and let them cool.

7. Then cover the bottom of one of the cakes with rose petal jam before sandwiching the two together. Being an idle sort, I used shop bought local jam and recommend you do too. Rose petal jam is ideal for the rose theme, but if you can't find any then raspberry, cherry or strawberry will do the job just as well. I'll include a recipe for home made rose petal jam in my next post if you'd like to make your own.

For the icing:
200g icing sugar, sifted
2 tbsps rosewater
70g white chocolate
1 whole rose head and approx 18 rose petals, unsprayed and dry

7. Gradually add the rosewater to the icing sugar in a large bowl, stirring it becomes well combined and the icing is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

8. When the cake is cool, carefully pour the rosewater icing over the top of the cake; it will also run in a charmingly haphazard fashion down the sides.

9. Instead of making chocolate curls, I chose to simply grate the white chocolate over the cake instead, before adding fresh a rose and lots of petals from the garden.

This cake was idly baked to the sounds of BBC Radio 4: Gardener's Question Time, Last Word & Front Row.