Who doesn’t love a good afternoon tea, especially in a building as grand as Hoar Cross Hall. For my birthday a lovely friend bought me two gift cards to cash in at Hoar Cross for a traditional afternoon tea – fantastic present choosing skills there, tea and cake…bliss! I’ve only been to Hoar Cross Hall once before for a mummy-daughter spa day and we had a wonderful time, for this one however I took Joe along with me to help demolish the pastries and we couldn’t have picked a more beautiful English Summer afternoon.
We chose a comfy sofa in their parlour and perused the twinings tea menu which had a lovely selection. I went for a lady grey and Joe chose a delicious Mint and Rose Green Tea which I will have to hunt down to enjoy at home, it was beautiful. Both arrived in lovely little metal teapots for us to enjoy while we waited for our afternoon tea. If I’m being picky the tablecloths could have done with a bit of an iron(!) but the parlour has a lovely mix of modern furnishings and old wooden accents – you can see why Hoar Cross Hall is a big hit for weddings.
Our afternoon tea arrived and it was presented beautifully with an interesting tier of cakes, miniature scones and four finger sandwiches per person. Our waitress didn’t explain what everything was but it was quite fun to work it out as we ate – not great for those with allergies or certain dietary requirements but something I’m sure could be pre-arranged before arriving if needed.
The sandwiches were a nice mix – egg myonnaise, ham and mustard, cheese & pickle and salmon cream cheese – and were nicely cut but sadly weren’t very well filled at all, one was sadly just bread and mayonnaise! I enjoyed the dainty nature of Hoar Cross’s presentation but I do like my sandwiches to be better filled especially as the fillings we did have were delicious! We each got two miniature scones, one fruit, one plain with fresh clotted cream and delicious loose strawberry jam. They went down very well and very quickly in one or two bites! I could have eaten a couple more but they were well made and still warm – perfect!
Our top layer consisted of four different miniture cakes – a walnut sponge, dark chocolate ganache rolled in honey almonds, lemon drizzle and some sort of almond choux pastry(?!) – again we were guessing on this layer! The walnut cake was lovely with a cream cheese topping – very spongy and moist with a nice subtle flavour. The ganache was very tasty indeed, dark and bitter against the crunchy sweet nuts. The almond choux pastry was delicious and very subtle on the flavour however the lemon drizzle had quite a bitter after taste, wondering if a bit of pith had slipped into this bake, but it was again very soft and moist, a lovely texture.
We enjoyed our Hoar Cross Hall Afternoon Tea and I think it makes such a lovely gift for a friend or someone special. What a glorious way to spend an afternoon catching up and eating dainty pastry! You can also upgrade to champagne with your tea too which is always a favourite on this blog!
READ: A Mummy-Daughter Spa Day at Hoar Cross Hall – massages, lunch, new hair and a lot of relaxing!
Find out more about Hoar Cross Hall and book your afternoon tea on their website
xax