Tea Time

I love having tea parties and its something I don’t do often enough. Its so great getting all your girlfriends together to chat over some lovely fresh baked goodies and of course, TEA!

And the most fun part of all is setting up and decorating. Here are some very stylish ways of decorating for a tea party. 

And you can even use stuff you have lying around your house to decorate too. A Great way to recycle empty glass bottles is to wash them and use as a vase. They make for a great table centre piece. It also looks quite effective to  attach some string around the top of the bottle and  make sure its secure then hang them from the ceiling.

Lemon Yoghurt Cupcakes:

Makes

10

Ingredients

         125g unsalted butter, softened

         125g caster sugar

         3 eggs, separated

         1 tbs finely grated lemon zest

         2 tbs lemon juice, plus extra dash (2 tsp) lemon juice

         180g plain flour

         1 tsp baking powder

         200g natural yoghurt

         1/3 cup (55g) icing sugar

         100g mixed berries or 1 tbs lemon zest, to garnish

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Set 10 paper muffin cases in a large muffin tray.

2. Beat butter and sugar with electric beaters until pale and fluffy. Add yolks,one at a time, beating well. Beat in zest and juice.

3. Sift flour and baking powder together. Fold into mix, alternating with yoghurt.

4. Whisk eggwhites in a clean bowl to firm peaks, then fold into mix. Fill cases.

5. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Mix icing sugar with a little extra juice to make a thick icing. Spread on cakes, add berries and leave to set

Hot Chocolate Mousse:

Ingredients (serves 4)

         1 x 200g pkt milk chocolate with hazelnuts,coarsely         chopped         

         3 eggs, at room temperature, separated

         125ml (1/2 cup) thickened cream

         55g (1/4 cup) caster sugar

         Icing sugar, to dust

         Candy canes, to serve

Method

1.    Place chocolate in a small heatproof bowl over a saucepan half-filled with simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water). Stir with a metal spoon until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. Stir in the egg yolks.

2.    Use an electric beater to beat the cream in a bowl until firm peaks form. Use a metal spoon to fold half the cream into the chocolate mixture. Repeat with remaining cream.

3.    Use a clean electric beater to beat the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, beating until the mixture is thick and glossy.

4.    Fold the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture. Spoon into four 250ml (1-cup) capacity serving cups. Cover and place in the fridge for 6 hours or until set.

Dust with icing sugar and serve with candy canes.

 And of course its mothers day  on Sunday and if you dont know what to do for her, why not have a little tea party. Happy mothers day to all moms and a special one to my mother and mother-in-law. You’re the best moms ever, love you lots.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!