Royal Afternoon Tea

After a long period of excellent Summer weather here in Denmark (plenty of sunshine and no rain) since the beginning of May, some more normal Danish Summer weather came knocking on the door this week-end in form of a lot of wind and some heavy showers. So it turn to be a perfect day to have my good friends from Horsens coming around for some "serious" afternoon tea enjoying my new Royal Copenhagen china (birthday gifts).

We started off with an Earl Grey Martini, which I got inspiration from watching the episode of Anne & Anders in Brexitland having focus on England. I twisted my version of the Earl Grey Martini with addition of bergamotte liqueur, which is a key flavour note of Earl Grey.

Earl Grey Martini

We started off the menu for this afternoon with some small sandwiches in two different versions:

• Rye bread with goat cream cheese with pickled cucumber
• Small toast bread with matured Cheddar and tomato and chilli jam

After the sandwiches we continued with another classic afternoon tea item in form scones, jam and curd. The scones were yogurt scones. The marmalade was the strawberry-apple jam and a gooseberry curd made from red gooseberry.

The finishing touch to this afternoon tea was a cake selection in form of squash cakesquash cake, strawberry cheese cake strawberry cheese and finally some "Sukkertop" cakes from the local cake shop Vanilla here in Vejle.

Besides from drinking plenty of tea we did also taste my two last edition of herb-scented cordials (cordial with lemon balm and rosemary & cordial with selection of mint).

Now with a fully tummy from both cakes, tea and great company I can sit and enjoy these wonderful flowers, which I received as hostess gift together with "goodie bag" full of apples and plums from the garden of my friends in Horsens.

"First Preserves - marmelades, jam, chutneys" by Vivien Lloyd

At the Summer preserves course our tutor Vivien Llody was selling her recipe book called "First Preserves - marmalades - jams - chutneys for 10 £. I thought it was a great souvenir and it is handy, so I could bring it back to Denmark in my backpack despite all my shopping for tea and gin in London and some new recipe books found in London with afternoon tea as topic.

I also got a dedication in by our tutor Vivien. Since my return back to Denmark I have actually been using some of the jam recipes making blackcurrant as well as red gooseberry jam without any addition of food ingredients !!!

I have actually found out, that making jam without the use of the wonderful pectin as a food ingredient in powder format, you have to rely on, that the natural pectin content in the fruit is enough for making the gel combined with a very high sugar content, close to 60% of the jam recipe is sugar combined with longer time, before the jam sets in its glass. So it more a challenge for making jam without the use of natural food ingredients and you do not always know for certain, if your jam/jelly will set or not.

Blackcurrant jam - classic version without addition of gelling agent

I have been practicing my jam skills in my own little kitchen after my return from the Summer preserves course, so maintaining my jam skille without using natural food ingredient such as pectin in powder format. It is more of a challenge, a least for me to rely 100% on the natural pectin content from the fruit itself combined with addition of high levels of sugar (close to 45% of the jam is sugar) and finding the specific time, when you have cooked the jam enough, so it WILL set in the glass afterwards. And when you have to be very patience for up to 1-1½ day, before you are sure, that the jam will set, and you carefully turns the jam jar a little during the day to see, if it is setting or not.

As usual I was invited into the garden of my good friends in Horsens, which have plenty of bushes of blackcurrant for free picking. And I decided to test of a recipe on blackcurrant jam from the jam book "First Preserves". I got 8 jars of blackcurrant jams from this portion, which I am not able to eat myself ! Therefore I decided to bring some glasses of the jam to work, where I have been selling the extra jam jar for 15 DKK (approx 2 €) to my colleagues, and later in the Autumn I will donate the entire sum of money from this jam to charity (araceagainstbreastcancer.dk).

If you want to be 100% sure, that your blackcurrant jam will set, when you should have a look into these recipes: classic blackcurrant jam with twist of balcamico, blackcurrant jam with liquorice lemon and blackcurrant jam, where you have the natural pectin to ensure, that the gelling will take place.

Blackcurrant jam: - 8 glasses

• 1 kg black currant
• 850 ml water
• 1.4 kg sugar

1. Prepare the blackcurrants by washing the blackcurrant, removing the berries from the strings, removing leaves and removing the dead flower end.
2. Place the blackcurrants in a large cooking pan and pour in the water. Bring the fruit to the boil, and let fruit simmer gently, until the fruit is tender, approx 25-30 minutes.
3. Prepare the jam glasses either by heating up in the oven or adding boiling water to them.
4. Add the sugar into the fruit mass and stir until it is dissolved.
5. Bring the jam to a rolling boil and boil hard until the setting point is reached. Stir the jam frequently.
6. Test of set after 5 minutes using the flake test.
7. When the setting point is reached, remove the pan from the heat and leave it to stand for 5 minutes. As the jam settles, push any scums from the surface of the pan to the side and remove it with a metal spoon. The purpose for the waiting step is well to build viscosity in jam, so the fruit pieces will be trapped inside the jam inside of be going to the top of jam.
8. Gently stir the jam after the resting time and pour it into the prepared glasses, fill the glasses up to the brim. Remove any scum for the surface of the jam using a tea spoon. Close the glass with a lid.
9. Leave the glass upright and disturbed to cool and set.
10. Store at ambient temperature.

Small green vase from Decorate

I think it is time again for sharing a photo with you of a recent new addition to my collection of green ceramic vases, which I again have located in the local shop Decorate. The price is just as small as the size of the vase, the vase costs 49 DKK (6.50 €).

Rhubarb and ginger chutney

Besides from the more traditional jams like this strawberry & apple jam we also learned how to cook chutney at the Summer preserves course.

Making chutney is another very time consuming process in your kitchen in many ways. First you spend approx 2-3 hours cooking the chutney followed by a 2 months storage time, before you actually can the chutney with your food.

While you spend the time making this chutney,  you can at the same time just as well make a "vegetable" jam of tomato, ginger and chilli, at this takes just as long time to make. And you can easily have two cooking pots simmering on your stove.

You could not cook your chutney in a metallic cooking pan, stainless less is good. And the cooking spoon should not be metallic either, so use a wood or plastic spoon.

Rhubarb and ginger chutney:  4-6 glasses

• 1 kg rhubarb - trimmed and leaves discarded - cut into 3 cm pieces
• 250 g onions - peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic - peeled and finely chopped
• 100 ml water
• 1 lemon- only the zest
• 2 oranges - only the zest
• 7 g salt
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground spice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 375 ml distilled malt vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 30 g stem/pickled ginger - finely chopped
• 450 g sugar

1. Start by adding the onion and garlic into a large cooking pan together with the water. Let the onions simmer with the lid on, until they are softened, approx 10 minutes.
2. Put the rhubarb pieces, lemon & orange zest, spices, salt and vinegar. Bring it to the boil, and let it simmer gently until the mixture is pulpy, approx 45 minutes. Stir regular during the cooking process to prevent sticking.
3. Add the finely chopped ginger together with the sugar to the pan. Carefully dissolve the sugar. The addition of the sugar really turns the chutney very, very liquid.
4. Simmer the chutney gently again, until it is thick and there is no excess liquid on the surface. Stir regular during the cooking process.
5. You can check, that the chutney is right by, pulling the spoon the top of the surface. The "hole" should remain without the chutney running together. The tutor Vivien Lloyd described it as Moses dividing the Red Sea !
6. Pour the chutney into warm and clean glaaes and seal with vinegar proof lids. Store for 2 month, before you start to eat the chutney.

Tomato and chilli jam

Besides from the more traditional jams like this strawberry & apple jam we also learned how to make a "vegetable" jam like this tomato  at the Summer preserves course.

This "vegetable" jam requires, that you have plenty of time, approx 2-3 hours, so it is not a fast think to make !!! Anyway, I see this "jam" as a great way to use any surplus tomatoes, which you can have from your garden.

While you spend the time making this "vegetable" jam, you can at the same time just as well make this rhubarb chutney rhubarb chutney, at this takes just as long time to make. And you can easily have two cooking pots simmering on your stove.

Tomato and chilli jam: - 4-5 glasses

• 1.14 kg ripe tomatoes
• 6 red chillies
• 9 cloves of garlic
• 45 g root ginger - without skin
• 60 ml Thai fish sauce
• 225 ml red wine vinegar
• 675 g sugar

1. Blend the chillies incl the seeds, garlic and ginger finely in a food processor.
2. Add into a large cooking pan.
3. Blend the tomatoes in a food processor.
4. Add in the tomatoes together with the fish sauce and vinegar. Simmer gently until the content is pulpy. Do not use use too much heat, as this is make the jam more brown/caramelic. This takes approx 1 hour to get the right pulpy/mashed texture. Stir regular.
5. Add in the sugar. The addition of the sugar gives a very water texture to the jam.
6. Continue to cook the jam, until the texture is thickened under gentle/low heat.This takes another 1 hour. Stir regular.
7. Pour into glasses.
8. Store for at least a month before opening.

Gooseberry curd

At the Summer preserves course we also learned how to turn gooseberries into a fruit curd, which you can served together with scones for a nice cup of tea.

I have previously been making various fruit curds in my little kitchen such as lemon curd, blood orange curd, apple curd and finally clementine curd. Curds have relative small shelf-life, 4-6 weeks in the refrigerator, so do not make too big a portion, unless you are planning to invite a lot of people around for afternoon tea or you have been invited out quiet often.

As you can seen from the colour this gooseberry curd is made from green gooseberries. However, you can use also red gooseberries. I will later share a recipe with red gooseberry curd with you.

Gooseberry curd: 3-4 glasses

• 450 g green gooseberries
• 15 ml water
• 60 g butter
• 250 g sugar
• 2 large eggs

1. Wash and clean the gooseberries removed the flower ends and stalks.
2. Place the gooseberries in cooking pan with the water. Simmer gentle until pulped, approx 15 minutes.
3. Rob the pulp through a sieve into a bowl. There should be 300 ml pulp.
4. Place the pulp in a bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water.
5. Add in the sugar, stir until dissolved.
6. When add in the sugar, and stir until the butter is melted.
7. Beat the eggs together and strain the eggs through a sieve.
8. Add the beaten eggs into the curd. Stir continuously until the curd thickens, and lightly coats the back of a spoon. It takes around 10-12 minutes.
9. Turn off the heat and leave the curd to stand for 5 minutes.
10. Meanwhile prepare the storage glasses by filling them with boiling water.
11. After 5 minutes stand still, the surface of the fruit curd should have a slightly firmer/thicker surface, which can be pushed together using a cooking spoon. If not, when cook the fruit curd again.
12. Strain the fruit curd through a sieve into a jug.
13. Pour the curd into a clean glass to the top of the glass. Close the glass with a lid.
14. Store the fruit curd in the refrigerator for up to 4-6 weeks.