Afternoon Tea

I simply adore the idea of tea at four, I am so pleased to hear it is making a come back. We had a great games evening last night, T, who works for a famous flour maker gave me a huge box of flour so it is a great excuse to do some baking. My cherries were a little bashful and sunk to the bottom, but I heard that if you replace a spoonful of ordinary flour for strong bread flour it supports the fruit much better (shame I did not hear that before I made my cake!). The chooks are laying some lovely golden eggs which gives the sponge a beautiful colour. The tea cups were a delightful find in the Broadwindsor Craft Centre a couple of years ago, they are Edwardian so almost qualify for antique status!

We spent a lovely hour tidying up the garden putting right all the mess the chooks made! It was such a lovely autumnal day, the sun shining while raking the leaves. Clive made the chooks a lovely dirt bath from an old pallet, he gave it a roof so they can stay dry and they love having all the leaves to rake over, it kept them quiet for an hour or two! After all the hard work I can eat cake!

At the bottom of the cake stand I have made some Ginger Snaps. I love the aroma of ginger, it seems to make me feel all Christmassy, as a biscuit they are so easy to make.

4 oz SR Flour
1 to 2 teaspoons ginger
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
2 oz butter (it should be butter for the flavour)
1 1/2 oz sugar
1 level teaspoon of black treacle (now that is christmassy!)
Milk to mix

Sift flour ginger and spices into a bowl, rub in the butter to resemble fine breadcrumbs, enjoying the delightful smell of the ginger.
Add sugar and mix to a stiff paste with the treacle and just enough milk to make a dough you can roll out
Roll out thinly and cut into 20 rounds using a 2in cutter and place on greased baking trays
Bake in a moderate oven 180C 350F GM4 for around 10 minutes
Leave in trays for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack
Store in airtight tin, or enjoy them while they are warm! ahh.

The boiler man came thursday and Friday spreading himself all over the house meaning I had to retreat to the shed! He is coming back tomorrow to finish off, but I shall be at work away from the chaos thank goodness! However, I won't complain we were so hot last evening we had to open all the windows!

I am counting down the days until my favourite Christmas Craft Fair on the 29th November, as well as the opening of the ice rink and craft village in Winchester Cathedral. Oh don't you just love this time of year?