Book Review: Afternoon Tea at Bramble Café

Carrot Cake

I’m a huge fan of a good afternoon tea, be it during those days when I have people over, or going out with a couple friends for a catch-up. There’s something special about it that I can’t really place my finger on, but I think it might evoke memories of our time in Surrey. Luckily, since moving back to Malta I found terrific places for tea alone or with friends. When I want to stay at home but still want to feel as if I’m in a quaint little tea house, in for example, places like Rye (in East Sussex), all I do is bake a couple of cakes and whip up some sandwiches, et voilà, I am there.

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Lemon and Courgette Drizzle Cake (no butter)

So let me set one thing straight: I’m definitely not on some kind of health kick, as in eating clean and all that hoo-ha. However lately I’m on this…how shall I put it?…try-many-new-things…thingamabob. I’m sorry, but my vocab skills are out the door today. Please bear with me just a tad longer. This little gem of a recipe is worth the wait.

Walnut and Banana Loaf (For Writing 101: Hook Em’ With a Quote and #TeaandCakeTuesday)

There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. But sad or merry, I must leave it now. Farewell!

Thorin Oakenshield (from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit)

I know that these past few days have been all about Writing 101 and today is no different, but I wanted to combine three things at once. I know you won’t mind, mainly because there’s a recipe at the end. You have all been so good. Even though many of you come here for the food and photos, you have been so positive and supportive of my other non-foodie ones. I’m thankful. Truly. On to the quote.

Menu for an Afternoon Tea (#TeaandCakeTuesday)

It’s a public holiday here in Malta and I just had a day and a half. This week we are having some work done at the house and we needed to get ourselves prepared. Things needed to be stored and placed out of the way – I’m dreading the dirt and dust that will undoubtedly be going around in the air during the next few days but I keep telling myself that it will pass. In the meantime I am bracing myself. Now on to the more enjoyable stuff…

I know that you will forgive me for revisiting some recipes with you this evening. The photos you are seeing in this post were taken during a get together in the form of an afternoon tea at our place a few months ago – on the 29th June to be exact (another public holiday coincidentally. I’m not doing this on purpose. Promise.) J’s uncle, aunt and cousins came over for a visit from the land of Oz for a few months and instead of worrying about preparing dinner, the idea of tea and coffee plus a few goodies seemed appealing. I never had people over for afternoon tea, so this was a first.

Lemon Sherbet Cake

Writing about some of my favourite cake recipes at the end of every April has become a sort of tradition here on C&T. It’s my birthday later on in the week so it’s kind of themed, at least for me! It started a few month after the birth of this blog, when people started asking me about the cake or cakes (because yes, there were times when I made more than one) I usually make for the day. I try to vary as much as possible, but I can happily say that more often than not there’s always a copious amount of chocolate involved.