Category: Features & Updates

home baked cakes in Rogate

It’s always the same. The most interesting tea rooms, cake and coffee shops are the most difficult to find. But well worth the the time it takes.

Little possets, black currant & lemon, fresh raspberries & shortbread fingers and edible flowers found at Mes Amis Beckington in Somerset. A family run, independent café and deli.

Offering breakfasts, lunches and an eclectic display of cakes, creams and sticky stuff.

All accompanied by selection of premium quality teas, coffees or wines.

All the food is freshly made and can be prepared to take away. They also offer a Saturday Night takeaway meal, a weekend BBQ pack and picnic boxes.

 

Well it all started with a statement like….”Remember when you used to bake those oat flapjacks ( we called them Crunchies ) … yeah and the choc chip cookies, and butter biscuits !!!”

“Why don’t we try them on the stand at the community market ?”

Well the rest is history

Fully approved by the health authorities, packed in cellophane bags to preserve freshness and with all the sell by dates and allergens detailed on the packs we now battle to keep up with the orders…….

We now do Chocolate Crunch which is two biscuits with a chocolate filling and supplied in a 100 gram bag

Chocolate Chip which is a sugar snack biscuit topped with sprinkling of chocolate – also in 100gram bags

Butter Biscuits – 100 grams with a warning – if you open the bag, they all disappear VERY fast

Big Smartie Biccies – Big Butter Biscuits with a sprinkling of Smarties.

Oat Flapjacks ( Crunchies ) coconut and oat biscuit with a crunch. Lovely with a cuppa or on their own. !00 gram bags

Then we have added Fudge… 2 bags please !  Again supplied in 100 g bags

Hide them away if you want some. that is my advice to you !!

I generally associate cupcakes with those predictably dull office snacks that merely serve to remind one of  another wasted year. But that was until I stopped at The Two Sisters Cake Shop and Vintage Tearoom in North St in Chichester.

I have always associated a cup of hot cocoa with winter,  glowing embers in a fire grate and bedtime.

 

But quite what the difference between hot chocolate, cocoa and drinking chocolate is, I am not sure. Every coffee shop and tea room dutifully offer hot chocolate on their menus. But despite the topping of whipped cream, marshmallows and sprinkle of chocolate, in my mind its just cocoa.

Not that there is anything wrong with a hot cocoa on a winters day.

 

finecooking.com/article/chocolate-vs-cocoa-powder

In Eastbourne afteroon tea at The Grand Hotel is a local institution.

There are different themes throughout the year including the tennis in June.

Known as ‘The White Palace’, the Grand Hotel is one of Englands most famous Victorian era Hotels offering spectacular views out to sea and the cliffs at Beachy Head.

Tea is served in the Great Hall a stately double-height lounge complete with a grand piano, potted palms and a roaring log fire for when it is a bit colder. It can also be ordered in any of the lounges as well as on the Chatsworth Terrace overlooking the pool.

Spoilt with a choice from a menu which includes a selection of freshly made cakes, bakes and traditional pastries

Sweet and savoury treats. A Pork & Apple Sausage Roll with ‘Grand’ Piccalilli. Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese & Chive sandwiches, Egg Mayonnaise with Watercress, Chicken & Tarragon Mayonnaise or Cucumber with Cream cheese.

Or for something sweeter, their freshly baked Freshly Baked Scones with Strawberry Jam & Cornish Clotted Cream

Quirky coffee shops in Chichester

The Hangry Kitchen
facebook.com/TheHangryKitchen
Poole, Dorset

Hot cheese scones with melted butter

A good excuse to do a mid-morning coffee at the Driftwood Cafe in Emsworth.

Or a croissant with blackcurrent jam. It’s one of the nicer cafes I have found.

Situated on the High St in Emsworth they offer a breakfast morning menu and a light lunch menu from late morning. But it gets very busy at midday and I try to avoid the rush.