The Chelsea Teapot: A Tea Place Review

It’s been a while now since I’ve been in the UK however haven’t even finished writing all my tea place reviews. There were some places I decided to simply not write about however The Chelsea Teapot was not one of them!

We had been having an incredible time in London, indeed it is one of my favourite places to be. The night before our walk down the King’s Road we set out to Leicester Square where we were squeezed into a crowd and stood waiting for close to two hours. The temperature dropped to a level that would frighten most Australians and then I couldn’t feel my toes; I was even wearing my snow socks! My lovely husband suggested it was time to go however I wanted to stay for just a few more minutes and I’m glad we stuck it out as this happened…

Now, many people in London seem to find this ‘normal’ however before this time it is likely that the most famous person I ever had an encounter with was a local news reader. Now I was rubbing shoulders with Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter and Hugh Jackman at the world premiere of Les Miserables. I have to say there were some crazies in that crowd. A group of young girls were standing next to me at the fence consistently shoving me and shouting ‘who’s that!’ I’m not really sure why they were there! After I had a selfie with Helena Bonham Carter they said to me, ‘who was that!?’ (but you have to imagine it in a rather ocker British accent). Then they continued on to ask who Stephen Fry and Isla Fisher were. It was at this point that I felt old and turned to my husband who stuck his hand out and dragged me through the crowd to the tube. I was cold and tired.

The next morning I was in need of some tea and The Chelsea Teapot did not disappoint. I must confess that I found this gorgeous little tea room on Google. Unfortunately I am gluten intolerant and whenever I go anywhere I tend to Google ‘gluten free’ followed by the suburb or area I will be in. One of the places that popped up in Kensington and Chelsea was this tea room. That morning I wanted to do some shopping so we set off on foot to the King’s Road when I remembered that a tea room in that locale had popped up on my gluten free search. After the purchase of several, ok dozens of pairs of shoes we found The Teapot and weren’t disappointed. It really stands out with its colourful exterior on what is otherwise a fairly dull stretch of road.

Image courtesy of The Chelsea Teapot website

This tea room is cute with its pastel colourings and vintage shabby chic interiors. I loved the church pew bench seat and mismatched but coordinating chairs. Aside from a lovely range of gluten free cupcakes, of which I selected a beautifully decorated red velvet, they also had some other sweet treats on offer; my worn out husband enjoyed a lovely piece of apple pie. Downstairs, aside from a well kept bathroom it looked like they had a small function area.

I enjoyed a lovely refreshing chamomile tea from a pretty cup and saucer and appreciated the lovely cutlery. I guess if I had to describe this tea place it would be something like modern vintage, it would be what you might expect if you collided my ideas of a tea room with those of my Nana. The result really is somewhere cute and cosy and perhaps even a little posh with friendly service and the most amazing gluten free cupcakes! I even purchased another to take home with me as a snack for later. By the looks of it they also sell lots of tea paraphernalia too.

I’m glad we visited this tea room and if you are in the area then I recommend a visit!

The Verdict

Tea Place: The Chelsea Teapot, King’s Road, Chelsea, London, UK

Contact: Website, Facebook

Rating: 4/5

Comment: A cute interior and lovely gluten free cakes however, like most London shops it was a little tight inside so there wasn’t a lot of privacy however the nice range of teas and treats on offer makes up for that.

I visited in December 2012.

Just Tickled Pink: A Tea Place Review

When it came time for an end of year mini celebration for some lovely lady friends and myself I knew high tea would be the way to go. We are, to put it simply, high tea kind of people. We appreciate the detail, the china, the decor, the presentation of the food and of course the food itself.

Whilst lovely little Adelaide has several dessert bars, we are lacking traditional, old fashioned tea rooms, which for someone like me and many people I know is very disappointing. Regardless, I posed the question to Google, 'high tea in Adelaide'. He/she shot back a few options for us, however one that stood out was Just Tickled Pink. It looked cute and somewhat old fashioned but in a modern way, if there can be such a thing. I booked us in for high tea, which you should do too as they don't do high tea for walk ins. They do however have a cafe menu too and some incredible looking cupcakes if you are just dropping in.

After I booked I looked at some reviews on the internet; ok, so I did it the wrong way around! It was then I started to get worried, the reviews were very much less than complimentary, it made me nervous.  Those nerves however would not last as when I arrived and walked inside I was transported to another world. The staff were lovely and friendly and when we were seated we were provided a champagne glass of something with some bubbles and berries, it was non alcoholic. We concluded it was some kind of cordial and sparkling water combo. It was nice and refreshing.

The interior of JTP is, as you would expect, predominantly pink. It's not a tacky pink and is nicely done to compliment the interiors of the older shop front in which it resides. Lovers of high ceilings, fancy cornices, pretty archways and ceiling roses wont be disappointed here. The store retains the pretty original features which so many new places lack; I believe they call it 'character'.

I never really got caught up in the Audrey Hepburn hysteria that seemed to sweep through a few years back. All those cheap handbags with a photo of her from Breakfast at Tiffany's, I never owned one and nor did I desire to. Yes, I think she did have a certain way of dressing that was pretty and elegant, but I never saw the hype. Just Tickled Pink could be seen as somewhat of a Hepburn shrine, there are photos everywhere, even a giant screen (the old fashioned room divider) with a huge picture of her face. I found it possibly a little creepy, but maybe that's because I just don't get the appeal of the long gone star of yesteryear. Despite this, she doesn't seem to overtake the rooms completely and the other nick-nacks  and decorations provide enough distraction. There are photographs of the interior on their website, the details of which are at the end of this post.

Our service started with something that I can't name, only describe, as we were never told what it was. It was like a petite omelette garnished with a little smoked salmon and what I assume was a chive creme-freche concoction. Not being told what we were consuming was a little odd however it was yummy and a nice starter. When the tiered stands emerged they looked gorgeous. Again it would have been nice to be provided with a little more detail about what it was we were about to devour. And yes, my gluten intolerant friends, you will be pleased to know they offer a yummy gluten friendly option.

The food was very well presented, with some finger sandwiches even presented in the shape of a high heel shoe! The scones were divine, or so I'm told. There really was an abundance of food and it took us a good hour to pick through about 80% of it. I was glad that I hadn't eaten any lunch as this was lunch and dinner combined. As a plus, they boxed up the treats we were unable consume and we were able to take them home.

As we slowly worked our way through our treats the food for another table came out and it was one of the guests birthday so the staff sung happy birthday for her which I thought was a lovely touch.

On to the tea. As with most of what we ate we weren't told what tea we were drinking, nor did we have a choice. It was most likely English Breakfast, which I didn't mind. It was served from a large silver tea pot into our cute little tea cups. I would have like to have a choice of teas here. Perhaps we could have made a decision and had a little tea pot sitting on our table to pour as we pleased. The focus here was definitely more on the food than the tea.

Overall, Just Tickled Pink was nice and the thing that made our high tea experience great was indeed the company of likeminded friends and some discussion about the finer things in life and life itself. High tea here is $40 per person, one of the most expensive in Adelaide. Whilst I don't believe it was worth the full $40, I would price it at $35 perhaps, I didn't feel 'ripped off' as some other internet reviewers have stated. This may be because my expectations were for a nice celebratory afternoon with  friends, and that expectation was met.

The Verdict

Tea Place: Just Tickled Pink

Location: Unley Road, Hyde Park, Adelaide, South Australia

Contact: Website

Rating: 4/5

Comment: A cute store front, nice atmosphere and yummy food. The downside was the lack of tea and lack of choice of tea. It would also have been nice to be told what we were eating. Overall, a good afternoon.

Poured Fondant Cupcakes: A Tea Party Treat

Have you ever wondered how some cupcakes get that smooth glossy icing that looks exactly like this?

Photo credit: http://www.cakejournal.com

The answer is poured fondant. Unlike rolled fondant, which is generally used to cover large cakes and also cupcakes, poured fondant is quick, relatively easy and if done properly looks lovely. When icing cupcakes with poured fondant it is best to ice them the day you intend to use them as you can't refrigerate them or keep them airtight otherwise the fondant will melt or turn rock hard. Until you use them just store them safely in a container like a cardboard cake box.

To make poured fondant cupcakes you will need a few things to get you started:

• A packet of white icing, which is also called ready to roll fondant. You can buy it in the supermarket next to icing sugar or from cake supply stores
• Some cupcakes - you should cover 20-24 with 500g of fondant if you do a double dip, less if you triple dip.
• A heatproof bowl for microwaving. As my cupcakes are gluten free they don't have a very rounded top, you should use a bowl that will comfortably accommodate your cupcake's top half.
• Some boiling water and a tea spoon of jam, apricot works best. Dissolve the jam in the boiling water. Mine is in the little chinese tea cup, you don't need much.
• A pastry brush
• Food colouring if desired. My cupcakes have some mango in them so I'm going with a yellow icing to match.

What to do:

1. Place your fondant in to your heatproof bowl and microwave on high for approximately one minute. If you use less  than the whole packet of fondant you may only need 45 seconds initially. Take it out and give it a really good stir around with a metal spoon. At this point you may like to add one or two table spoons of water to thin your icing out a little. Keep stirring and if you find that if you still have some lumps simply pop it back in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. Once you have reached your desired consistency, runny but still with substance, a little like warm honey you may like to stir in a few drops of food colouring. It should look like this:

2. Using your pastry brush, dip it into the jam and hot water mixture and glide it across the top of your cupcakes. The reason for this is that the cupcakes very quickly dry out under the fondant. This helps to keep your cupcakes moist 

3: By now your fondant should have cooled a little bit and thickened slightly to a consistency much like room temperature honey, this is good! Just give it a good stir using your metal spoon. Grab one of your cupcakes by the patty pan and hold it upside down. Slowly lower it into your fondant icing just to the edges of your patty pan or cupcake wrapper. Bring it out slowly while giving it a bit of twist while you allow the excess icing to drip off. This is important to do otherwise it will drip down the sides, which doesn't always look that bad but it dependent on how you want to present your cupcakes. Quickly pop any air bubbles with a sharp toothpick.

You will need to double dip your cupcakes for a more opaque finish. I would recommend dipping all your cupcakes once, coming back around 5-10 minutes later and dipping them again. If your fondant has become too hard, simply pop it back in the microwave for 5-10 seconds. Once it has set, around 30-45 minutes later you can push some adornments such as flowers etc into the top or even pipe some decorations with royal icing.

Here are my finished products. Keep in mind that my cupcakes started with flat tops. If yours have round tops they will look different and hopefully a little better. Practice makes perfect and you will find that you perfect your technique with each cake.

Place a dozen of these beautiful cupcakes on a cake stand or cake plate when friends come over for tea and they will be a real hit. Not only are they relatively quick and easy to ice, they look good too.

Play around with colours flavours and adornments to create truly unique cupcakes! Most of all, enjoy devouring them with a lovely cup of tea!