Signature Omorovicza Cake

We live in different countries - me & my mother. Fortunately these days it's so easy to keep in touch via whatsapp, facetime or skype. Even though it is almost like meeting when you are calling each other, it's not yet the same as meeting in person.

When mother arrived & visited me, I wanted to take her somewhere with a nice, relaxing yet sophisticated atmospehere.  

The former Meridien Hotel in Budapest is nowadays Ritz Carlton. In their Kupola Lounge they serve afternoon tea daily from noon until 5pm. Sometimes there's a special theme for these tea sessions like now when I went there with my mother. The afternoon tea was in collaboration with a Hungarian luxury beauty brand called Omorovicza.

The menu was wonderful:

Omorovicza inspired welcome drink was made of coriander, peach liquire, lemon, Simple syrup & tonic. So refreshing and tasty!

Savoury bites

Smoked salmon croissant

Mini cucumber & cream cheese toast

Foie gras & dry fruit chutney

Sweet bites

Signature Omorovicza cake

Royal Ocoa chocolate cake

Framboise cake

Paprika & plum chutney macaroon

Apricot macaroon

Gourmet muffins

Mini lemon merengue tart

Teas were from my favourite tea shop Zhao Zhou.

White - Yue Guang Bai 2015

Green - Kabusecha Hougyoko 2016

Oolong - Green Dancong Autumn 2015

Black - Red Dancong 2014

Black - Himalayan Orange 2015

Puer - Da Xue Shan 2016

My mother chose the white one and I took Puer tea. Both were lovely. Although it would have been perfect if we could have chosen all these teas like in a tea tasting - for certain cakes and savouries there would have been offered certain teas.

Welcome drink - Only Omorovicza

Gábor Tálos is the man behind Zhao Zhou. “For a great tea moment we need good company, we should allocate time for that, and of course we should take care to select the right quality of tea. What is also important is to consider how the different type of teas should be handled: different temperatures of water, different steeping times, etc. These all determine our tea experience. So preparations are the key to create the best tea moments.” 

“When it comes to desserts and tea, it is essential to find the balance between the strength of tea and the flavour of cakes. In general we can match tea and dessert based on their colours: white and green tea are great with lightsome cakes, while darker teas make perfect match with chocolate desserts, like Ocoa Royal Chocolate Cake.”

My mother

We had such a wonderful afternoon sipping tea, eating cakes, taking a lot & enjoying the lovely atmosphere.  Living in a different countries, these kind of moments have become so important - what could be better than spend time with your family & friends.

Goodie bag with Omorovicza beauty surprises!

Afternoon Tea

 I'm a heavy drinker when it comes to tea. I like all kinds of tea - black, white, green, robois, infusions - just name it. Perhaps smoked black tea is not really my thing. It all depends on the mood which sort of tea I choose. One of the best afternoon teas is a huge mug of black tea - preferable Earl Grey - with milk froth made of soya milk. actually, it's very nice with strong green tea as well.

History

Afternoon tea is surpeisingly a relatively neww tradition. It was introduced in England by anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, in 1840. The Duchess would become hungry around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The dinner in her household was served late at 8pm, leaving a long period of time between lunch and dinner. She asked a tray of tea, bread and butter and cake be brought to her room during thevlate afternoon. This became a habit of hers and she began inviting friends to join her. 

Afternoon tea, served between 4 and 5 pm, became a fashionable social event for the upper-class during the 1880's. 

"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.'

- Henry James -

Have a nice cup of tea!

A Nice Cuppa Tea

 Had a chance to take apart of this glorious British ritual:

Afternoon Tea.

Claridge's is celebrating more than 100 years 

of its legendary afternoon tea.

The Art Deco surrounding is magnificent.

 Assortment of British tastes.

Finger sandwiches with Scottish salmon,

Daylesford Organic coronation chicken,

Dorrington gammon ham with piccalilli among others...

Famous raisin and apple scones,

perfect with Cornish clotted cream and British jams.

Delicious and sooo heavy!

 A selection of sweet treats.

 I chose to sip Red Robois tea.

Got some Claridge's tea to take home!

Claridge's

Brook Street

Mayfair

London W1

 A pig in the front of The Berkeley.

Just couldn't resist the Pret-a-Portea served 
in the Caramel room at The Berkeley...

 The afternoon tea is served on fine-bone china

by Paul Smith for Thomas Goode.

 The F/W 2012/2013 collection hasn't arrived yet,

so the designer afternoon tea was still in S/S 2012 collection.

 Here're some example of the menu:

The light blue Dolce & Gabbana 

blueberry sponge cake wicker basket,

Michael Kors' safari opera cake with dark chocolate and mocha filling topped with signature leopard print,

Mulberry's summer-at-the-seaside catwalk theme with chocolate creme de menthe and raspberry mousse topped with a lemon meringue,

Valentin's romantic peach cake dress with light pink champagne jelly and edible flower on the top

Jason Wu's romantic cherry bavarois and coconut cream 

topped with a playful pink skirt and a biscuit heel,

Fendi's nautical white & red striped vanilla cake filled with fraise des bois cremeux with oversized yellow button,

Gucci's Art Deco Grand Marnier and dark Valrhona chocolate mousse embellished with golden beads.

 The bikini biscuit is the funniest one!

The Miu Miu vanilla bikini biscuit featuring 

red-hot icing with a playful white bow

&

Christian Louboutin's neon yellow high-heeled chocolate biscuit

guarantees to bring sunshine to those rainy days.

And the that i chose was White Peony.

The Berkeley's take-away bag

with Mu Miu & Louboutin biscuits!

The Berkeley

Wilton Place

Knightbridge

London SW1

Btw, did you know that in the countryside, especially in
Northern England and in Scotland
people used to call dinner as "tea"?
Breakfast = breakfast
Lunch = dinner
Dinner = tea
Still nowadays some people say "tea" meaning dinner!