Afternoon Tea at the Celtic Manor (Spring Menu)

Back in May, me and the girls decided to catch up over afternoon at The Celtic Manor. I was so happy that we were just in time to try the Spring Menu before they switched to the Summer menu. I've already tried the afternoon tea at the resort in summer 2013 and it was one of the best ones i've had in Wales, so I was hoping this years Spring menu would be just as good if not better.

You get a choice of teas from their speciality tea selection or freshly brewed coffee. I went for a jasmine tea.

First the finger sandwiches. Some lovely light fillings, cucumber with lemon creamcheese, honey roast ham, chicken with basil pesto mayonnaise, smoked salmon.

I love bagels so this was definitely my favourite.

Cakes and desserts next. As some of you might know, I love my cake and these were so impressive! A mini orange and ginger cupcake. A red berry white chocolate truffle on top of a shortbread, very creamy inside.

This banoffee fudge cake with chocolate ganache was delicious! The sponge was so soft and fluffy and not too sweet, I could have done with a bigger piece hehe!

Honey spiced madeleine, a little pot of apple dessert and the cappuccino pecan layer cake was also lovely, a little sweet even for my liking but loved the flavour.

As soon as we finished the cakes, the waiter came over and asked if we were ready for our scones and we told him if we could wait at least half before they bring them over as we were all so full at this point. The scones were warm when they arrived at the table but just like last year, I found them a little over baked.

Over all another lovely afternoon tea here at the Celtic Manor. I was especially impressed with the cakes! Definitely worth a visit if your in Wales. I'm looking forward to next week to try the Summer menu, I know its going to be just as good!

Afternoon Tea At Caldonian Hotel, Edinburgh

Sorry once again for my late blog posts! I should have blogged about this afternoon tea a couple of months ago oops! December last year, I made a little trip up to Scotland to attend my lovely aunts surprise 50th birthday celebration, so this was a lovely chance to try a afternoon tea in Edinburgh town centre. My cousin have already tried the Caldonian Hotel and she did say it was lovely and that she really didn't mind paying another visit with me.

Afternoon tea is served at stylish Peacock Alley at the heart of the hotel.

 

The hotel have also be awarded The Tea guild Special Award of Excellence 2013!

Starting off with my favourite, scones! Freshly baked fruit and plain scones served with clotted cream and preserves. Still warm when they arrived, lovely and soft.

Finger sandwiches includes, honey roasted ham with onion chutney, egg and black pepper mayonnaise, cucumber with sea salt cream cheese and Scottish smoked salmon with lemon dill. Loved all the fillings especially the roasted ham with chutney, perfect size too.

Moving onto the cakes and desserts. Such a lovely selection which includes, a Orange Lavender cake, Creamed Raspberry Financier, both cakes were soft, light and moist,. A Hazelnut & Mocha macaroon which actually tasted like a rich brownie to me but still very yummy. A Strawberry tart with a lovely creme patissiere filling. The one I was most intrigued by was the Earl Grey Shortbread Trifle, my cousin tried  one spoonful and she was not impressed, she couldn't wait for me to try it and see what I thought of it! But surprisingly, I really enjoyed it! The Earl Grey jelly wasn't too strong and having each spoon with the layers of custard and cream I thought it was quite unusual.

A perfectly made Choux Pastry Swan. Pastry was crisp, will definitely have to attempt making theses one day.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon tea. The hotel itself is absolutely stunning and sophisticated, atmosphere was warm and welcoming and the food was beautiful. I do recommend this place if your taking a trip to Edinburgh.

 

The Caledonian Hotel is definitely one of the finest hotels in Scotland.