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Tea-Time Recipes
A supplement to "Victorian Tea" appearing in the Dec/Jan 06 issue of Decatur Magazine.

Classic Cream Scones
Coronation Chicken
Fruit Scones
Lemon Curd
Harlequin Finger Sandwiches
Tea Sandwich Fillings:
Egg & Cress Filling
Cream Cheese, Celery and Walnut
Victoria Sandwich Sponge Cake

Recipes provided by Circa 1860.

Classic Cream Scones

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, cubed
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg white
1 teaspoon water
sugar

Combine first four ingredients. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Whisk together cream, egg, and vanilla; add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat dough to 1/2-inch thickness; cut with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter, and place on baking sheets.
Whisk together egg white and 1 teaspoon water; brush mixture over tops of scones. Sprinkle scones with additional sugar.
Bake at 425 for 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned.
Yield: 1 dozen

Coronation Chicken
Great for a cold buffet.

8 half chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1 (7 1/2 ounce) jar apricot puree (can use baby food)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 heaping teaspoon tomato puree
3/4 cup red wine
1/2 cup water
1 bay leaf
Pinch of salt, pepper and sugar
1 slice or 2 of lemon
1 squeeze of lemon juice
3 tablespoons whipping cream, lightly whipped

Cook chicken breasts in chicken stock until done. Drain, cool and cut meat into bite-size pieces.
Mix mayonnaise and apricot puree and set aside.
Heat oil and saute onion 3-4 minutes. Add curry powder and cook 2 minutes more. Add tomato puree, wine water and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and add, salt, pepper, sugar, lemon and lemon juice. Simmer uncovered 5-10 minutes. Strain and cool; then add slowly to the mayonnaise mixture. Add cream.

Serve cold over chicken.
Serves 8-10.

This winter, try your hand at a few traditional English tea-time recipes:
(Source Credit: The Pleasures Of Afternoon Tea, by Angela Hynes.)

Fruit Scones

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
6 T. cold butter, cut in small pieces
1/2 cup raisins
1 egg, beaten
1 8-oz. carton plain yogurt
Grated peel of one lemon
Milk to brush on scones
Butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a large baking sheet; set aside. Sift flour, baking power, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Stir in sugar. With your fingers, rub in butter pieces until mixture is crumbly. Mix in raisins. With a fork, stir in egg, yogurt and lemon peel and blend well to make a dough that barely holds together (you may need to press dough together with your hands). Turn out onto floured surface. Roll out with a flouring rolling pin or pat dough with your hands to make a round about 1/2-inch thick. Cut in rounds with a 1-1/2 inch fluted or plain cookie cutter. Place 1 to 1-1/2 inches apart on baking sheet; brush tops lightly with milk. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until scones are well risen and golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool five minutes. Split and serve warm with butter. Makes about 18 scones.

Lemon Curd
(Sometimes called lemon cheese, lemon curd is a very common English preserve and is used as a spread for sandwiches, muffins, and scones. Lemon curd doesn't keep indefinitely, so make only as much as you will use in a couple of weeks.)

Grated peel of 4 lemons
Juice of 4 lemons (about 1 cup)
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup butter, cut in small pieces
2 cups sugar

In the top of a large double boiler, combine lemon peel, lemon juice, eggs, butter and sugar. Place over simmering water and stir until sugar is dissolved. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened and smooth. While hot, pour into hot sterilized 1/2-pint canning jars, leaving about 1/8 inch headspace. Run a narrow spatula down between lemon curd and side of jar to release air. Top with sterilized lids; firmly screw on bands. Place in draft-free area to cool. Store in a cool, dry place. Makes about 1 pint.

Harlequin Finger Sandwiches

1/2 of 1-pound loaf unsliced white bread
1/2 of 1-pound loaf unsliced whole wheat bread
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 pound cream cheese, room temperature

Trim crusts from both loaves. Cut bread in 1/2-inch-thick slices. Lightly spread butter and cream cheese on one side of each slice. Stack four slices, alternating white and whole-wheat bread; stack first 3 slices filled-side up, then set top slice in place filled-side down. Repeat with remaining bread slices. Wrap in foil and refrigerate at least 1 hour. To serve, cut stacks in strips about 1/2-inch wide, slicing through all four layers. Arrange on plate with striped side up. Makes about 30 fingers.

Tea Sandwich Fillings
(To make your tea sandwiches, buy unsliced loaves of fresh, firm-textured white bread and slice the bread very thin — a one-pound loaf should make about 16 slices. Before adding filling, lightly spread one side of each slice to the very edges with softened butter. To assemble each sandwich, spread a thin layer of filling on the buttered side of one bread slice and top with a second slice, buttered-side down. Trim off the crusts, then cut the sandwich diagonally into quarters, making four small triangles. A 1-pound loaf yields about 30 triangles. Generally allow about 3 triangles per person.)

Egg & Cress Filling

1 small bunch watercress, washed, drained, patted dry
5 hard-cooked eggs, shelled
5 T. mayonnaise
2-1/2 T. Dijon-style mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Coarsely chop 1/2 of watercress and set aside; you should have about 1/2 cup, lightly packed. Reserve remaining watercress sprigs for garnish. In medium bowl, roughly chop eggs; add mayonnaise and mustard and season with salt and pepper. Mash to a smooth paste. Stir in chopped watercress. Make sandwiches and garnish plate with watercress sprigs.

Cream Cheese, Celery and Walnut

1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
1 (about 1 pound) celery heart, chopped fine
1 cup diced walnuts
Parsley sprigs

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Mix in celery and walnuts. Make sandwiches, and garnish plate with parsley.

Victoria Sandwich Sponge Cake

1-1/2 cups self-rising flour
Grated peel of 1-1/2 lemons
3/4 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/3 cup, or more, strawberry jam
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two round 8-inch cake pans; set aside. Sift flour into a small bowl; stir in lemon peel. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer or wooden spoon until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Fold in flour mixture. Divide batter between pans, spreading evenly. Bake 25 minutes or until top of cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool in pans several minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely. To serve, sandwich layers together with jam and sift powdered sugar over top. Makes 8-10 servings.

This is an online supplement to an article which originally appeared in the December/January 2006 issue of Decatur Magazine.
It may not be reproduced or redistributed in whole or in part without the publisher's consent.
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