Challenge: Part 2 of 2 in Afternoon tea

My home-made afternoon tea went down a treat – have a look at the results:

Admittedly I came in just over budget at £11.94, but think I did an OK good job with making my own scones and sandwiches. Remember, I’m not the best of cooks, so this was something of a challenge for me. I also have a very tiny kitchen and not a huge range of baking utensils, but I made–do with a few substitutes. For instance, I don’t own any scone cutters, so I used a glass tumbler to cut out the rounds of dough instead. And I also don’t have a pastry brush, so I ‘brushed’ milk on the tops of the scones with my (very clean!) finger tips! Thankfully the scone recipe was super-easy and they came out quite well – and it was lovely eating them warm and straight out of the oven.

Scones before …

… and looking v. golden and gorgeous, after!

I picked some flowers out of the garden for my ‘centrepiece’ and dug out all my vintage china to set the table. I got a new cake stand for my birthday, which looked very pretty piled with scones and retro English biscuits. I ended up going for Jammy Dodgers, Party Rings and Fondant Fancies. My friend brought along her own art-deco cup, saucer and plate, and I think we achieved that mis-matched vintage look we were going for.

Despite going over budget, it was a big success and we had a lovely afternoon. Watch the video below and see me making a huge mess in the kitchen. I’m not called the Swedish Chef (from the Muppets) for no reason…

TOTAL SPENT: £11.94
COST OF AFTERNOON TEA FOR TWO AT LONDON’S DORCHESTER HOTEL: £75.36 (not including the discretionary service charge we usually pay)
SAVINGS: £63.42

PROS:
• Could relax with friend at home.
• Lovely warm scones straight out of the oven.

CONS:
• The shopping, cooking and cleaning-up afterwards.
• Not exactly Dorchester-standard food.