An afternoon treat

I thought I would share with you a British tradition ... afternoon tea. An afternoon tea is glorious in all senses.

So what is afternoon tea? We eat afternoon tea between lunch and dinner and it consists of steaming hot tea, mini sandwiches, scones with cream and jam and delicious cakes. What could be better than sitting with your friends and relaxing with some sweet treats? Afternoon tea is not just viewed as an occasion to eat nice food but it is also a social event. It is a great opportunity to chat and catch up with your friends and family. In the famous children’s novel Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, there is a rather strange type of tea party - the mad hatter's tea party which is hosted by the Mad Hatter (a crazy rabbit). The food at this tea party is multicoloured and the chairs and crockery don't match and are upside down. Afternoon tea is regarded as a special occasion and many hotels and restaurant do special afternoon menus to celebrate special events.

I work in a hotel in England alongside my studies and they do a brilliant afternoon tea. You can choose between twelve different types of tea and all the food is displayed on a beautiful china cake stand. Before I left to come and work in France, the hotel held an afternoon tea leaving party for me; we had ham and mustard and salmon and cucumber sandwiches, macaroons, miniature chocolate cakes and my favourite cake of all Victoria sponge which is a vanilla sponge filled with cream and jam dusted with caster sugar ... YUM! Victoria sponge is named after Queen Victoria and her love of cakes.

I am going to share with you the recipe for my favourite cake:

Ingredients
- 200g of butter
- 200g of caster sugar
- 200g self-raising flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons of raspberry jam
- 250ml of whipping cream

Instructions
1: Place the butter, sugar and vanilla extract into a bowl and beat well until it is a pale and creamy consistency. Mix in the eggs one by one and fold in the flour and mix well.
2: Place the mixture in a cake tin and bake for about 20 minutes until the cake is risen and golden. Take the cake out of the oven and allow to cool.
3: Whip the cream so it is thick and stiff. Cut the cake in half and fill with the cream and jam.
4: Enjoy!

Afternoon tea is a great way to enjoy some delicious food and relax. I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon.