Afternoon Tea at Burj Al Arab Hotel

Location: Burj Al Arab, Dubai
Date: 20 January 2009
Details: Jasmine Green Tea, sandwiches, desserts, patisserie.

Notes:
My friend Clare's parents had bought her 'Tea for Two' at the Burj as a Christmas present so she generously took me along. The security was very tight - we had to be checked in at the gate by guards before even getting over the moat...

The tea began with a glass of fizz (fruit juice for Clare) and a bowl of fruit salad. We were then presented with this Burj-shaped stand containing our food:
Top two tiers: mini sandwiches. We chose the vegetarian option which involved the creative use of mushrooms, roasted veg and salad. The breads were all different types from ordinary white to mini ciabatta. My favourite was the tasty brown light bread.
Green tier: Miniature crème caramels with shortbread and some unidentifiable fruit cakes (bit dry). The crumbly shortbread goes beautifully with the smooth crème caramel.
Bottom tier: Dinky patisseries


We took over 3 hours to enjoyably chomp our way through this delicious 'meal'. The view was spectacular, out across the coast and the whole city. Not for sufferers of vertigo! The staff were fab throughout, friendly and quick, and enthusiastic about helping most of the customers who wanted to talk photos. I'm not sure how this hotel claims to be a "7-star" but maybe the unusually good service is worth an extra star. A memorable experience, nothing like a stuffy Afternoon Tea at an English hotel.

Recipe: Easy butter shortbread with chocolate chunks

Adapted from Mary Berry's 'Simple Cakes' book in attempt to copy the delicious Marks & Spencer chocolate chunk shortbread cookies…

Recipe: Easy butter shortbread with chocolate chunks

Ingredients
8 oz (225g) plain flour
4 oz (100g) caster sugar
8 oz (225g) butter, at room temperature, cut into small chunks
4 oz (100g) semolina
Optional:
2 oz (50g) chocolate chunks/drops
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
+ an additional 1 oz (25g) caster sugar, for dusting

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C / Gas Mark 3. Line a baking tray with parchment.
2. Mix the flour, sugar and semolina in a large bowl (with the chocolate chunks and salt if using). Then add the butter (and vanilla essence if using) and mix it into the dry ingredients, using your hands to bring the mixture together to form a crumbly dough.
3. Tip the dough into the tray and press it down to a 1 cm thickness with the back of a spoon. Ensure the mixture is spread in a thick even layer. Sprinkle the top with the additional caster sugar.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes until pale golden. Check it after 20 minutes to make sure it doesn't go too brown. Allow to cool in the tray for 5 minutes.
5. Cut the shortbread into squares. Lift them out and cool completely on a wire rack.

Notes

• Butter or better quality margarine both work. Butter spreads (Clover, Flora Buttery etc) work the best - a good flavour and easy to mix in. Butter is more solid than marg so it results in more robust biscuits but they can seem a bit too heavy.
• If you don't have semolina, use cornflour or just more plain flour. I've tried it with both coarse and fine semolina and both work fine. The biscuits are slightly crunchier with the coarse semolina.
• The salt and vanilla essence are added to boost the flavour but can be omitted.
• Cadbury's Chocolate Chunks work very well in this shortbread - Morrison's sell them in the 'Home Baking' aisle.
• If the mixture doesn't fill the baking sheet, press it down as directed and square off the end.
• Alternatively you can form the mixture into a stickier dough by adding milk or water, and then roll out and cut into shapes (see image showing the dough cut into shortbread rounds).
• The biscuits last for a week or so kept in an airtight tin.

Chai and Homemade Chocolate Chunk Shortbread

Location: Maple Tourist Home, Ernakulam, Kochi, India

Date: 18 January 2009

Details: Chai and Homemade Chocolate Chunk Shortbread

Notes: Chai bought as a 'take-out' from the Aryaas Restaurant next door to the Maple hostel. The bowl/saucer is placed over the little metal cup to keep it warm and prevent spills.

The shortbread was made in England before going to India and it's a particularly special piece because The Lion had managed not to scoff it, despite looking at it every day for two weeks.

Chai and Plain Dosa

Location: Kovalam, Kerala, India

Date: 13 January 2009

Details: Chai and Plain Dosa

Notes: Not strictly a cuppa and cake, this is elevenses Kerala-style. The 'dosa' is the pancake, it's a 'plain dosa' because it doesn't contain a lump of potato curry like a 'masala dosa' would. The three little dishes contain: tomato sambar, a vegetable curry and a coconut chutney. Delicious!

Cost: 15Rs (approx 22p)

Coffee and Apple Crumble

Location: The German Bakery, Kovalam, Kerala, India

Date: 12 January 2009

Details: Coffee and apple crumble

Notes:

The Lion was desperate to enjoy the apple crumble he fondly remembered last time he visited the German Bakery in this seaside town many years ago. The Bakery itself had gone upmarket and lost its original simple charm. The crumble itself was OK - The Lion pretty much inhaled it before I could get chance to take this photo (see hand in the photo, mid-scoff) - but it was overpriced like everything else in this café.

Chai and Indian Almond Croissant

Location: Taxi stand, Kovalam, Kerala, India

Date: 12 January 2009

Details: Chai with an Indian pastry

Notes:

This chai wallah served a fantastic shot of chai for the grand sum of 5Rs - less than 10p. His stall was close to the taxi stand in Kovalam so he was busy all day from 8am until early evening. Watching the chai being prepared is great street-theatre. The milk is heated with spices (cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, star anise, peppercorns, cloves) and then the hot tea is strained into it. Then the wallah pours it from above his head into the tiny glasses. Aerating it like this supposedly brings out the flavours, and it certainly makes it more aromatic.

The pastry was a kind of Indian almond croissant. Again, only 5Rs. The wallah told us it was called a "baps" or something... Imagine a Peshwari naan morphed into a croissant. Delicious. Nick would scoff four in a row if I wasn't watching him.