A lovely gift...

Whittard Instant Tea Selection

If there is one thing about me that pretty much everyone around me knows it’s that I have 'slight' obsession with tea. So it was hardly a surprise when on my 17th Birthday I was inundated with tea inspired gifts: lots of cute mugs to enjoy my favourite tea in, afternoon tea vouchers and this lovely tea selection from Whittard’s courtesy of my friends :)

Whittard shops are a tea lover’s heaven, I love wandering around my local store and perusing all the items I would love to buy if only money were no object! So receiving this tea selection was a lovely treat for me. My birthday was back in November but I’ve only just got round to sampling all the teas and I thought I would share my views on the selection with fellow tea lovers out there :)

The one word to describe this selection of teas has to be ‘refreshing’. A couple of sips and I was left feeling re-energized and calmer- a perfect way to start the day or to unwind after a busy day writing a history essay!  As with any selection there were certain options that I definitely preferred over others:-

Dreamtime Instant Tea: This one is a blend of honey, apricot and vanilla. It was very soothing and would be perfect before bed (surprise surprise)

Cranberry & Raspberry Instant Tea: I could only taste the cranberry flavour in this tea. I found the cranberry flavour on its own rather sour.    

Turkish Apple Instant Tea: I personally don’t like apple flavoured drinks so this one was my least favourites. However, if you do like apple tea I’m sure you will like it better than I did!

English Fruits Instant Tea: This blend was one of favourites. Loved the fruity flavour: a combination of apple and strawberry. It also smelt amazing - I can’t get enough of it!

Blackcurrant & Elderflower Instant Tea: The blackcurrant flavour was very strong but I couldn’t taste the elderflower at all. 

Last but not least my absolute favourite flavour the Damson Plum - which I will definitely be repurchasing in the larger size! This one isn't as sweet as the others so perfect for a breakfast blend :)

On the packet it states how you should use 3 teaspoons of the powdered tea however I felt that was a bit too overpowering I found that 2 teaspoons were enough for the perfect cuppa!

The great thing about this selection is that it can be enjoyed all year round.  The tea can be drunk hot for a soothing treat during the winter months and cold for a refreshing summer iced tea. Would definitely recommend this selection as a gift for tea lover’s! 

On the topic of birthday presents here are some of the adorable mugs I received to add to my vast collection…

This Sunday I will be availing the afternoon tea vouchers for Thoresby Hall I received from my mum – can’t wait to share my experience with you all next time.

See you next time for more of my ramblings!

xx

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Afternoon Tea at The Pump Room in Bath

Happy New Year guys!

Been a while since my last post, so I thought I would kick off the New Year with an afternoon tea review. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, during my visit to the Bath Christmas Market last month I felt it was obligatory *wink* to have a spot of afternoon tea in one of Baths oldest and most elegant dining establishments. So as promised this week I will finally be reviewing my afternoon tea experience at the Pump Room in Bath!

The Pump Room was built above the roman baths in 1795 by Thomas Baldwin and John Palmer. Back in the day the Pump Room was a focal point of Georgian society – it was where the upper classes wined and dined after visiting the Roman Bath’s next door. The Pump Room is a Grade I listed building, which means the building is of exceptional historic importance.

The Pump Room really does live up to its reputation of elegance and class. As you can see from the pictures - it is an absolutely stunning building inside and out.

It has a definite old school charm and as soon you as enter the building it really does feel like you’ve been transported to a scene from a Jane Austen novel!

The Afternoon Tea is served between 2:30pm and 4:30pm and is priced at £21 for the traditional afternoon tea and £27.50 if you want to include a glass of champagne. During the weekend the Pump Room operates a queuing system so it is not possible to book in advance. We arrived at around 3pm and the waiter informed us that there was a 30 minute wait, which on an empty stomach felt like an eternity!

However, the wait did serve to increase the excitement and anticipation, as you edge closer and can see the relaxed diners in the restaurant and the queue getting longer behind you, you get the sense that you’re in for a truly special treat!

So what was the food like?

Sandwiches

Plenty of vegetarian sandwiches to go round, which were nice but nothing to write home about! If you don’t like cheese you wouldn’t be happy with the vegetarian sandwich line up as they were all traditional cheese fillings.

Scones

Cakes and Pastries 

There were four of us and two people shared a cake stand. As I have a quite an extravagant sweet tooth it was a little disappointing for me that there was only one of each choice so I couldn't try each of the sweet treats. I had to exercise a great deal of self-control!  I did however manage to sample each of the following yummy treats:

• Christmas Macaroon:  I have never tasted macaroons before so I was intrigued to see what all the fuss is about. This was one was certainly delicious, it had a rich chocolate ganache filling which was a pleasant surprise for me.
• Chocolate Éclair: Éclairs are my weakness so you can imagine the fight I put up to have this! And guess what…this one was shaped like a swan - very creative! I almost couldn’t bring myself to eat it but don’t worry I quickly overcame my hesitation :-)
• Fruit Tart: This was really refreshing and crumbly
• Cake: There was a lovely slice of chocolate cake topped with chocolate ganache which was very creamy and moist – a  perfect end to a lovely afternoon tea :) 

So did the Pump Room live up to the anticipation?

It absolutely did! The restaurant itself is incredibly posh and very quintessentially British. We were seated close to the pianist and really enjoyed the live classical music playing live. The service was brilliant and the food absolutely delicious.

It’s a great afternoon tea experience but a bit overpriced considering the amount and size of portions – but I guess you pay for the great service and ambience of the place. So overall I would definitely recommend a trip to the pump room if any of you ever take trip to Bath!

Hope you liked today's post :)

You can tweet me on twitter (@nishah_97) with any recommendations of afternoon tea’s you think I should try!

See you next time for more of my ramblings!

xx

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Reindeer Cupcakes

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and...Rudolph!

Today I thought I would do another festive themed post and share one of my recent baking attempts with you. The other day when I was taking a 'break' from revision I was scrolling  through Pinterest and found pictures of some adorable Reindeer cupcakes. They were literally soo cute that I immediately decided I had to make them for myself. So this week I invited one of my best friends over for a bit of a pre-Christmas party/baking session. 

Before we got baking we made sure we were fully in the festive spirit by putting on our favourite cheesy Christmas jumpers and blasting out some classic Christmas tunes….

Ingredients 

For the cupcakes...

For the decoration...

Method

Cupcakes:

Step One: Firstly, preheat the oven to 180C

Step Two: Cream the butter and the sugar together in a bowl, then beat the eggs in a little at a time

Step Three: Fold the flour in using a metal spoon, then add the milk until the mixture is a soft dropping consistency.

Step Four: Spoon the mixture into some festive cupcake cases and pop in the oven for 15 minutes.

Decoration: - my favourite bit :)

Step One: Once the cupcakes have cooled completely spread a smooth layer of Nutella all over the cupcakes.

Step Two: Place the Jaffa cakes about 1/3 the way down the cupcakes.

Step Three: Pick out all the brown and red smarties for the noses - this could take a while! Place a red smartie in the centre of your Jaffa cake with some Nutella to help it stick, this will be Rudolph! On the rest of the Jaffa cakes place brown smarties in the centre.

Step Four: Place the pretzels at the very tops of the cupcakes, this will form the reindeers ears.

Step Five: Finally, you will need to roll 2 balls with a bit of the ready rolled icing to make eyes for the reindeer. Next I used a toothpick dipped in Nutella to create the brown eyes on the balls of white icing. If you are a bit more advanced in your decorating skills you could also use a piping bag to do this part!

Rudolph with your nose so bright...

Hope you enjoyed today's festive post and if I have inspired any of you to do some baking be sure to tweet me some pictures!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

P.s I just want to say a big thank you to my best friend Rachel for helping me bake these festive treats!

See you next time for more of my ramblings! 

xx

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Bath Christmas Market

This year I decided to kick start the festive season with a trip to the Bath Christmas Market. Not only was this my first visit to the Christmas Market in Bath but it was also my first ever trip to the city of Bath. Bath has always been top on the list of places I would like to visit in the UK but somehow I’ve never actually got round to it until now.

I had no idea what I was missing out on – I fell in love with Bath instantly it’s an absolutely beautiful city full of culture, lots of great shops and lovely places to eat – I was in heaven!  My two favourite things about Bath, were firstly its strong Jane Austen heritage. If you’re a Jane Austen fan like me then I would highly recommend a visit to the Jane Austen Museum, which gives you a really detailed insight into her life and you even get to sample a slice of 'Mrs Austen's Plum Pudding' for free.

Secondly, Bath is home to the Thermae Bath Spa, which is apparently Britain’s only natural thermal spa – making Bath the ultimate destination for spa lovers. Unfortunately, since we were only on a day trip on this occasion, there was no time to ‘take the waters’ as Jane Austen would say, so I’ve added this one to my bucket list :)

Bath Christmas Market is the best Christmas market in the UK - it has over 180 market stalls (wow). Unlike other Christmas markets up and down the country everything you see is authentically British with 70% of the stallholders being businesses from Bath selling handmade little gems!

Here are a few pictures I took during my visit...        

Even though it was very hectic I recommend visiting the market in the evening when it’s dark so you can see all the pretty lights and realty get into the festive spirit :)

We even got to enjoy some carol singing! 

 The Bath Christmas Market is a great place to pick up quirky but good quality Christmas gifts.

This stall really caught my eye and I ended up buying a few bits for some Christmas baking, which I will be sure to share with you guys soon!

I wouldn't mind cozying up with a cuppa in these!

Bath is officially my new favourite city - I would love to visit again for a slightly longer trip, perhaps even a spa weekend if anyone would like to treat me! :) 

See you next week for more of my ramblings, when I will be reviewing my experience of Afternoon Tea at the Pump Room in Bath 

P.s make sure you follow me on Twitter to get a shortened version (140 characters to be exact) of my ramblings - @nishah_97

See you next time for more of my ramblings! 

xx

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Rainbow Cake, Hummingbird Bakery

I can't believe I'm 17!

In today’s (short) post I wanted to share a new discovery of my mine the delicious Rainbow Cake from the Hummingbird Bakery. It was my 17^th birthday a few weeks ago and of course there had to be cake :) This year I was well and truly spoilt rotten by my lovely friends and family. The highlight of the day was receiving this giant yummy cake from my favourite bakery. A lovely treat courtesy of my mum – thanks mum!

For those of you that don't know the Hummingbird Bakery is a unique American style bakery in London, which offers a range of American style cupcakes, brownies, pies and cakes.

The bakery only opened in 2004 and is celebrating its 10th UK anniversary this year. Unfortunately, they only have branches in the London area at the moment. I wish they would open a branch closer to where I live (sigh)...wait perhaps on second thoughts that’s for the best otherwise I would probably end up a couple of dress sizes larger!!

The Rainbow Cake is the yummiest cake I have tried from the Hummingbird Bakery soo far…

It had a bubblegum flavour in both the frosting and sponge!

There was plenty to go around - we even managed  a second helping in the day! 

I also received a copy of the Humingbird Bakery Cake Days recipe book and will be attempting to recreate some of the hummingbird magic at home soon, particularly the gingerbread cupcakes, which look amazing for Christmas - I will let you know how I get on!

Hope you enjoyed today's post :)

See you next time for more of my ramblings! 

xx

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