Afternoon tea with lots of talk about baking

Wellington on a Plate moved to October this year and once again I've planned a busy itinerary for myself. The title of my first event is quite a mouthful - just like the delicious afternoon tea we were served. Everything you could ever want to know about baking, all in one afternoon was hosted by three industry veterans at Floriditas. Ruth Pretty, Julie le Clerc and Julie Clark delighted us with tales from their baking careers, baking failures and advice for those of us still practising our craft.

During the talk, we were served afternoon tea featuring menu items from each chef. 

An enticing menu

 I swapped my hot drink for a refreshing mocktail.

Seville orange and mint cordial

Food was presented in two courses: savoury and sweet. The savoury selection included a roast chicken cocktail sandwich with bacon and herb stuffing, spinach za'atar puff and an asparagus, parmesan and gruyere croissant. So very cheesy!

Savoury selection

We all know I'm really about the sweets. Our sweet treats included a little Persian love cake, a soft ginger kiss, passionfruit and white chocolate macaron and a decadent dark chocolate strawberry tart. Divine!

Sweet treats

This was a delightful afternoon with lovely company and great advice. If only we could enjoy afternoon tea like this every weekend.

Christmas high tea at the Intercontinental

I set myself a Christmas watershed of 1 December 5 years ago as a way of managing the annual Christmas madness. For some reason I'm feeling quite festive this year so lifted it a day early, officially declaring the Christmas season open by celebrating Christmas high tea with friends today.

The Intercontinental puts on a spectacular high tea (or high coffee). This year they have a special Christmas high tea available every day until Christmas Eve. The menu is extensive (17 items!) and drinks include the usual tea selection or coffee and either a festive mocktail or a glass of Veuve Clicquot champagne.

An excellent start

Half the fun of high tea is matching the extensive menu with the food presented to you. Sure, it was explained to us by staff but 17 items is a lot to keep your eye on. And then a bartering system began. "I'll trade your asparagus roll for my ham slider" was followed by "you can have my eggnog cheesecake if I get your cheese scone." We all passed our pumperknickel with blue cheese to one person who declared that four was enough!

Christmas high tea

So what did we eat? The savoury tier included a cheese scone, asparagus roll, cucumber sandwich, smoked salmon blink, champagne ham slider and pumpernickel with blue cheese.

Sandwiches and savoury

Things started getting sweeter. Eggnog cheese cake, strawberry tart, white chocolate choux, mini gateau, Christmas pudding panna cotta, a Christmas fruit tart and a cute little gingerbread man. I needed to pause during this tier.

Slightly sugary

The finish was very sweet. Macarons, trifle slice disguised as a Christmas pudding, a welcome palette cleansing berry fruit salad and a fun chocolate and popping candy lollipop.

A sweet finish

I didn't make it all through the menu (although my friends did!) so took home a takeaway box of four items to have for dessert tonight. What a deliciously decadent start to Christmas 2019!

Psychological gastronomy high tea

Artisan at the Bolton Hotel hosts a great high tea. Their 2019 Wellington on a Plate event is Psychological gastronomy and described as "a not-so-traditional high tea" where savoury and sweet may not be as they seem. In fact, they're the complete opposite. Every item that appears savoury tastes sweet, and every item that looks like it should be sweet is savoury.

This was actually quite a challenge. Where do you begin? The high tea tradition of starting at the bottom savoury tier and working all the way up to the sweet finalé clearly wouldn't work here. We pondered the menu over coffee and a glass of Giesen Classic Cuveé.

Things are not how they appear

Here's how we played out our high tea strategy.

Savoury that looks sweet

• Duck pâté domes on sable biscuit
• Cheese profiterole
• Spinach and blue cheese cupcake with truffle icing
• Beetroot macaron with goat's cheese

Somewhere between savoury and sweet

• Compressed melon tartare with Chantilly cream

Savoury looking but actually sweet

• Brioche sandwich with chocolate and banana
• Rice pudding arancini with vanilla
• Chocolate pie
• 'Salmon' raspberry mousse with sweet blini and berry 'caviar'

This was a very fun high tea with a twist. The flavours were clever, delicious and beautifully presented. I hope Artisan holds another high tea event next year. We'll be there!

Mad Hatter's Tea Party with a twist

High tea two weekends in a row? It must be Wellington on a Plate. The Mad Hatter's Tea Party with a twist was held at the festival hub behind Prefab Cafe.

This dapper couple were suitably dressed for the occasion.

Thomas the Tank Engine meets the Mad Hatter

We entered through the magical festival hub, where candy floss clouds were there for the taking.

Candy floss clouds

Walk past the popcorn wall and entice your palette. Which will you choose: sweet, sour, bitter salty or umami?

A wall of popcorn

Alice invites you ...

Welcome!

  ... to follow her down down the rabbit hole ...

Don't get lost!

... and take your seat.

Table setting

The flowers look so pretty ...

Pretty flower bowl

... but they're actually a resting place for this little blue penguin!

A penguin ice sculpture

Ooh, a game of chess! Who is brave enough to play?

Giant chess board

Time for tea. Teapot cocktails were served. There were no non-alcoholic or coffee substitutions included (apart from some available for purchase) so we stuck with water.

Tea is served

While waiting for our food to arrive, we visited the vending machine in the Visa Festival Hub and munched on another pottle of popcorn along the way.

Treat yourself for just $1!

Here's how the menu transformed:

Mad Hatter's high tea

Where to start? At the bottom, of course! Rabbit pies, chicken liver and plum jelly brioche doughnuts, and cucumber, cream cheese and cricket (yes, cricket) sandwiches. The brioche and bread were amazing. The fillings ... well, I need a bit more getting used to chicken liver and crickets. Surprisingly, the chili and black ant candy floss was actually quite delicious.

Savoury style

These champagne jelly tarts were set on shortbread and dusted with freeze dried raspberries.

Champagne jellies

And no Mad Hatter's tea party would be complete without jam tarts. We finished off high tea with a mini chocolate (mousse) garden.

The Queen of Heart's tarts

This Mad Hatter's tea party was a magical way to wile away an hour on a Saturday afternoon.

Homegrown high tea at Artisan Dining House

Wellington on a Plate continued today with Homegrown high tea, an elegant high tea experience at Artisan Dining House in the Bolton Hotel. High tea featured a range of handcrafted gourmet teatime treats made with local ingredients and began with half a glass of The Griffin bubbles from Palliser Estate on arrival. The tables were set.

A bubbly start

The menu promised nine items sourced from locally produced ingredients along with a selection of teas.

High tea menu

 Thankfully we could exchange tea for coffee. Our high tea arrived.

Artisan Dining House high tea

Where to begin? The classic cucumber sandwich was actually on the top (dessert) tier, so we started there and then moved to the savoury bottom layer. You can see little venison pies, mushroom arancini, and lamb croquets. They're hiding a teeny tiny cheese scroll nestled in behind.

The middle tier had a range of sweet items, including citrus slice, almond friand and a Whittaker's chocolate coconut fudge slice featuring an elegant white chocolate shark with a pretty marbled effect. This was my favourite high tea treat.

We finished high tea with a tiny salted caramel macaron.

The Artisan Dining House is a lovely setting for an elegant Sunday afternoon high tea.

High tea at the InterContinental

Team building exercises can be tiresome. Some are bearable. It turns out that a 3-hour long scavenger hunt around Wellington's CBD brought out the competitive side of my workmates and ended up being a huge amount of fun. Even better was the promised prize of afternoon tea for the winning team ... us! We perused afternoon tea menus and settled on high tea in the Lobby Lounge at the InterContinental Hotel. What a great choice!

The atmosphere in the Lobby Lounge is comfortable and relaxed. There's an extensive tea menu that, naturally, I cast aside in pursuit of coffee. We knew we'd be in for a feast so made sure nobody had lunch beforehand but still weren't certain we could finish a full high tea each - although we'd certainly try our best.

The staff were great. While we wouldn't be able to take home any savoury foods, the sweet items could be packaged up if we couldn't make it through all fifteen pieces. Just as well ... most of my top layer came home in a beautiful doggy (piggy?) box to be devoured later.

So what did we eat? The menu was similar to the high coffee I enjoyed last year. We started at the bottom with a warm bacon and avocado slider, smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel, pumpernickel with apple and aged blue cheese (I'm still getting used to pumpernickel), cucumber and egg club sandwiches, followed by mini date scones with jam and cream.

Intercontinental high tea

And this is what we brought home: gateau opera, white chocolate mousse, strawberry tartlet, chocolate and popping candy lollipop (so much fun!), mini cheesecake, coffee éclair, tropical fruit salad and a tiny macaron.

We had an amazing high tea with delicious food and excellent company. I can't think of a more pleasant way to spend a Friday afternoon.

High tea at Louis Sergeant

After sampling many high tea menus in recent years, I had finally worked my way up to the top. High tea at Louis Sergeant is a very special affair. The tables are set with white linen and the tea menu is presented. Much like with cocktails, I loved reading the descriptions of each blend but opted for coffee instead of endless cups of tea.

I had planned on scrupulously taking notes detailing each item, reporting back on both ingredients and form. However, when the time came, I could only manage to gape with wide eyes at the selection placed in front of us and let the lyrical descriptions float over me. So here I am, one week later, trying in vain to remember details of the menu. I'll let the photos do the talking.

Louis Sergeant high tea

This is what four high tea servings looks like. Each item was tiny and perfectly formed - and not a sandwich or sausage roll in sight!

Savoury delights

Interestingly, the middle tier was the starting point with four savoury items to begin with. Each had a different texture and themes included cheese, a bit more cheese, betrooot, mousse-y stuff and microgreens.

Something sweet

There were two sweet tiers, one each on the bottom and top. But where should you start? I decided what I'd like to finish with and worked backwards from there, heading to the bottom tier first. Hazelnut praline, chocolate, gold leaf and a strawberry and balsamic macaron featured here, each one a heavenly mouthful.

Saving the best for last

And now the finale. Which to choose: strawberry or lemon? Both were elegant and bursting with decadence but the lemon edged its way into first place for me.

This really was an exquisite high tea. I'm so glad I've worked my way up to it as Louis Sergeant is hard to beat. Apologies to my foodie friends for making such a hash of my descriptions. Hopefully you're reading this and smiling as you remember our high tea. I'm already looking forward to the next one.

High tea at Aston Norwood Gardens

Kaitoke Country Gardens at the base of the Rimutaka Hill has undergone a makeover in recent months and has now been reborn as Aston Norwood Gardens. The venue is positioning itself as more of an all season destination and aiming for the country-style wedding market. Among the cafe's offerings is high tea. Don't mind if we do!

The table setting was cute. Delicate tea cups with well loved but worn out decorative spoons were presented alongside sugar cubes and a fake flower spray. The bubbles were poured on arrival and our tea cups whisked away to be returned bearing the coffees of our choice.

Country charm

Three tiers of food were delivered to our table. We were left to work out what we'd been served.

Sparkling high tea

The savoury tier had two tomato, cucumber and pesto white bread sandwiches each and a handful of about five heated up frozen savouries and sausage rolls. I sampled two (two more than I'd ever normally eat in a typical year!) before giving up and leaving the rest to take home to Mr Weka.

Sandwiches and heated savouries

The middle layer was pseudo-sweet, with home-style ginger crunch, then a lemon curd pre-made tart and scone with jam and cream. Looking across at the next table I noticed that some others had chocolate slices and what looked to be a miniature glass of berry coulis. It would have been interesting to try them both.

Ginger crunch, lemon curd tart and scones

The top layer once again featured pre-made pastry tarts, one featuring jam and covered with more jam and cream and the other filled with chocolate and caramel. Not unpleasant but nothing special.

Berry jam and chocolate tarts

I'd describe this experience as a high tea of sorts. I was disappointed with the lack of variety and very surprised at how much of the food was pre-prepared from frozen or store bought but still presented as high tea. It's not somewhere I'd rush back to but we still enjoyed some time out to catch up during a busy weekend.

High tea at Martha's Pantry

When you hear the name Martha's Pantry, it's hard not to think of high tea. Martha's were one of Wellington's high tea pioneers when it enjoyed a big resurgence in the mid-2000s. In its heyday, bookings had to be made well in advance and nothing less than sheer decadence was on the menu. I've enjoyed many events at Martha's Pantry over the years and looked forward to returning for high tea to celebrate a special family occasion.

An extensive tea menu awaited our arrival, which unfortunately was not taken advantage of by our mostly coffee-drinking family. Luckily we could choose substitutions from the blackboard drinks menu. The special children's high tea menu was a big hit with the two youngest members of our family, who were served quickly. Drinks orders were placed and then our high tea services arrived.

High tea service

A selection of club sandwiches and savoury tarts helped whet our appetites.

Savoury to begin

The second course was bite-sized scones, one each with jam and passionfruit curd and piped with whipped cream.

Second, scones

To finish, we had brownie, mini lemon meringue tarts and vanilla cupcakes.

Sweet treats to finish

What's not to love? Sadly, I think the golden days have passed. I appreciate that family and business circumstances have changed, but Martha's Pantry seems a shadow of its previous glory. Now the food is not quite as fresh, the decor looks tired, the paper napkins are Pam's and the little touches of luxury that were all part of the experience have faded away.

High tea is (still) always a treat, but I fear others may now be outclassing Martha's Pantry at their own game.