tea Archives - JUNIPER CAKERY | Cakes and Sweet Treats!

24th November 2014 // 1 Comments

Vintage Tea and Macarons Cake with Cheeky Rabbit!

Amidst the flurry of sparkling Christmas treats, designs and decor we created this adorable tea and macarons cake featured a tea drenched fondant rabbit peering out over an edible teacup and saucer! This pastel hued cake is the perfect addition to a fun afternoon tea themed party with it’s bright fondant macarons, shimmering fondant pearl necklaces and gold painted tea paraphernalia. Whilst we adore winter festivities and themed this vintage inspired design was a delightful break!

An initial vintage look was applied to the design with clusters of swiss royal icing dots around the sides. This was inspired by the vintage and antique lace trims sewn onto handkerchiefs, doilies and tablecloths. This element was kept fairly simple as intricate hand-piped lace would have perhaps overpowered the design and looked a little too busy.

The vintage inspiration was further strengthened by the addition of shimmering fondant pearl necklaces draping down one side, a luxurious quilted cake board studded with edible sugar pearls and a simple trim of ivory grosgrain ribbon around the base of the cake itself.

Edible teacups are one of our favourite things to create. They can be fairly time consuming due to waiting for the paste to set fully before getting to royal ice all of the pieces together. Once we put together the cup and saucer we hand painted some detail along the sides with edible gold paint.

To give the cake a slight whimsical touch we added the fondant macarons onto the cake in little ‘toppled’ formations using cocktail sticks to help hold each fondant on at different angles created a sort of balanced look!

This fun and adorably vintage styled cake design would be ideal for a spring or summer birthday party, but it can easily be adapted to fit the current seasonal frostiness; add small piped snowflakes onto the sides, embos the board with snowflake plunger cutters, change the colour palette to glimmering cold hues and perhaps add a melting snowman into the freshly brewed cup of tea. We love the idea of swapping the cup of tea for a warming deep cup of hot chocolate featuring fondant marshmallows and changing the macarons for candy canes!

14th January 2014 // 0 Comments

Healthy Earl Grey, Apricot and Sultana Scones Recipe!

The majority of us promise to be even the tiniest bit more healthy in the new year; a delicious and easy way to do this is to incorporate fruits, nuts, and whole wheat into our diets. It’s much less scary to add chopped dried fruits into your baking and to try utilising some whole wheat flour into your batter than to subject yourself to tasteless diet food! With this in mind we’ve created this healthy yet satisfying recipe for you to re-create and enjoy at home. These fragrant Early Grey, Apricot and Sultana Scones are perfect for a quick snack, breakfast for as a treat if topped with whipped cream.

Earl Grey, Apricot and Sultana Scones

This recipe makes 8-12 normal sized scones (approx. the size of the top of a teacup).

125g plain flour
100g wholewheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
25g caster sugar
150ml milk
60g low fat butter alternative (e.g. Stork)
50-80g chopped dried apricots
80g sultanas
2 tablespoons of Earl Grey tea
1 beaten egg to glaze
Plain or scalloped circle cutters

Firstly, the Earl Grey tea needs to be infused into the butter. This needs to be done the day or night before so that the butter can reset. In a sauce pan melt the butter along with the Earl Grey tea. Leave this to simmer for around 15 minutes and stir constantly on medium heat. Once fragrant sieve the butter to remove the flecks of tea. You can leave the tea leaves in the butter, however, for this recipe we preferred to remove them. Pour the Earl Grey butter into an airtight container and chill until set.

Healthy scone recipe!

Pre-heat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7. Lightly grease a flat baking tray or line with baking paper.

Mix together the flour and salt in a bowl. Then run in the butter to make crumb-like pieces. Add the sugar and then the milk. Gently mix together using clean hands.

Once the wet ingredients have been incorporated it is time to add in the chopped apricots and sultanas.

Pop your dough onto a flour dusted surface and lightly knead. Roll or pat to around 1 inch thick (to make mini sized scones). Use a 48mm cutter to cut either plain or scallop edged scones. Place around 2 inches apart on your baking tray.

Lightly brush the scones with the beaten egg mixture and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden.

Once the scones have cooled they’re ready to enjoy! Slice them in half and prepare them how you wish. We like to toast ours and smother them with home made jam! Add some extra nutrients by using a vegetable spread with extra vitamins added and devour them with a lovely cup of herbal tea!