Tea of the Week: Wedgwood’s 1870 Golden Rose

Are you ready for Valentine’s Day? Whether you are buying a bouquet for your sweetie or even for yourself this February 14th, roses are always a good idea. For a change on tradition, you might think about gifting your bouquet in tea form. That’s where Wedgwood’s 1870 Golden Rose comes into play. This blend is a lovely potpourri of fruit and flowers, a blended Chinese green tea that I am officially over the moon about.

If the Wedgwood name sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the same British company known for its elegant porcelain and bone china. I was so happy to discover that Wedgwood recently started selling their teas here in the US, and this tea was one of the main reasons for that excitement.

Wedgwood’s 1870 Golden Rose is a distinctively feminine blend, a treasure among perfume-like teas. This steep is elegant and charmed, like a pure taste of romance. If you or your sweetie loves the idea of stepping through a bountiful English garden of sweet berries and fragrant blooms, then I’m sure that you’ll simply adore this tea.

Tasting Notes for Wedgwood’s 1870 Golden Rose:

BREWING TIPS:  Brew at 175 degrees F for 3-5 minutes. As this is a delicate green tea, be careful not to overbrew.

THE BLEND:  Made up of twisted green tea leaves, large rose petals, strawberry pieces, and cornflowers.

THE SCENT:  If I were rich, I would place piles of this tea around my house. The tea is scented like a thriving English garden between spring and summer. Or, if you can’t imagine that, it’s like going to a farmer’s market and walking into a stall that only sells ripe strawberries and big, fat, just-bloomed roses. If the winter has you missing the scent (and taste!) of red, ripe strawberries, then this is the tea for you…true aromatherapy!

THE STEEP:  A golden, soft orange. This is a lightly sunny sip with mild bok choy notes from the Chinese green tea base. You could add a touch of honey to this tea to accentuate its floral notes.

GET IT:  Online, at the US Wedgwood site, the Canadian Wedgwood site, or the UK Wedgwood site for tea lovers living in Europe.

FOOD PAIRING:  This is a great tea to have with a classic afternoon tea spread of English Scones or Mini Cream Scones, tea sandwiches, and petit fours. Also lovely when enjoyed with a simple slice of toast and jam. 

French Tea Gummies

Artfully blended and bold, a good cup of French tea is the most decadent treat. Today’s recipe for French Tea Gummies is inspired by the gorgeous black and hot pink tin of tea that’s been hiding in the back of my tea cabinet since I bought it in Paris last year.

Fauchon’s Raspberry Macaron Blend has a perfume-like quality that makes it ideal for using as a base in simple and sweet food items like candies. If you are thinking that fancy tea should be left out of the cooking realm, this recipe will help to change your mind. When carefully selected, certain high-quality teas can take your food from one-note to extraordinary.

I became enamored by fleur di lys (literally translated as “flower of the lily”), a classic symbol of all things French, when I visited Quebec a few years ago. There are so many options when it comes to molds for gummy candies, but I must say that I was really excited to find this design. I don’t know who would have thought to make candy molds out of a motif so distinguished, but I’m glad they did because these gummy candies wouldn’t have half their charm without their artistic shape.

I hate to tell you this, but Fauchon’s Raspberry Macaron Blend isn’t available in the US. Don’t worry though, Harney & Sons Paris blend or Mariage Freres’ Marco Polo will both work great here. To put it simply, use any black tea that’s floral (roses) and fruity (berries), and has you coming back for more!

Adding milk into tea is a tradition in French tea-drinking. To honor this, I’ve introduced an option for a tea gummy that has a touch of milk added to it. This custom was started by none other than Madame de Sévigné, a French aristocrat who would add the liquid as a way to take the edge off of tea that had traveled for years before reaching her. It’s a custom that many still know and love, so I certainly didn’t want to skip it!

Instead of using corn syrup, which is typical for gummy snacks, I’ve used a combination of honey and stevia in this recipe. The honey helps to create a chewy texture, while the stevia gives a boost of natural sweetness to make these bites taste truly candy-like.

The black tea is steeped with triple strength here, so that it’s flavor is noticeable and shines through. This is a culinary trick anytime you cook with tea…steep it strong–very strong–much stronger than feels right! And even though we want a strong tea, we don’t want a tea that’s been over-steeped, so read your tea’s packaging carefully for brewing instructions.

Take my advice…get more than one mold and make plenty of these, because you seriously won’t be able to stop eating them once you start. Healthy, nutritious, and incredibly delicious, they are the most childishly sophisticated snack around. Kids will like these French Tea Gummies, but it’s the adults who will absolutely love them!

French Tea Gummies

Makes 2 cups of gummy candies.

Ingredients:

6 oz package organic raspberries

juice of 1 lemon (2 Tbsp)

4 Tbsp honey

1/4 tsp stevia

1 cup strongly brewed tea, preferably flavored, French, or French-inspired! (ratio of 1 cup water to 1 Tbsp loose tea leaves)

6 Tbsp gelatin

non-stick vegetable oil spray

5 Tbsp evaporated milk (optional)

Equipment:

Fleur de Lys candy/chocolate mold

medium pot

medium bowl

tea brewer

timer

medium mesh sieve

spatula

small spoon

Directions:

1.)  Place the raspberries and lemon juice in medium pot and place on low-medium heat for 5-7 minutes until the raspberries are completely broken down. You can use the back of the spatula to help with this process. Place a sieve over a medium bowl. Pour the raspberry mixture through the sieve to remove all the seeds. Add the honey and stevia to the strained juice and mix in. Set the raspberry juice aside.

2.)  Brew the tea. It’s typical to brew black tea for 4-5 minutes with water at 212 degrees F. Set aside.

3.)  Scatter the gelatin on top of the raspberry mixture and mix it in. Add the hot tea in and mix together until you get a homogenous mixture. If you notice clumps, add the mixture back into the pot and cook on low heat until the gelatin fully dissolves. Use a spoon to skim off and discard any foam off the surface of the mixture.

4.)  Give the candy mold a very light, even spray of vegetable oil. Using a small spoon, fill each cavity of the mold. Place the mold into the fridge or freezer until the gummies are fully set. In the freezer, it will only take about 5 minutes. Repeat the process as many times as it takes to use up all of the tea mixture. Meanwhile, if the raspberry-tea mixture starts to set in the prep bowl, give it a zap in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to return it to a liquid state. Store gummies in the fridge in an airtight container.

Variation:  If you like a bit of cream in your tea, add 5 Tbsp of evaporated milk to the tea after it has been brewed in Step 2. Alternatively, I like to add 2 1/2 Tbsp of milk after there is a half portion of the raspberry-tea mixture left (after you’ve spooned out 1/2 of the mixture). This way I get 2 types of gummies (one cup of clear gummies & one cup of milky gummies) from one full recipe.

Easter Bunny Stroopwafels

Who says chocolate bunnies are only for kids?

Let’s be honest, Easter isn’t Easter without a large chocolate bunny being involved.  These Easter Bunny Stroopwafels are the more enchanted version of those grand hollow Easter bunnies that children enjoy, with a measure of portion control thrown in.  What’s also great about these is that they make good use out of the unique and incredibly delicious Dutch stroopwafel!

Several months back I posted a recipe on tea bark, where fragrant green teas were scattered over thin layers of glossy dark chocolate.  For these Easter Bunny Stroopwafels, I used matcha infused white chocolate to set the stage for some grass-like imagery.  The matcha tea also helps to give the cookies an extra boost in green tea flavor.

When choosing which tea blend to use here, you want a green tea laced with lots of flowers and dried fruits.  Even just plain herbals like lavender and ripped rose buds work well.  Above all, you want to use a tea that is pleasantly fragrant and edible.

Teavana’s Sakura Allure is an ideal tea to use for these Easter Bunny Stroopwafels.  Aesthetically, this is a very beautiful, feminine looking tea, which is exactly why I chose it to use!  This blend is inspired by the cherry blossoms that bloom in Japan every spring.

Tasting Notes:

BREWING TIPS:  2 minutes at 175 degrees F.

THE LEAF:  Long, narrow, dark green tea leaves with chunks of dried cherries, dried mango, candied pineapple, orange peels, hibiscus, rose leaves, and rose buds thrown in.

THE SCENT:  A very strong cherry and floral scent.  I left some in my hot car after my run to Teavana, and the car smelled incredibly fruity by the time I returned!

THE STEEP:  This blend looks and tastes very much like fruit punch.  Since there are many fruits and herbal flowers added in, the caffeine content is lower, so this blend is good for kids or those who are caffeine-sensitive.

*** The thing you need to remember if you use Sakura Allure for this little project is that the dried cherries in the tea are not pitted.  Pit and cut the large dried cherries into little tiny bits before using them to make the tea bark.  The cherries are easy to spot in the blend–they are large, sticky, speckled black clumps.

Easter Bunny Stroopwafels make an easy and elegant after-brunch dessert.  Enjoy them with a hot, fruity cup of brewed Sakura Allure so that your guests can try the tea in two ways–dried and brewed!  These Easter-themed stroopwafels help to capture a lovely image of the season, reminding us that spring is a time for fresh starts and new beginnings.

And with that, I would like to wish all my blog readers out there a very Happy Easter!!

Easter Bunny Stroopwafels

Makes 6 decorated stroopwafels.

Ingredients:

6 stroopwafels

6 small chocolate bunnies (I used Lindt)

6 small pastel-colored chocolate Easter eggs (I used Cadbury Minis)

1/4 cup white chocolate or candy melts

1 tsp matcha green tea powder

2 Tbsp of a floral, fruity, and fragrant loose-leaf green tea (I used Teavana’s Sakura Allure), plus more for brewing

Equipment:

teacups, with diameter same or less than stroopwafels

baker’s twine or thin decorative ribbon, cut into 8″ pieces

scissors

Instructions:

1.)  Melt the white chocolate or candy melts in the microwave or over a double boiler.  Add in the matcha and mix until the chocolate is an even green color.

2.)  Place 2-3 tsp of the green tea melted chocolate in the top middle of each stroopwafel.  Smooth over the chocolate evenly so that you leave a 1/4″ border all around the top circumference of the stroopwafel.

3.)  Lightly scatter the green tea blend atop the setting green tea chocolate.

4.)  Place an unwrapped chocolate bunny in the center of the stroopwafel, and an egg beside the bunny.  Allow a few minutes for the chocolate to set.

5.) Using baker’s twine or thin string, tie a bow around the neck of each chocolate bunny.  Snip off excess ribbon.  When it’s time to serve, place the stroopwafels atop a teacup filled with the same Sakura Allure you used to make the bark.  Enjoy!