Claridges Tea Time and Strawberry Fraisiers

It’s 5 Star Makeover time again and our theme this month is an English tea party and all that goes with it.

When I heard tea party, my thoughts went immediately to my platonic ideal of tea parties at Claridges in London and my first elegant English tea. I’ve been to wonderful tea parties since but that one remains the standard against which all others are measured.

Oh yes, I did have a few small flirtations with tea parties before Claridges –– first as a child purloining a precious miniature golden set in my gram’s china cabinet for my make-believe tea parties and then as a teen with herbal teas in rough artisanal mugs that went with patchouli oil, waist length hair and folk music, but that was an aberration. The idea of taking tea was firmly imprinted on my brain as an occasion perfumed with vases of blowsy roses, propped with elegant china, lots of silver, tiered sweet stands and snowy napery –– nearly blinding in its crisp whiteness. That was what I found manifestly at Claridges in Mayfair. History and elegance is the blood and breath and pulse of the place as is the sublime service.

I got to stay at the storied Claridges when I was just at the end of college and a lovely friend swept me away to London after I told him I loved the city –– 2 weeks later I was there –– and what a there! It was the perfect place to experience my first great tea.

1898, the original Victorian dining room

Claridges began in 1812 as Mivarts Hotel. It was combined in 1854 with a hotel belonging to Mr and Mrs Claridge and soon became THE hotel in London when the Empress Eugenie stayed there and Queen Victoria came to call in 1860. It was so successful that it was purchased by the owner of the Savoy Hotel and impresario of Gilbert and Sullivan fame –– Richard D’Oyly Carte. He tore down the old space and created a state-of-the-art hotel in 1898 with individual bathrooms and elevators. It was successful as well.

1930 version

The 1920’s saw a new Deco spirit in London and Basil Ionides was brought in to re-design the restaurant and bring it into the modern age. Ionides was a great choice (he's known for his striking work on the Deco masterpiece, the Savoy Theatre).

1930 Lobby

In 1929, Sir Edwin Lutyen’s former assistant, Oswald Milne, designed a new main entrance and removed the old-fashioned carriage drive in the front of the hotel. The 30’s saw a new Deco addition to the east of the old Victorian Claridges building (there are great images of the 1930s Claridges on the Royal Institute of British Architects site).

Since then, Thierry Despont did a 1996 renovation on the venerable hotel that sort of pales in comparison to the earlier versions in my humble opinion (as the following photos show–– you can decide for yourself).

The Dining room (now a Gordon Ramsey restaurant)

The entrance hall (from Claridges website)

Many celebrities have stayed there from Cary Grant to Brad and Angelina as well as visiting royalty and aristocrats from all over the world. There is a story that someone called up asking for The King and the polite fellow answered, “Which one?” It has been called an extension to Buckingham Palace because of its long connection with the royal family. Although they would go to the ends of the earth for a client (they made a room a piece of Yugoslavia for a day so a prince could claim he was born in Yugoslavia), they were sticklers for appearances and made Kate Hepburn come in the service entrance when she was wearing trousers.

Lovely people of all sorts still meet at Claridges and for $50 to $100 they can luxuriate in the ceremony of taking tea for an afternoon and feel the world revolve just a little more slowly for them for a few hours.

Claridges Foyer (from Claridge’s site)

Claridges Foyer (from Claridges website)

I had such a clear memory of the serene service of the place, the small sandwiches and cakes, scones and glacéed fruit with jam pots, cream pots and tea, lovely fragrant tea (and a bit of champagne if I remember correctly). It is still great, and won The Tea Guild’s 2011 Top London Afternoon Tea award.

I used to be terribly fond of creamy desserts and I remember one that I found particularly addicting –– a Fraisier. There was something about the soaked cake, fluffy cream and strawberries with the remarkable red gelée that was perfection –– waves of flavor and texture. Perfect for a tea, or anything else for that matter.

I never make desserts like this so was a bit daunted by the prospect. I didn’t have the proper ring molds and ended up using stacked English muffin rings for the individual version! It was quite a process getting the jelly to behave so I made another, back-up version in a cut glass bowl like a neat trifle which was much easier to do. The recipe that I used from Daring Bakers made the dessert in a whole cake form. You can pick your favorite. Think of it as an apotheosis of strawberry shortcake –– it's that good,

This recipe makes a good deal of cake and I must say that I usually think of Fraisiersmade with a flat sheet cake in very thin layers. The fluffy chiffon cake was tough to cut in thin layers, but I found the lightness of the cake quite lovely and an improvement on the more stolid sheet cake. Many versions of the dessert are made with 2 layers of cake on top and bottom –– I liked one layer better. Some versions also have a layer of almond paste instead of the gelée. I love the gelée and the tart contrast it offers and adding a little bit of Aftelier rose essence to the mixture makes it really superb. Also, the cream layer is really fine. Terribly light and airy so that it sort of evanesces in your mouth as you eat it (and the rose geranium is another great addition to an already great recipe). All and all, it was great and really refreshed my memories of that first great tea so many years ago.

Although it takes a bit of time it's less complicated than it looks. You could make it in a snap if you bought your cake.

Strawberry Fraisier based on a recipe from The Daring Kitchen

Basic Chiffon Cake (for base):

1 cup + 2 tablespoons (270 ml) (5½ oz/155 gm) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon (5 ml) (4 gm) baking powder

 3/4 cups (180 ml) (6 oz /170 gm) sugar 

1/2 teaspoon (2½ ml) (1½ gm) salt 

1/4 cup (2 fl oz/60 ml) vegetable oil 

3 large egg yolks ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon (3.17 fl oz/95 ml) water 

1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract 

3/4 teaspoon (3¾ ml) (3 gm) lemon zest, grated 

5 large egg whites 

¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1 gm) cream of tartar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to moderate 325°F (160°C/gas mark 3).

Line the bottom of an 8-inch (20 cm) spring form pan with parchment paper. Do not grease the sides of the pan.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. Add in all but 3 tablespoons (45 ml.) of sugar, and all of the salt. Stir to combine.

In a small bowl combine the oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla and lemon zest. Whisk thoroughly.

Combine with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly for about one minute, or until very smooth.

Put the egg whites into a stand mixer, and beat on medium speed using a whisk attachment on a medium speed, until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat on a medium speed until the whites hold soft peaks.

Slowly add the remaining sugar and beat on a medium-high speed until the whites hold firm and form shiny peaks.

Using a grease free rubber spatula, scoop about ⅓ of the whites into the yolk mixture and fold in gently. Gently fold in the remaining whites just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Removed the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack.

To unmold, run a knife around the sides to loosen the cake from the pan and remove the spring form sides. Invert the cake and peel off the parchment paper. Refrigerate for up to four days.

Pastry Cream Filling

1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) whole milk 

1/2 teaspoon (2½ ml) pure vanilla extract 

1/8 teaspoon (1/2 ml) (¼ gm) salt 

2 tablespoons (30 ml) (10 gm) cornstarch 

1/4 cup (60 ml) (2 oz/55 gm) sugar 

1 large egg 

3 large rose geranium leaves cut in large pieces (optional)

2 tablespoons (30 ml) (1 oz/30 gm) unsalted butter (optional) 

3/4 teaspoon (3¾ ml) (4 gm) gelatin 

1/2 tablespoon (7½ ml) water 

1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) heavy cream

Directions:

Pour the milk, vanilla, and salt into a heavy sauce pan. Place over medium-high heat and scald, bringing it to a near boiling point. Stir occasionally.

Meanwhile, in a stand mixer add the cornstarch and sugar. Whisk to combine

Add the eggs to the sugar and cornstarch and whisk until smooth.

When the milk is ready, gently and slowly while the stand mixer is whisking, pour the heated milk down the side of the bowl into the egg mixture. Add the rose geranium now if you are using them

Pour the mixture back into the warm pot and continue to cook over a medium heat until the custard is thick, just about to boil and coats the back of a spoon. Take the leaves out at this point.

Remove from heat and pass through a fine mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl. Allow to cool for ten minutes stirring occasionally.

Cut the butter into four pieces and whisk into the pastry cream a piece at a time until smooth if you are using the butter. If you want a stronger rose geranium flavor, put the leaves back in the cream.

Cover the cream with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap onto the top of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator for up to five days. Remove the leaves when you are ready to move on to the next step.

In a small dish, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let stand for a few minutes to soften.

Put two inches (55 mm) of water into a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat.

Measure 1/4 cup (2 oz/60 ml) of the chilled pastry cream into a small stainless steel bowl that will sit across the saucepan with the simmering water, without touching the water.

Heat the cream until it is 120 F (48.8 C). Add the gelatin and whisk until smooth. Remove from the water bath, and whisk the remaining cold pastry cream in to incorporate in two batches.

In a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream until it holds medium-stiff peaks. Immediately fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream with a rubber spatula.

Simple Syrup:

1/3 cup (2⅔ fl oz/80 ml) (2⅔ oz/75 gm) of sugar 

1/3 cup (2⅔ fl oz/80 ml) of water

Directions:

Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan.

Bring the mixture to a boil and let the sugar dissolve. Stirring is not necessary, but will not harm the syrup.

Remove the syrup from the heat and cool slightly.

OR warm a good currant or herb jelly and use it

OR moisten the cake with a good madeira or sherry-spiked sugar syrup like a trifle I’d say 2 T should do it.

Strawberry Gelée (Adapted from Martha Stewart)

1 pound strawberries

1 0r 2 drops Aftelier rose essence or 2 t rose water (optional but if you use the rosewater, then use less cold water)

½ c sugar

½ c plus 3 T cold water

¼ t coarse salt

1 T plus 1 t lemon juice

1 ¾ t unflavored gelatin

Puree the berries with sugar, ½ c water and salt. Strain through a fine strainer (you should have 2 c). Sprinkle gelatin over water and soften for 5 minutes. Heat the strawberry puree over medium heat. Add the gelatin to ½ c puree and combine, then combine with the rest of the strawberries and the rose. Let it cool somewhat before pouring on the cream.

Assembly:

Components:

1 baked 8-inch (20 cm) chiffon cake 

1 recipe pastry cream filling 

⅓ cup (80 ml) simple syrup 

2 lbs (900 g) strawberries (this is generous)

1 recipe strawberry gelée

Directions:

. Line the sides of a 8-inch (20 cm) spring form pan or 6-8 single molds with plastic wrap. Do not line the bottom of the pan/molds.

. Cut the cake horizontally to form thin layers. I made mine quite thin but you can chose the best for your taste.

. Fit the bottom layer into the prepared spring form pan or molds. Moisten the layer evenly with the simple syrup. When the cake has absorbed enough syrup to resemble a squishy sponge, you have enough.

. Hull and slice in half enough strawberries to arrange around the sides of the cake pan. Place the cut side of the strawberry against the sides of whatever pan you use, point side up forming a ring.

. Pipe cream in-between strawberries and a thin layer across the top of the cake (I also used the end of a spoon to make sure the cream had gone between the berries).

. Hull and quarter your remaining strawberries and place them in the middle of the cake. Cover the strawberries and entirely with the pastry cream.

. Pour the just cooled gelée on top in an even layer and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

. To serve, release the sides of the spring form pan and peel away the plastic wrap or pull off your rings and peel away the plastic or just serve if you are putting it in a glass bowl.

Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days

Most of the information about Claridges came from their website.