Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party Timetable

This post concludes my ideas and recipes for the Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party. A new theme begins Monday!

I'm participating in Payin' it Forward from Moonshadow's blog at KS Born. Everyone who has a blog is welcome to take part. The first three people to leave a comment saying they'd like to participate will receive a gift from me in the next 365 days. The only condition is that those people will have to do the same on their blogs. Pay it Forward! Don't forget to specifically mention in your comment that you want to do this too.

A Week Before:
Make the Truffles
Bake the Frosty Apricot Scones and freeze

Two Days Before:
Prepare the Herbed Potato Soup

The Day Before:
Bake, fill and ice the Lime-Filled Cupcakes
Extract the seeds from the pomegranate for Brie Sandwiches
Steam the shrimp for the Shrimp Bites

Morning of the Tea Party:
Prepare the White Chocolate Strawberries and allow to harden
Mix the filling for the Avocado-Almond Tea Sandwiches
Mix the base for the Shrimp Bites
Prepare the cream topping for the Chambord Grapes

Just before the Party:
Fill the Avocado-Almond Tea Sandwiches
Prepare the Brie Tea Sandwiches
Assemble the Shrimp Bites
Bake the frozen scones to reheat
Assemble the Chambord Grapes
Make the tea

Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party: White Chocolate Strawberries

This simple recipe makes a pretty Valentine treat too!

1 bag (12 ounces) white baking chips
1 tablespoon shortening
18 large strawberries with leaves

Cover a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Heat white baking chips and 1 tablespoon shortening in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until melted.

For each berry, hold by the stem and dip into the melted chocolate, leaving the top and leaves uncovered. Place on the waxed paper. Refrigerate about 30 minutes to set the chocolate.

Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party: Lime-Filled Cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 ½ cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
6 large egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 350º. Line 12 muffin tins with papers.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and set aside. In a measuring cup, stir the milk and vanilla and almond extracts together.

Using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until blended and light, about 2 minutes. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Set aside

In another bowl with clean beaters, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on low until the whites are foamy and the cream of tartar dissolves, about 1 minute. Beat on medium-high until soft peaks form. Use a spatula to fold one-third of the whipped egg whites into the batter, and then fold in the remaining whites until no streaks of egg white remain.

Fill each paper with 1/3 cup of batter, to about ¼ inch below the top. Bake about 23-25 minutes. The tops should remain pale or barely brown just on the edges. Cool cupcakes, and then fill.

Lime Filling:
¼ cup butter
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in ¼ cup water
1 teaspoon grated lime zest

In a saucepan, heat the butter and lime juice until the butter melts and the mixture is hot. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together to blend them, then whisk in the dissolved cornstarch. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the hot butter and lime juice into the yolk mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly just until it comes to a boil and thickens; it will take about 6 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the sauce and refrigerate until cold.

Fill the Cupcakes:
Cut a cone-shaped piece, about 1 inch across and 1 inch deep, out of the middle of the top of each cupcake and set aside. Spoon 1 tablespoon of lime filling into each hole. Replace the cone pieces of cupcake. Immediately frost the cupcakes.

Frosting:
½ cup butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 to 4 tablespoons milk
½ cup sweetened coconut
lime wedges

Using a mixer on low, beat the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla together with 3 tablespoons milk, then add up to 1 tablespoon more milk if needed to form a creamy, smooth, spreadable frosting. Use a pastry bag and star tip to frost the top of each cupcake. Sprinkle the frosting very lightly with coconut. Top with a small wedge of lime.

Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party: White Chocolate Rum Coconut Truffles

This recipe makes about 48 truffles which is a lot. Serve them at your tea and send the leftovers home with your guests. Change out the rum with vanilla or almond flavoring, about 2 teaspoons, if you prefer. And if you don't like cashews, use a different nut or leave them out completely.

1 pound white chocolate, finely chopped
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons light rum
1 ½ cup shredded sweetened coconut
½ cup cashews, very finely chopped

Place 1 pound of the chocolate into a bowl. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a boil. Pour the cream into the bowl with the chocolate. Let the mixture stand for a minute, then stir together until thoroughly blended. Mix in the rum and 1 cup of the coconut and blend well. Cover the truffle cream and let cool to room temperature. Then chill in the fridge until thick but not stiff (2 to 3 hours).

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper. Using a small ice cream scoop, form the truffles into 1-inch diameter balls. Combine remaining coconut and cashews in a small, shallow bowl. Roll the balls into this mixture to cover. Allow the truffles to set up at room temperature. When set, place them in paper candy cups. Tightly wrapped they can stay in the fridge up to a month.

Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party: Avocado-Almond Tea Sandwiches

It isn’t unusual, even for a seasoned cook, to have a kitchen disaster while preparing for a tea party. The hostess is often doing several things at the same time; it is easy to forget the tarts in the oven when chopping vegetables for the salad. Mechanical problems occur because appliances are doing extra duty. And a rotten headache or sick kid can really throw off the prep day.

I had my own kitchen problem this morning while trying to make these Avocado-Almond Tea Sandwiches. I’d carefully selected my avocados, firm to the touch with some give. I allowed them to sit for a couple days. But when I cut into the first one, it had nasty brown spots. Down the disposal it went. The next avocado was the same, spoiled.

Had I been preparing this recipe for an actual tea, I would have been peeved to have had to run back to the store. And even then I would have suspected the other avocados might be bad too. To tell the truth, I probably would have bought some prepared guacamole and finished these tea sandwiches with that as the base, adding the bacon and almonds.

Most tea party problems can ultimately be solved just that easily. Keeping the sense of panic out of any situation makes everything go so much smoother. We’ve all probably experienced having one thing go wrong and then another and then because we’re stressed and not thinking clearly, we can’t do anything right.

We want everything to be perfect for our tea party. We want to please and impress our guests. That’s okay. We should be making our best effort to do so. Like the t-shirt says though, stuff happens.

I have no photo of the finished tea sandwiches today. The recipe is not complicated and, I’m pretty sure, not difficult to imagine how it looks. The light green avocado on white bread gives the perfect Spring note to the Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party.

Almond-Avocado Tea Sandwiches:

Seed, peel and mash 1 large ripe avocado. Add 1 tablespoon lime juice, ¼ teaspoon chili powder, ¼ teaspoon seasoned salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Stir in ¼ cup toasted chopped almonds and 2 slices of crumbled crisp-cooked bacon. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and chill up to 4 hours.

Cut thin white bread on the diagonal for the tea sandwiches. Remove the crusts. Spread with the avocado filling. Use a small canapé cutter to create a cut-out in the top piece of bread so that the pretty green filling shows through.

Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party: Brie Sandwiches

Martha Stewart tells us that to remove pomegranate seeds, whack the pomegranate on the outside with a wooden spoon. Let me just say in doing that, I've only managed to cover the whole kitchen as well as myself with pomegranate juice. Use your fingers to coax the seeds from the membranes.

1/2 loaf of sourdough baguette, approx. 1" diameter, cut on a diagonal in 1/2 inch thick pieces

1 wedge brie, about the size of a generous doorstop, cut into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces, arrange on bread

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds. Remove them, rinse them, let dry. Sprinkle about 1 tsp to fit on top of brie for each piece of bread

1 leaf of fresh parsley per piece of bread

barest sprinkle of sea salt

Bake at 350 for about 15 min. DO NOT overcook.

Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party: Shrimp Bites

These Shrimp Bites have an aioli-like base. Real aioli calls for raw egg and a mortar and pestle. Then there is quick aioli which can be made in a food processor with pasteurized egg. And finally there is the dolled-up-mayonnaise method which I’ve used.

Another note on this little open-faced sandwich: as shrimp is the featured ingredient, use the nicest ones you can find and try to prepare them yourself. Those available at the deli are so often over steamed and over seasoned. That’s okay for shrimp salad or other dishes where shrimp is mixed with various ingredients but not good enough here. And use large count shrimp, about 26-34.

Caterers tell us that shrimp is the first thing to go when it is served. People often take seconds too. Consider preparing extra Shrimp Bites and passing them on a platter as your guest begin to eat the savory course.

shrimp, 1 pound
Old Bay Seasoning or other crab boil
good quality mayonnaise, 1 cup
lemon zest, 2 teaspoons
garlic, 1 clove minced finely
white bread, cut into rounds
green leaves for garnish

Steam or boil the shrimp with Old Bay. Remember, shrimp are done when they turn pink. Over-cooked shrimp and tough shrimp. If you aren’t sure they are finished, taste one. Peel the shrimp and leave whole. Refrigerate until serving.

Add the lemon zest and garlic to the mayonnaise. Allow the flavors to combine for a couple hours in the fridge.

Assemble by spreading the aioli mayonnaise on the bread rounds and topping with two shrimp. Add a sprinkle of Old Bay and top with a pretty green leaf. Celery leaves work nicely.

Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party: Frosty Apricot Scones

The scent of apricots baking in these scones perfumed my whole house yesterday. It smelled so good that my husband, dozing in his Lazy-Boy to watch the 13-hour pregame, actually got up and came to the kitchen. Scones—the new Super Bowl food!

3 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
1 cup dried apricots
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
¾ cup milk
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons milk

Preheat oven to 450º. Combine sugar and apricots in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until apricots are in small pieces. (Use a floured knife if you don't have a food processor.) Add the rest of the dry ingredients.

Cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the bowl. Process in pulses until the mixture has the appearance of fine cornmeal. Add lemon zest. (Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter if you don't have a food processor.)

Whisk the eggs and milk together. Add to the processor bowl and pulse just enough to combine.

Dump dough out on well-floured surface. Knead a few times, adding more flour as necessary. Pat or roll the dough to about 1” thickness. Cut into circles with pastry cutter. Place on parchment paper on cookie sheet or grease the sheet.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool on rack. Mix the confectioners’ sugar and milk to form a glaze, adding more milk if the mixture is too thick or more sugar if it is too thin. After the scones have cooled, drizzle with the glaze.

Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party: Herbed Potato Soup

I love potato soup. It can be served hot in winter and cold in summer. Make it as chunky or as smooth as you like. Extra veggies can be added or it can be simple as is this recipe. Oh, bacon and cheese add flavor for sure but for a tea party, you don’t want guests filling up on the soup.

8 medium potatoes, peeled
2 onions, chopped
¼ cup butter
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
½ teaspoon crushed basil leaves
¼ cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 cups cold milk
4 cups scalded milk
2 cups hot potato water

Cook potatoes and onions together until potatoes are tender. Drain but save the potato water. Put about half the potatoes through a ricer or coarse strainer and cut the rest in small chunks. Or if you like smooth soup, put all the potatoes through the strainer. You could use a food processor or blender but this gives the potatoes a slightly gluey consistency.

While the potatoes cook, melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. Add parsley and basil and blend in the flour, salt and pepper; gradually stir in the cold milk. Add scalded milk and the potato water after the potatoes have cooked.

Cook over medium heat; stir constantly until mixture thickens slightly. Stir in potatoes and onions and heat. This soup can be frozen. Makes 12 cups.

Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party: Chambord Grapes Under Snow

I’m a poky poster today but it’s my husband’s fault! He offered to go to the store to pick up the grapes for this recipe. Instead of going to the store which is a couple blocks away, he went to Wal-Mart. Three hours later, he’s finally back home. In addition to my grapes, he bought a music CD, the ugliest slippers you ever saw and a huge bag of pretzels. That man cannot be trusted alone in Wal-Mart! Anyway here is the recipe, simple and delicious:

¾ pound seedless grapes (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons Chambord liqueur
1/3 cup heavy cream, chilled
1/3 cup light sour cream, chilled
1/3 cup plain yogurt
Chopped or grated chocolate

Cut grapes in half, if you like, and divide among 4 dessert dishes. Stir ½ tablespoon Chambord into each. In a small mixing bowl, beat heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add sour cream and yogurt and mix until soft peaks form. Spread over grapes. Just before serving, sprinkle with the chocolate.

If you prefer not to use the Chambord, fresh orange juice would be a nice compliment to the grapes. You can use low-fat sour cream and yogurt and frozen no-fat whipped topping in a tub if you prefer. But don't try to whip anything other than heavy cream.

Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party: The Tea

Before beginning with the individual recipes for this tea party, I want to say a word about the tea itself. White tea has been a favorite in China for centuries but here in the US we’re just getting to know it.

White tea is made from immature tea leaves that are picked shortly before the buds have fully opened. The tea takes its name from the silver fuzz that still covers the buds which turns white when the tea is dried. The exact proportion of buds to leaves varies depending on the variety of white tea.

Early spring provides the best white tea. When the time is right, workers carefully hand-pick the silver buds and select leaves. There is no picking on rainy days or when frost is on the ground. White tea can only be picked for a short time each year, sometimes only two days, making it rare and precious.

The buds and leaves are then steamed and slowly dried. Unlike black or green tea, white tea is not rolled, and only slightly oxidized, making it the least processed tea. The result? A pale tea with a sweet, silky flavor. People who have tried both note that white tea lacks the “grassy” aftertaste so often associated with green tea. Furthermore, studies indicate that white tea is better for you.

A study at Pace University in 2004 showed white tea had more anti-viral and anti-bacterial qualities than green tea. White tea contains higher catechin (an antioxidant) levels than green tea due to its lack of processing. Catechin concentration is greatest in fresh, unbroken and unfermented tea leaves. Furthermore, one study examining the composition of brewed green and white teas found that white tea contained more gallic acid, theobromine, and caffeine. White tea contains less fluoride than green tea, since it is made from young leaves only.

Brewing white tea is a bit different from brewing black tea. Generally, around 2 to 2.5 grams or 1.5 teaspoons of white tea per 6 ounces of water should be used. White teas should be prepared with 180° water (not boiling) and steeped for 2 to 3 minutes. Finer teas expose more flavor and complexity with no bitterness if the brewing time is increased. On successive brews (white teas produce three very good brews and a fourth that is passable), extend the time by several minutes per. The third brew may require as long as 15 minutes to develop well. Temperature is crucial - if it is too hot, the brew will be bitter and the finer flavors will be overpowered.

If you haven’t tried white tea yet, what are you waiting for!

Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party Menu

Chambord Grapes Under Snow

Rich and Creamy Potato Soup

Iced Apricot Scones

Brie Crostini with Pomegranate
Scandinavian Shrimp Bites
Almond-Avocado Tea Sandwiches

White Pearl Cupcakes
Coconut Truffles
White Chocolate Strawberries

Harney’s Winter White Earl Grey Tea

Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party

The next tea party theme, Winter White and Spring Green, celebrates Winter but opens us to the possibility of Spring. Depending where you live, this is a tea that works well in the last two weeks of February or the first week in March. By then everyone has had her first tiny glimpse of longer days, brighter sun and just maybe a tender green shoot peeking out of the ground.

To set the mood for this tea party, bring out your best white tablecloth, napkins and dishes. White should be the dominate color with only the smallest touches of green for accent. For example, roll your silverware in napkins and tie with a light green ribbon. Use one green serving dish amid the white ones for each course.

White candles nestled in crystal bowls holding kosher salt will give a pretty, snowy appearance. Use lots. A length of white toile down the length of table, bunched and winding around the candles will add to the mood. Sprinkle white, crystal or mirror confetti lightly over the table for some glitter. Use just a bit as this isn’t the time for Christmas excess.

It is easy to find many different kinds of white and green flowers for a centerpiece. White tulips would be especially beautiful on this table. Whatever white flower you use, use only one kind. The centerpiece should be simple, almost stark perhaps, but beautiful. Keep in mind a late Winter landscape.

This tea party works best for the number of people your table will hold comfortably. This isn’t a tea to serve buffet style or to have your guests eat on their laps. And this isn’t a casual tea. This probably isn’t the tea to have if you want to invite only a couple guests. Take the time to go to a lot of effort and fill the table with your friends.

It is such fun to receive an unexpected envelope in the mail, savoring the possibilities until the card is opened and read. Send invitations to this tea party! Don’t buy them; make them yourself simply. Use a luxurious white card stock, one that keeps to the feeling of Winter. If you have a nice hand, write the invitations yourself. If you’re a messy writer, like me, use your computer to print the invitations using a fancy, decorative font. Black ink will look best.

Music is always a nice addition to a tea party. What better music for a Winter tea than something from snowy Russia. Fill the house with Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky.

Give your guests something special to take home. A small planter or low container of paper white narcissus bulbs would be a lovely gesture. Set the bulbs yourself but allow your guests to have the fun of watching them grow. Wrap the containers in cellophane so your guests won’t have a difficult time getting them home. You might have a few of these in bloom around your house to show how pretty those rather ugly bulbs will become.

This Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party won’t work for everyone in all parts of the world right now; not everyone shares my weather. But most places do have a winter season, even if winter temps there are 60º instead of the usual 80º. And my friends in the Southern Hemisphere will have their winter in six months.

Winter here can get so tiresome by the end of February. Give your friends a lift and a bit of hope that Spring will arrive with this tea party. With Christmas long past and Easter weeks away, this tea is just what the doctor ordered.

Recipes coming up next!