Birthday Afternoon Tea

Yesterday was my Mum's birthday! As we already have a meal out booked and she spent the last few days in a luxurious spa hotel with my Dad, my sister and I decided to surprise her with a home made afternoon tea for when she got home from her mini-break.  After a browse on Pinterest (see my Afternoon Tea Pinterest board here), we picked out the bits we liked the most and gave them a shot.

The homemade mini pavlovas were a pinterest-inspired creation.  We followed this recipe for mini meringues to make the nests, then piped them into little bowl shapes using a piping bag with a star-shaped nozzle and baked them for 35 minutes.

Twenty five minutes before eating, we filled the little meringues with squirty cream and popped on some strawberries and raspberries.  Initially, they looked really cute, but the cream soon began to melt, and before long they were a bit sloppy and messy (I'm sure you'll spot them in the other photos).  They were still delicious, but in the future I think I'd either skip the cream or apply it immediately before eating.

We had a few of these mini milk bottles in the cupboard, so we grabbed them, tied on mini Alice In Wonderland style labels and popped straws in.  We initially planned to serve a fruity punch in a jug, but ended up going for the easy option and bought the cute lemonades from Tesco.

I think the coloured meringues are my favourite part.  We followed the same recipe as we used for the mini pavlovas (here), and split the mix into three bowls, adding a few drops of food colouring to each, then slightly mixing it to leave a marbled effect.  We piped them onto baking parchment, cooked them for 35 minutes and tada!

The mini victoria sponge cakes were an idea we pinched from Pret A Manger.  Mum rarely eats cakes, but when we visited Pret last week she couldn't resist the mini Victoria Sponge, so we recreated them for her birthday.  We followed this recipe to bake a large rectangular cake, then used cookie cutters to cut out cute shapes.  After sticking the layers together by alternatively piping jam and buttercream, we cut out a crown shape and placed it on the top before dusting with icing sugar, so when we removed the paper we had a cute imprint! They were delicious.

We also did some savoury bits and pieces; sandwiches, bread, a few vegetables and some dips.  It was delicious, and we all loved every bite! It looked so cute on my mum's collection of Cath Kidston dishes; perfect for Spring!