Afternoon Tea at Cannizaro House

Words and Photography by Felicity Spector

It was almost too pretty to eat. I say almost, because of course I fell on the three-tiered cake stand with rather indecent haste.

But the chefs at Cannizaro House, one of Mantis Collection's privately owned boutique hotels, have put a lot of effort into their new Christmas afternoon tea, which showcases the considerable talent of pastry chef Dharma Shrestha, and all his twenty one years of experience.

Before tea, though, we were given a brief tour of the boutique hotel, nestled on the edge of Wimbledon Common, with its own thirty four acres of parkland. In spring, there is a gorgeous display of rhododendrons and azaleas: a sunken Italian garden: now it's winter, the builders are at work constructing a new orangery, so guests can enjoy the gardens all year round.

The forty six rooms are all individually decorated and named after famous historical figures who've stayed there in the past: with green space all around, you'd hardly think you were on the edge of London. There's plenty of local artwork on display, too: all of it available to buy.
But back to the kitchen, which not only has a two AA rosette award, but has just been voted best fine dining restaurant in this year’s Time and Leisure awards.

The hotel had invited us for a sneak preview of the Christmas tea - although first, there was a bit of a cookery lesson.

Chef Dharma emerged into the lounge carrying a tray of just-baked speculoos gingerbread men and a range of coloured icings.

His deft hand with the piping bag made it look ridiculously easy, adding bow ties and buttons and smiley faces, followed by a beautiful display of calligraphy as he spelled out the words 'Merry Christmas' on the tray. My effort was rather less professional: my first gingerbread man sported more of a splodge than confectionery couture, and the second had a distinctly sinister expression.

Perhaps I would have better luck with the next task. A line of miniature Valrhona chocolate cakes was laid out, ready to be dipped in liquid chocolate, and then covered with a quenelle of spiced chocolate cremeaux and a sprinkle of bronze coloured popping candy.
After failing to produce anything like an exact replica of the chef's version, I like to think my chocolate dipping was generous rather than clumsy. My efforts at quenelle making, though, were frankly laughable.

I finally managed to spoon out a manageable dollop, which sat proudly on top of the cake for about eleven seconds before sliding inexorably onto the plate.

Luckily distraction was on hand: the full afternoon tea had arrived.

And what a spread: a stack of finger sandwiches, just to get going, including a rich egg mayonnaise on light rye bread and smoked salmon on granary.

Then it was onto the fruit scones, warm and soft, with the obligatory clotted cream and some rather good home-made strawberry jam.

The Christmas seasonal offering included the mini chocolate cakes we had dipped earlier, made with ground almonds and a splash of rum, and topped with delicate quenelles of cremeaux - all of it sourced from Valrhona.

Next there were mince pies, with a shortbread-like pastry and just the right amount of mincemeat inside, crowned with a swirl of brandy butter cream. They didn't last long.

I couldn't resist a thick triangle of eggnog cheesecake, smooth and luscious with a good layer of crunchy biscuit base - but the standout dessert was the chestnut and clementine shot, a beautifully light combination of mousse and panna cotta in a shot glass, which proved absolutely irresistible. I think I may have polished off all three of them.

As for the spiced gingerbread men, I took home my creations in a handy box, the better to preserve my rather unique decorating efforts. I might not win any prizes for sugar work, but judging from the rest of the festive treats we enjoyed at the afternoon tea, I am sure they will taste a lot better than they look.

Scone in sixty seconds…

Words by Felicity Spector

There can’t be many better ways to spend a Saturday afternoon: a gloriously bohemian venue, some of the country’s best chefs whipping up a range of specially created cakes and scones - and all to raise money for Action against Hunger.

Image by Lisa Barber

Top marks, then to the inaugural session of The Scone Club, sponsored by the bespoke tea company Lalani & Co, in the space currently occupied by the Pret a Diner pop up at the Royal Academy’s Burlington Social Club. It was all part of the London Restaurant Festival, which was filling London with all sorts of exciting and eclectic events earlier this month.

Image by Lisa Barber

The seats were packed in around a large square bar, with a space in the middle where a group of chefs were busy doing clever things with confectioners’ sugar and icing trays of buns. We negotiated our way through the subdued lighting and snagged some seats at the back, nearest the cakes: always best to be near the cakes, in my experience.

Image by Lisa Barber

Nadeem Lalani showed us a ‘Tea Library’ with a brief selection of rare, seasonal teas, and then presented us with a small individual pot of First Flush Gopaldhara Garden Darjeeling, together with a little timer to ensure we let it brew for long enough as we waited for our scone fest. It was beautiful, light and fragrant, and incredibly fresh. And all the better for being drunk out of a glass.

Image by Lisa Barber

The food menu couldn’t have sounded more promising, from an array of chefs with 5 Michelin stars between them: there were a couple of savoury options, a brace of cakes, and an intriguing fruit soup concoction from Nobu’s executive pastry chef Regis Cursan.

Image by Lisa Barber

In fact Regis himself was stationed right opposite us, down in the kitchen area, and soon sorted us out with a large slate full of baked goodies to share.

We tried a savoury pinwheel scone stuffed with roasted onion and herbs, from Marcus Waering and Oliver Wilson at the Gilbert Scott, but my favourite was Richard Corrigan and Chris McGowan’s pumpkin and cobnut scone, pale green with pumpkin seed oil, filled with goats cheese and a thick layer of pumpkin chutney.

Image by Lisa Barber

From there we segued easily into the cakes: Anna Hansen, from the Modern Pantry, urging us to take a couple of her delicious pistachio and pandan cakes, while my friend also made short work of a lemon drizzle from Le Manoir. Ravinder Bhogal, best known as Cook in Boots, offered a huge tray of rose scented mini scones with raspberry jam, and some bite sized peanut butter and jam madeleines.

Image by Lisa Barber

You might think any normal person would have been full at this stage - but try resisting Regis Cursan’s interpretation of ‘cake’: an apricot soup, tart and refreshing, with a huge pile of amazingly buttery, melt in the mouth peanut butter cookie pieces - I didn’t have the beer ice-cream which went with it, as I’m teetotal, but everyone around me seemed to be wolfing it down.

Image by Lisa Barber

It would clearly have been rude not to try the special fruit brioche buns, or ’manchets’, from Jeremy Lee which apparently aren’t normally allowed out of Quo Vadis. All I can say is that it was worth the effort. One of my favourites of the afternoon. I did admit defeat at the chocolate scone-brioche from Alexis Gaultier, although I sneaked it home for later. You’d have done the same.

All of this amazing spread managed to raise £2,000 for charity, a fantastic achievement by the boys from Lalani & Co, the chefs who took part, and everyone who pitched in to help.

Image by Lisa Barber

Hopefully this will just be the first Scone Club of many. Personally, I’m thinking of taking out a life membership, if they’ll have me. Hope no-one finds out I sneaked that chocolate brioche home in my handbag.

Words by Felicity Spector
Felicity Spector has worked at Channel 4 News for 23 years and is currently chief writer. She has a bunch of fancy Masters degrees from Oxford and Harvard and writes about US politics. She is also passionate about food and has judged the Great Taste Awards for 5 years, helping to champion the country's best small producers. She is especially passionate about desserts. Cheesecake and brownies a particular specialty.

 Images by Lisa Barber
If you would like to see more of Lisa's fantastic photography, visit her website here.