Afternoon tea has become a staple meal, yes meal since I moved to London. It is a fun experience to catch up with your friends with whilst indulging in yummy treats. I mean it is so readily available in every luxury and non-luxury hotel, you just can’t say no to a little bit of extravagance.
When I finally made the trip up to Yorkshire to visit a dear friend and blogger, Jess aka The Travelista I was excited to leave the weekend traditions of the city behind and explore the small town of Harrogate. I had heard so many things about Harrogate and shamefully it is my first trip to Yorkshire too. I know, I know, but I can finally say I have ticked it off now. However, when I was discussing my short weekend escape with my friends, every friend said that I should try Bettys afternoon tea. Even those that don’t live in London…
I completely underestimated the afternoon culture of the north, they seem to be way more into it than us Londoners it seems. When we arrived at our booking for our Bettys afternoon tea with Jess and Binny I witnessed the longest queue I have ever seen. I made a little comment about it to Jess and she replied “It is like this everyday.”, it was at that instance I realised it was a real privilege to try Bettys afternoon tea during my trip.
We wandered up to the Imperial room where there were many tables set out in an elegantly decorated room. Our coats and bags were taken off us and we were seated for our afternoon tea.
Commencing things with a pop of the cork, we were served up a glass of champagne to start off our afternoon tea.
It had been a while since I had last caught up with Jess, so it was a nice way to enjoy some time together in Yorkshire for a change.
We were served up an appetiser of a pea, cucumber and tomato cocktail. It was made with fresh diced tomato and red onion with cucumber and mint dressed with crème fraîche and served on a bed of pea purée.
We were then brought around a selection of savouries, before the sandwiches came around. We were presented with a miniature spring onion and herb frittata made with locally raised Yorkshire eggs, cream and parsley. Alongside a sun-blushed tomato & basil roulade with rocket leaves served on a wholemeal croute.
After we finished our savouries, we moved onto the stand of delicious sandwiches, scones and sweet treats.
Bettys were very good at accommodating for our dietary requirements and replaced any sandwiches that contained fish, seafood or pork. I was served a cumber & créme fraîche open sandwich served on millers bread, egg mayonnaise made with Yorkshire eggs and cress & wholemeal bread and chicken and tarragon mayonnaise.
Moving onto my favourite part of afternoon tea, the warm, fluffy and buttery scones. There were two types of scones served, one was rose flavoured made with rose petals and the other was lemon flavoured using fresh rind. They were so perfectly soft because the scones are freshly baked throughout the day, I definitely prefer a fresh scone.
The miniature cakes that were served were chocolate and passion fruit cube, a rich, dark grand cru chocolate mousse with a passion fruit caramel centre, followed by gooseberry macaroon that was beautifully decorated with a sugar blossom which was filled with a gooseberry ganache and confit gooseberry.
The next duo was a pistachio and chocolate dacquoise slice which was made with a layer of pistachio dacquoise, chocolate crémeux and crunchy praline base, topped with a pistachio Chantilly. Along with fresh berry meringue filled with fresh whipped cream and mixed berries, finished with a white chocolate lattice.
The last duo was a miniature Battenberg cake, a sponge cake encased with strawberry preserve and soft marzipan and finally the lemon religieuse, a choux pastry bun filled with lemon crème diplomat on a crisp sable biscuit and glazed with a lemon fondant.
Bettys sure know how to put on a good afternoon tea. I can definitely see why everyone loves the afternoon tea at Bettys and it can definitely give the London experiences a run for their money.
If you’re in Harrogate or York, definitely make a trip to Bettys but make sure you book first to avoid any long queues.
Until next time…
