A Cozy Winter Afternoon Tea Party | Planning, Recipes, & Decor

Tea. The warm, luxurious moment in the day when you stop, take a sip, and let your body and mind relax, melting into the warmth and stillness. The time to enter into a bubble of peace, where there is no hurry, no rush. Only you, your thoughts, and the soothing sensation of brewing and drinking your tea. To me, there is no better way to extend this joy and peace to family and friends than to host an afternoon tea party. I love to create a space where my dearest ones can gather, relax, and enjoy being spoiled by a luxurious experience, but to do so in the comfort of home. So today, join me as I prepare a special winter tea for my family. I have visited dozens of tea houses across several countries, studied the best recipes and practices, and gathered my favorite tips and tricks from the professionals out there, and now I can share them with you. The first thing I'll do is to select the types and amounts of tea. I tend to choose two to three teas for intimate gatherings, preparing one pot for every two to three people. If you don't have three teapots and you just want to select one, that'll also work great. Consider using tea cozies, which are the coziest thing, effectively like sweaters for your teapots, or teapot candle warmers, which is what I use to keep your tea warm during a long and lovely afternoon tea. I typically select one herbal, one traditional, and one fun or seasonal tea. For this winter tea, I've selected a Victoria Grey, a Lavender and Honeybush tea, and a Creme Brulee tea. Next, I'll move on to plan my menu. Traditional teas these days include scones, clotted creams, jams, tea sandwiches, and assorted sweets, but honestly, you should have fun with this and make it completely your own. I like to think about seasonal ingredients, colors, and tying all of the flavors together. Some of the most outstanding tea menus in the world completely break from this pattern and blend foods from around the globe with a traditional presentation or not. For February, I want to make this especially cozy with some elements of anticipating spring, so I think of soups and cheese, of berry and floral flavors and sparkling jellies. I think of indulgent chocolate and a contrast with simple and familiar. For our scones course, I'm including two different recipes. One, which is a new recipe of German chocolate scones from Teatime Magazine, and another new to me recipe from Mary Berry for our traditional and simple element. We make homemade clotted cream and jam, but you can also just buy jam, and if you're lucky enough to have access to clotted cream, you can buy that as well. For our savories, we will have a creamy mushroom soup served in these adorable little shot cups for sipping alongside sandwiches, served with a coronation chicken salad sandwiches, which is on one of our family's favorite breads, a cranberry and apricot bread, along with cucumber sandwiches and crab salad sandwiches served on pate a choux buns, which I promise you these are super simple to make. To start our sweets course, we will make rose cream eclairs, which are super fun to decorate with little rose petals and pink icing. To give us a nod towards spring and liven up the palette with some citrus, we'll also make some pink lemonade bars. And to warm up our sweets course a bit, we'll serve these sesame cashew caramel bars, which are a stunning pastry developed by one of my favorite Turkish pastry chefs. To top off sweets, we'll add sparkling jellies. Have you ever heard of a sparkling jelly? It's like a regular jelly that captures the carbonation and so it's got the same tingle. These are such a fun surprise and imitate the look of champagne perfectly. With my menu decided, I'll move on to teaware and decor. This can really be as simple or as fancy as you like. I select a color palette and work with that in mind, but I like to keep a level of whimsy. I prefer the decor feels cozy, beautiful, but welcoming. With that in mind, for this February tea, I've selected a dusty rose and cream as the base for our color palette. And I'll select some teapots and teacups that will loosely match. Keeping spring in mind, I'll lean into florals and try to bring in some lovely flowers too. I find that a beautiful tablescape is more about layers than it is about the precise matching of things. To finish off our decor, I'll make little menu cards that just make the day feel a bit more special. I love making something handmade that adds an extra special touch of love. So with our teas, menu, and decor laid out, the only thing left to do is to pop on your favorite music and welcome in your friends and family. I hope you enjoy the time together. Happy tea, my friends. May your hearts stay cozy and warm this winter season. If you enjoyed this video and want to see more content about romantic, joyful living, remember to like and subscribe.