Enchanted Evening Tea Party 🫖🌸🌿 Whimsical Midsummer Night's Dream-Inspired Recipes & Decor Ideas

Hello friends and welcome back. If you're new here, I'm Haley. I create nature-inspired videos and magical recipes. In today's video, I'm creating a whimsical midsummer night's dream inspired tea party and I'm going to be sharing all of the recipes and decor tips with you. Although you can enjoy this tea party at any time of day, I created the recipes and decor around a fantasy evening theme with dreamy food, midnight blue and purple hues, and candles that sparkle in the evening light. And of course, I always want to encourage you to get creative and make this tea party your own with whichever recipes and decor you like. This video is just meant to give you ideas and inspiration for your own enchanted evening tea party. First, we're going to get started by making the recipes. Whenever I'm creating any kind of tea party or dinner party, I like to make as much as I can in advance so most of these recipes can be prepared ahead of time. I wanted to make the menu for this party simple but still really magical and fun. And all of the recipes from today's video are linked in the description below. For our first recipe, I wanted to make a cheese board inspired by the beautiful purple hues of a midsummer evening, so I created this Midsummer Magic Cheese Board with purple hummus. I just love all of the different shades of purple from the fruits and veggies and cheese, and I always like making cheese boards for parties because the prep is very minimal and there's usually something for everyone to enjoy. I'm starting by making some purple carrot hummus. You can of course use any color of carrots you like here, but I wanted to use purple so my hummus would match the color scheme of the board. I'm peeling and chopping four purple carrots, tossing them in some olive oil, and then I'm arranging them in an even layer on a parchment lined baking tray and seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Then this is going into the oven to roast at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes until the carrots are fork tender. Once the roasted carrots have cooled, I'm adding them to a food processor and blending until they're finely minced. Then I'm adding a can of chickpeas, half a cup of tahini, a quarter cup of fresh lemon juice, half of a teaspoon of kosher salt, a drizzle of olive oil, cumin and paprika, and blending everything together. When it's time to assemble the cheese board, I'm going to scoop some of the hummus into a small bowl for a dip. Next I'm going to add the cheese. I was able to find this Toscano Syrah cheese at Trader Joe's which has a beautiful purple rind and I'm also adding a small wheel of brie cheese. I just used whatever purple produce I could find at the grocery store, but you can of course use any fruits and veggies you like here. I'm adding black and red grapes, purple carrots and purple cauliflower, blackberries, cherries, and some purple radishes. Once all of the main ingredients are arranged, I'm adding in crackers and then sprinkling blueberries and pomegranate seeds into any empty spaces. Finally to finish the board, I'm going to garnish with rosemary sprigs and edible flowers. Adding rosemary is my favorite part. I just slide the sprigs into the edge. It's a tiny detail, but I think it makes the whole board look so elegant. Next I'm making a savory woodland inspired asparagus and herb galette with microgreens and edible flowers for a touch of whimsy. I love this recipe because even though it may look a bit fancy, it is so quick and easy to make and it tastes delicious too. To make the herbed cheese filling, I'm finely mincing about one cup of fresh herbs. You can use any combination of herbs you like here. I'm making mine with parsley, dill, and chives. I'm adding the chopped herbs to a bowl with six ounces of softened cream cheese, a teaspoon of garlic powder, and about two tablespoons of lemon juice and mixing everything to combine. Then I'm going to roll out a store-bought pie crust onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. You can of course make your own pie crust here. I just wanted to make mine as easy as possible. I'm spreading the cream cheese mixture around the center and then I'm arranging asparagus on top of the cheese to form a circle. Then I'm gently folding in the edges of the pie crust to form a galette shape. I'm brushing the edges with an egg wash mixture and then drizzling some olive oil over the top and seasoning with salt and pepper. I'm going to pop this in the oven to bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes or until the crust is slightly golden brown. When I'm ready to serve the galette, I'm going to top it with about a cup of microgreens, a drizzle of olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon juice, and an edible flower for garnish. Next we're going to make these super simple and colorful cucumber and hummus bites with the purple carrot hummus we made earlier. I'm starting by slicing one half of an English cucumber into quarter inch slices and arranging them on a platter. Then I'm adding a little dollop of purple hummus onto each cucumber slice and topping them with a tiny sprig of dill and an edible flower. This dreamy blackberry lavender cake is such a perfect summer dessert. It's made with fluffy cream cheese frosting, homemade jam, and lemon cake. Such a great combination of flavors. I'm going to start by making the blackberry lavender jam, which is a really simple recipe, and then I'm going to use it in both the frosting and the filling to add color and flavor. I love the lavender in this recipe because it's super subtle, it's just a hint of lavender, but it really brings out the fruity, juicy taste of the blackberries so well. So to a saucepan, I'm adding about three cups of blackberries, one cup of sugar, four teaspoons of dried lavender, two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, and half a cup of water. And I'm going to bring it up to a boil. I'm using a wooden spoon to stir and mash the berries. Then I'm reducing the heat to a simmer and cooking for about 20 minutes. Blackberries are naturally high in pectin, so you probably won't need to add any ingredients to thicken the jam, but if the mixture is too runny, you can add a little bit of cornstarch. I've included some instructions on how to do this in the blog post for this recipe. Once the jam has cooled a bit, I'm using a strainer to remove the seeds and lavender. And then I'll store this in the fridge to cool until it's ready to use. To make the frosting, I'm adding two 8-ounce packages of softened cream cheese, one cup of softened butter, and about one tablespoon of vanilla extract to a large bowl and mixing everything together with a hand mixer. I'm gradually adding in five cups of powdered sugar and then mixing until the frosting is light and fluffy. Then I'm adding half a cup of our blackberry lavender jam. This is going to make the frosting taste delicious and give it the prettiest purple color. Finally, to make the lemon cake, I'm just using a lemon box cake and swapping the water for milk and the oil for melted butter. I learned this tip a long time ago and I use it whenever I make a box cake. It makes the flavor and texture of the cake so delicious. Then I'm baking the cakes according to the package directions and letting them cool completely. When it's time to assemble the cake, I'm adding a layer of lemon cake and topping it with the frosting. I'm spreading the frosting around the top and hollowing out a little circle in the middle for a scoop or two of jam. I'm repeating this with each layer, then frosting the entire cake with blackberry lavender frosting. Then I'm decorating the top of the cake with some fresh blackberries and edible flowers. For the tea, I'm making this gorgeous Enchanted Evening tea blend. This can be served hot if you like, but I love it iced with a splash of sparkling water to make a tea spritzer. It's super light and refreshing and the perfect magical mocktail for a fairy dinner party. This tea blend is made with butterfly pea flowers for a vibrant color and lavender for a subtle floral taste that pairs well with the other recipes. To a tea strainer, I'm adding about ¼ cup of dried butterfly pea flowers, 1 teaspoon of dried lavender, and 4 cups of boiling water and letting it steep for about 10 minutes. Feel free to add some sugar or honey here to sweeten the tea if you'd like. Then this is going into the fridge to chill overnight. To create this Midsummer Night's Dream inspired tablescape, I wanted to make everything feel very whimsical and magical, but still natural and forest themed. I will link all of the decor items I used for this tea party in the description. First I'm hanging some artificial wisteria in the tree beside the table. I'm setting up my table with a lace tablecloth and then arranging the flowers. I wanted the flowers to match the purple theme of the food, so I picked up several varieties from Trader Joe's with different shades of purple, along with some baby's breath and greenery. Then I'm decorating the table with artificial ferns and dried moss. To create an enchanted evening atmosphere, I wanted to use lots of candles, so I'm setting up a mix of votive candle holders with tea lights and candlesticks with pressed purple flowers. Now it's time to bring out the food and start the party. I'm arranging the cucumber hummus bites on top of this wood slab stand, and then placing some more grapes and fruit on the bottom tier. I'm pouring the cold tea into a pitcher filled with ice, adding about two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, and stirring it in to magically change the color from blue to purple. I'm filling the glasses about halfway with the tea, and then topping them with sparkling water, blackberries, and edible flowers. Thank you all so much for watching. I hope this video inspired you to create a whimsical evening tea party of your own. I've really been enjoying creating recipe videos like these, so please let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more of them, or if there's anything in particular you'd like me to make. Thanks again friends, and I will see you next time.