The Denby Dale Tearooms

Hubbers and I were out for a jaunt in the countryside last weekend, with the dog, and of course, at about half past three, our thoughts turned to the inevitable. We had been past the Denby Dale Tearooms before, and I'd thought 'Ooh, we ought to take a look', so it seemed a good choice for a quiet unassuming Saturday afternoon.
For those of you who don't know the quaint town of Denby Dale, it is a lovely Yorkshire village to the south east of Huddersfield, and just east of the Peak District. I think its claim to fame - other than the tearooms - is its pies. Whenever there is anything new to celebrate - like a royal baby or a coronation, or the millennium - or they need to raise money - for a new church roof or village hall - the residents of Denby Dale bake a pie. A giant pie. The largest, baked to commemorate the turn of the century, weighed twelve tonnes!
Anyway, back to the tearooms. We didn't go in the front door, but headed straight for the 'Tea Garden' (a good start already), which happened to be a little terraced garden hugging the steep slope of the valley (this is quite the norm in this part of Yorkshire). Luckily, it was a real sun-trap, and so at quarter to four in the afternoon, it was still bathed in sunlight. We didn't need to look at the menu - although a quick glance told us it was well stocked - and we ordered an Afternoon Tea for two, Yorkshire tea for him, Earl Grey for me.

Well, as soon as the tea came, I was grinning. Beautiful, vintage-style teacups! The owner who had taken our order was a big, burly Yorkshire man, and we hadn't seen the interior, so I wasn't expecting the delicate bone china he brought out! The teapots weren't bone china, and the tea was bagged not leaf, but the eclectic mix of retro cups, saucers and little plates were lovely.

Then our tea came out on a tiered cake stand. It was simple and delicious. Mr CTC had ordered ham and mustard sandwiches, and I had tuna mayonnaise on brown and both were divine. Bite size triangle sandwiches, full or filling, with the corners cut off - perfect. The scones were not quite as we would have served them - they were 'mini scones' already jammed and creamed, but they went very well with the meal, and they befitted the friendly, unpretentious nature of the establishment, so we were happy to indulge. The sandwiches and scones were accompanied by a mysterious cake. Hubby tucked in to his first, and exclaimed how much he liked it and how moist and tasty it was, but how he couldn't put his finger on the flavour. When I tried it, I'm afraid I was none the wiser, but the closest flavour I could find to it was jelly beans or dolly mixture. Could they have made a dolly mixture cake? I'm sure it's possible!

Dolly mixture cake or not, we were very pleasantly surprised with the Denby Dale Tearooms. The view from the Tea Garden was good, the food lovely and the vintage teacups topped it off. Friendly, unassuming staff, good prices (£9.95 for an afternoon tea for one), and we could take the dog too. He had a bowl of water and a little lick of clotted cream, so he was happy too!

All in all, a very respectable 8.5/10 for the DDTR (points lost only for pre-jammed and creamed scones, stoneware teapots and teabags). Lovely surroundings, lovely outdoor space. It looked very cute inside too, when I went in to pay. The owner did catch me taking a picture of the outside though - whoops! If it weren't for our pockets or our waistlines, I think we'd be back every Saturday!

 

The Vintage Teacup Club by Vanessa Greene

I don't just review cream teas, I like to offer my opinion about other cream-tea-related stuff too! 

As a lover of eclectic vintage crockery, I was intrigued by the title and cover of The Vintage Teacup Club, Vanessa Greene’s debut novel. My husband and I were actually given the book as a wedding present, as our wedding breakfast was – you’ve guessed it – an afternoon tea, complete with vintage crockery.

Normally, I tend to avoid this sort of mass-produced, written-to-a-formula, “female interest” literature, but given the title and my obsession with vintage teas, I thought I’d give it a go. And I was really rather pleasantly surprised at the story and characters. The women were well-rounded- so to speak – and believable. I felt the plot was a little predictable – I could tell the important men in the story from their first mention, although it was clear we were not supposed to recognise their potential significance. The imagery and narrative were engaging, and I had a clear picture of these characters and their homes in my mind’s eye. I did find the adjectives a little clunky though – sometimes it seemed as though the descriptive prose was a forced at times. The theme of wedding decoration and vintage collectables kept me going, whereas in a novel with a different flavour I might have lost interest. But what was most captivating was the personal accounts and real emotion that soaked the pages. I found myself welling up on several occasions while reading it – sometimes embarrassing when on the train – and I felt that the characters’ individual situations were each portrayed as though Vanessa had lived them personally. The pages were also peppered with little details that only true followers of the vintage teacup craze would appreciate, and I found that rewarding - like little sweets along the way. And, like a good cup of tea and a biscuit, it made me feel satisfied and happy when I'd finished it.

MacDonald Highland Hotel, Aviemore

Mr Cream Tea Crazy and I are away from home on a little sojourn in the Cairngorms. We're indulging in a little bit of whisky, lots of country walks, and of course, our favourite pastime! We wanted afternoon tea at the Tigh na Sgaith hotel, which boasts a freshly baked-to-order service, but we hadn't booked in advance, and so we weren't allowed. Still, we'll know for next time we're here! So, a quick Google search led us to the four star MacDonald Highland Hotel in Aviemore, where an Afternoon Tea was available for £18.

On arrival, we were led to the Laggan Bar, which was a dark area decorated with 'contemporary' art and modern furnishings. The sofas were very soft and squishy and we sank into them quickly, but there was absolutely no atmosphere or ambience. It was cold and impersonal -  we could have been on a ferry. The paintings around the room looked like horror movie posters.

                                

The waitress looked at me blankly when I asked if there was a choice of teas, but the menu assured me there was - a rather good selection actually, of Clipper teas. The tea arrived quickly, on a fancy little wooden tray. Unfortunately, the teapots were ceramic stoneware, and the tea was in bags, not loose. In no time at all, a huge cake stand was brought out, with what looked like enough food for four people! There were at least twenty finger sandwiches, with the classic fillings of cheese and pickle, ham and mustard, egg mayonnaise and cress, and salmon and cream cheese. Luckily for me, Mr CTC can't stand salmon or egg sandwiches, so we played Jack Spratt and his wife and he ate all the ham and cheese ones. All were very nice, but the bread did seem a little dry, and we got the distinct impression that the filled cake stand had been sitting around in the kitchen for quite a while.

 

 After reminding the waitress that we needed cutlery, we moved on to the scones. Four provided, two fruit and two plain. Not only were they titchy, they were cold, and incredibly short - to the extent that they were almost biscuits! And a teensy-bit burned. Not great. To make matters worse, the cream provided was whipped, not clotted! Sin of sins! Jam (and honey and marmalade) were offered in little individually-sized jars, on an intriguing little stand.

 There was a very obvious mousse theme to the selection of little cakes offered. Well, more like desserts, not cakes. The middle tier of the cake stand held four slices of passion-fruit mousse cake, two wedges of strawberry mousse cake, and four individual chocolate mousses! I began to worry that we were going to be charged for four afternoon teas, not two! To be fair, the passion-fruit mousse was delicious, and the chocolate mousse was lovely too, but by that time, we were both feeling rather full and couldn't really appreciate their lightness or flavour!

The overwhelming impression at the MacDonald Highland Hotel was not one of four star quality. It really appeared as though customers asking for afternoon tea were a rarity, and perhaps now we see why. The waitress was not familiar with how an afternoon tea works, and described what we would get as 'a big basket of cakes' - not the three tiered cake stand we thankfully did get. The schoolboy errors of whipped cream and offering marmalade for the scones made us think that they were not really sure of what they were doing. This feeling was confirmed when we were undercharged, but we're not complaining about that!