I love tea wares
I have loads of tea wares
One of my favorite, of course, is Spode Blue Italian
In England a tea set is this:
Six cups, Six saucers, Six tea plates, an open sugar and creamer and a square cake plate
You often find these sets here in the United States
I think they're often souvenirs from a trip to England
Sometimes you'll find a set with a pot -- rarely, but sometimes you do
(I think that tea is brewed in a favorite pot and so a "special", "matching" tea pot is not a necessity)
Another tea ware:
The Sandwich Plate
(rarely do you find these as part of the tea set -- but you can purchase them separately)
They're a long rectangular plate
(I use mine more for loaves of tea breads or pound cakes than sandwiches)
This was an airport purchase from the Harrod's Store at Heathrow --
just before we boarded the plane.
In looking on line I found this ad from the 1930s:
And there is my sandwich plate
Called "a set" with six square plates . . .
Hmmm . . .
So now we have all the accroutrements of tea --
cups, sauces, plates, pot, sugar, creamer and a plate for cakes and a plate for sandwiches!
Cakes on the top
Sandwiches on the bottom!
Both Spode Blue Italian
My cake plates (yes, plural, I have two) were an always wanted.
I didn't buy one when I bought the sandwich plate on the way to the gate as we left Heathrow
And I regretted it
Then I would search on eBay and find one . . .
But I could never complete the transaction.
Then I would forget bout it . . .
And months later look again
But, alas, I went Spode Blue Italian Cake Plateless!
Until last Friday!
My son-in-law's Aunt, Jo, found two . . and bought them
for me!
She knew how much I loved Spode Blue Italian
I met her Friday in Springfield,
we had lunch in a tea room
And she gifted me with two cake plates!
How sweet of Jo!
But we are, after all, kindred spirits --
we both love crystal, china and silver
And we use them!
Today, I made a lemon drizzle cake
For tea
A cake rather than cookies because I had a cake plate
That I needed to use!
Tea for the two of us!
How I wish Jo could have joined me for the maiden voyage of one of the cake plates!
Traditional English Lemon Drizzle Cake on a Spode Blue Italian Cake Plate
(Doesn't get much more English than that!)
The cake is easy to make and is a favorite of ours:
Lemon Drizzle Cake
1 cup self rising flour
1/2 c. butter
2/3 c. sugar
2 teaspoons lemon curd
grated zest of 1 lemon
For the drizzle:
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 T. sugar
Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a loaf tin and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
Put all the cake ingredients into a food processor. Blend together for 2 minutes. Scrape mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
While the cake is still warm, and before turning it out of the tin, mix the lemon juice and sugar together until the sugar dissolves somewhat and pour this mixture over top evenly. Let sit for about 10 minutes before removing from the tin to cool completely on a wire rack.
A big thank you to Jo, a kindred spirit, for the wonderful gift
of not one but TWO Spode Blue Italian Cake Plates!
5 comments:
Beautiful! And I love seeing a lemon cake on the blue and white.
A beautiful set of tea ware and interesting information. A lovely table as always!
What a wonderful gift! Beautiful tea wares!
Your Spode is beautiful no matter whether you have one, two or three pieces... It’s worth waiting for ( thoughtful gift)... Thank you for tea set information..I do enjoy learning something new...of course, Lemon cake is my favourite .. so I’d gladly sit and have a tea and drizzle morsel with you. ENJOY your day !!!!
Wasn't that so thoughtful to be gifted two cake plates??!! I know you were thrilled, and your lemon drizzle cake looks beautiful on the one. Wish I could share a slice of cake with you, and swoon over your collection of blue and white Spode.
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