A High Tea with a difference.
For my birthday, a friend of mine gave me a voucher for two 'Heavenly Bliss' High Teas at Heavenly Plate in Applecross. I had ridden past this cafe before and had placed it on my 'must go' list. The decor has a French feel about it and the soft blues are very comforting and charming.
The tables were set beautifully with cute pink flowers on all of the plates and the tea sets. We sat down at our table and ordered our first pot of tea. I chose the organic breakfast while my plus one ordered the choc mint rooibos tea.
The 'Heavenly Bliss' package is the highest of the three options for High Tea packages available and the first thing to come out was a delicious mocktail. It was very light and fruity and oh so delicious.
After we finished our mocktails the tea arrived in their own little pots.
Once we had settled in and started on our teas a plate of scones came out. We had a plain and a fruit scone each with a generous serve of jam and cream. As you can probably tell, this isn't how a 'high tea' is traditionally served. Normally 'high tea' is served on a tiered server. Historically high tea referred to the working class meal while afternoon tea was taken by the upper classes around 4-6pm. Afternoon tea was a way of filling the gap between lunch and dinner, which was served at around 8pm at night.
Afternoon tea changed to be better know as 'high tea' and has evolved to what we see now days in cafe's and hotels. So lets get back to it. (For a history lesson click here.)
After the very traditional start to the high tea, things started to get quite unique. Next up was the savory course of sandwiches and soup. You could probably describe this high tea as more of a degustation menu.
The savories came out on a large glass cake stand and were all quite beautifully presented. First up we went with the mini bruschetta style crostini. Oh and a quick note, everything at Heavenly Plate is vegetarian. They also have gluten free, pregnant friendly and vegan options, which I think is fantastic.
Then we went for a cucumber and beetroot sandwich.
Next on the menu, as we worked our way around the plate, was an antipasto sushi roll. Another amazing idea. I love how it fuses two different cuisines together and is a perfect idea for a dinner party.
The next savory dish we sampled was another sandwich. This time it was a 'chicken and almond' sandwich. Again, vegetarian. At a guess it was probably made out of silken tofu or something similar. I am not a huge tofu fan but this one surprised me and was completely delicious.
The final two dishes was a yam roll and some soup. The yam could probably be classed as sweet and the soup was most likely a pumpkin soup. We dipped the yam in the soup before eating it for a little fun and then drunk the rest of the soup. The soup was creamy and the yam roll was very nice indeed.
From here on in we divert from the standard high tea menu in a big way. When I saw this dish I was shocked, amazed and intrigued but most of all, I was excited. Meet the pot plant cake.
On top we have chocolate biscuit soil with a strawberry and mint leaves 'growing' out of it. Once you eat away some of the soil you come across a chocolate disc. Carefully I broke through the top, trying my hardest not to send the biscuitty goodness flying. Below were layers of sponge, cream and more chocolate discs. Heaven and such a cute idea.
Now for something which you might come across at a fancy high end resturaunt, a deconstructed berry cheesecake. It was lovingly presented with stripes of crumb, cream cheese and berries cascading out of the glass. At this point we were also onto our second pot of tea each. I went for the organic earl grey and my plus one chose the white orchid tea.
Finally we finished up with a berry sorbet. It had me wondering why I didn't eat sorbet more often. I was so light and refreshing. A perfect finish to a great birthday present.
So if you are looking for 'high tea' with a difference try Heavenly Plate. It was fun and quirky and I highly recommend it!!! I am very happy with my birthday present and the whole meal. I left feeling satisfied and only slightly stuffed.
Until next time.
Love, love Elle.
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