London Calling: Buns 'n' Biscuits

A few more British treats deserve a blog mention!

With Euston Station's food court – and Underground access! – one block from our hotel, we weren’t going to find a more convenient breakfast stop. Delice de France and Caffe Ritazza both offered an over-the-top version of a revered baked good that I enjoyed 7 mornings in a row. Their triple chocolate muffins consisted of chocolate dough with white, milk, and dark chocolate chips mixed in, and injected chocolate frosting. DDF’s muffin was drier and less sweet, as a muffin should be, but it had far too much frosting. CR’s muffin essentially was a moist cupcake, but with minimal unnecessary goo. Despite their outrageous ingredients, the muffins were considerably smaller than American bakeries' muffins. I may have justified their repeated consumption on this fact.

A tour guide in the original Cambridge recommended Fitzbillies' Chelsea buns, so we had to investigate further. Chelsea bun dough is flavored with orange, lemon, and spices, and rolled with currants and sugar. Once the buns are rolled and cut, much like cinnamon buns, they are topped in a sugary, buttery glaze. I'm glad I tried this local specialty, but in the end I'm more of a frosted-cinnamon-bun girl. The spice and citrus flavor combination recalled winter holiday treats, and it felt out of place on a sweltering summer day. The dough itself was tougher than expected. Also, the currants were too dry, chewy, and flavorless for my liking. I did enjoy the sweet glaze, but it made the bun difficult to hold and eat. Maybe we would have been happier getting the local creamery's ice cream for dessert!

Fortnum & Mason of afternoon tea fame sells a variety of biscuits, or cookies. Knowing my dessert tastes, it was the most natural thing in the world to purchase Chocolossus biscuits, and they were such a success that two Chocolossus tins were flown back over the Pond. The dessert's core is a large (nearly palm-sized) dark chocolate biscuit studded with pieces of macadamia nuts. The biscuit proper is dry but not stale, and is surprisingly robust in chocolate flavor. The nut fragments are small enough that they don't overwhelm the biscuit, yet are still assertive enough on the palate. That biscuit is then enrobed in a quarter-inch-thick layer of smooth dark chocolate. As your teeth sink through the chocolate layer and crunch the biscuit within, as you enjoy the rich aroma and savor the multiple mediums of chocolate, you realize that Chocolossus really is the perfect cookie.

Lastly, I had to try some everday chocolate, British-style! The convenience stores and subway kiosks dazzled me with their displays of countless unknown candy bars. I ultimately selected a packet of Revels since I'll be performing in a production of the same name back in the new Cambridge. I assume they are called Revels because of the unexpected party you may enjoy while eating them. The candies are balls of milk chocolate, filled with one of six flavored centers: coffee, toffee, orange, raisin, malted milk ball, or more chocolate. I was impressed with the rich, creamy consistency of the chocolate. The fillings were dense, sugary, and rather tasty, with the exception of the never-enjoyable raisin. I ate one bag in Heathrow airport and am saving one more for the day my Revels show opens at Sanders Theatre. :-)

London Calling: Afternoon Tea

I recently had the pleasure of traveling to London for a week’s vacation! When deciding which sites to see and activities to do, one food-related splurge became a priority: I had to take afternoon tea in the country where the ritual originated. I made reservations for the St. James Restaurant at Fortnum & Mason, just outside Picadilly Circus. That stunning specialty food emporium did not disappoint – the experience was everything I wanted it to be, and more!

The tea room was warm, sunlit, and decorated in a soft blue. Plush armchairs and low-lying sofas with embroidered pillows surrounded delicate coffee tables set with the tea service’s china and drinkware. After settling in on the comfortable furniture, we cleansed our palate with brightly-flavored sparkling lemonade and ordered our tea. I enjoyed the strength and full body of the Assam Superb offering.

Next came four categories of delicate gastronomic treats – a plate of canapés followed by a 3-tiered display with sandwiches, scones, and cakes. You may behold the glorious tower below:

• Canapes – asiago breadsticks, pesto breadsticks, salmon crostini topped with roe, and sausage in puff pastry
• Sandwiches – egg salad, curry pasta and raisins on rye, cucumber and watercress on white, chicken and watercress on white, salmon on wheat
• Scones – plain and current scones, madeleines
• Desserts – raspberry jam sandwiched between shortbread, light lemon cake soaked in lemon sauce, vanilla cake topped with vanilla cream and white chocolate, brown sugar puff pastry glazed with confectioners' sugar and filled with custard and raspberries, lemon-almond petit four with blue white-chocolate frosting, sacher torte sans jam topped with gold leaf

My favorite treats, predictably enough, were the desserts, but the scones plus toppings were the best surprise.

Scones as I have known them in America can be a tough sell. More often than not, they are large mounds of floury, heavy dough that can barely redeem themselves via glazes or mixed-in fruit. Fortnum and Mason’s scones, however, were light, fluffy, buttery, and slightly tangy. This made them a treat in their own right, though they became even better with choice accompaniments. We could choose from strawberry jam, lemon curd, and clotted cream. I had to try the pale yellow clotted cream, a traditional British spread whose consistency is between whipped cream and butter. It was excellent when spooned over a dollop of jam! The lemon curd was excellently tart, with none of the cloying sweetness that usually turns me away from the spread.

Afternoon tea is a slow, relaxing, and above all indulgent meal. The richness of these treats gave me a fullness I would usually associate with twice the volume of food. We were so satisfied by the afternoon tea that we didn’t even eat dinner – and, we were able to browse the extensive F&M food halls without needing to sample everything in sight! This special time was one of the highlights of my vacation, and I encourage any visitors to Britain to seek out the same. Cheerio!