Superb Summer Pastries

I love a trip to London to see the sights and at this time of year it is always great to take in the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy. The Summer Exhibition is a great chance for people like me who dabble in painting, to dream of submitting a picture that potentially could be exhibited next to a Ken Howard, Tracey Emin or a Tom Phillips. With exhibits for sale costing a few pounds to thousands of pounds it makes viewing the 1200 exhibits a marvelous day out.

Put that back to back with an Award Winning Afternoon Tea and the day is complete! Heather Kaniuk at the Mandarin Oriental (London Hyde Park) recently won Best Contemporary Afternoon Tea at the Afternoon Tea Awards. Today was all about pastries and sampling the new Summer ‘Iced-Afternoon Tea’ menu with Heather.

The Mandarin Oriental seats its afternoon tea in a beautiful Rosebery Lounge full of sumptuous greens and bright whites. The whole room is refreshingly vibrant and very relaxing. The afternoon tea was an utter delight with its matching vibrant refreshing flavours that brought summer to life. I was instantly bowled over by the Gooseberry, Mascarpone and Lime Tart, a beautifully balanced and exciting flavour combination, while the playful and delicious “Solero” Macaron takes you back in time to hot summer days as a youngster.

Spending the afternoon chatting with Heather was great fun, both of us with our quirky sense humours and passion for perfect patisserie it was very clear to see why this young chef is one of the stars in patisserie. With Afternoon Tea Week upon us (8^th to 14^th August) I would totally recommend a trip to the Mandarin Oriental to experience Heather’s scrumptious Afternoon Tea.