Tea Party for Goths? Of Course!

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alice in wonderland, classic tea, elegant, endeavors, Events/Festivals, finger food, fruit tarts, gathering, gore, Gothic, Gothic tea party, gothicheartsandbatwings, Izzy, kindergatern, lavender, macaroons, prawn and lime pepper aioli, pumpkin bars, salmon, sandwiches, scheme, sweet treats, Tea Parties, Voltaire

Ever since I was a little girl, I was always fascinated with the adorable tea parties I’d watch from movies or how in kindergarten they’d have us play “Tea Party” and get us to interact with everyone (both girls and boys). This of course was when our teacher wanted to have us experience new things on the letter of the day.

The traditional tea party is something quite elegant and filled with wonderful little finger foods with such a classy feel to the event that I just can never get enough of them. But as you know all too well, my endeavors are always fun yet filled with Gothic scheme to it, and yes.. sometimes including those that are of the classic tea parties too. But shhh… no one needs to know.

Since having had my little fun at one or two tea parties I’ve attended, which are not those boring, quiet, gossip hang outs (I despise those), as they’ve always been throughout history; these little “tea parties” I’ve been to have strayed away to very interesting conversations and sometimes to a planning group for wicked ideas on some events. Along with the occasional spooky movies and nice tea or latte’s of pumpkin spice that I love to make for the winter.

Some plans have officially been discussed and mentioned. Sammi shall be the Mad Hatter, Jess a zombie version of Alice, Vicky the rabbit, Sarge the mouse (rat in this case being a horror themed tea party), and I shall be the famous yet infamous Chesire Cat (considering the fact that I have his lovely yet creepy kitty smile). ^,.,^ But what would a tea party be without the yummy food?! So here’s where I got to thinking about a few ideas for the main finger foods and the sweet treats.

Salmon and Herbed Cream Cheese Sandwiches-

Ingredients:

• 60g (2 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 2 tsp each, finely chopped fresh dill and chives
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp drained baby capers, rinsed, chopped finely
• 4 slices rye bread (180g), crusts removed
• 125g (4 oz) thinly sliced smoked salmon
• 4 large Arugula leaves, trimmed

Preparation:

-Combine cheese, dill, chives, juice and capers in small mixing bowl. Season to taste.

-Flatten bread with rolling pin. Spread a quarter of the cream cheese mixture, top with a quarter of the salmon and arugula leaf, roll tightly. Repeat. Trim ends, then cut into rolls or spirals.

Yeilds 16

Prawn and Lime Pepper Aioli Sandwiches-

Ingrdients:

• 16 cooked medium king prawns (shrimp/scampi) (720g)
• 8 slices white bread
• 1 cup (60g) shredded baby romaine (cos) lettuce

Lime Pepper Aioli-

• 1/2 cup (150g) whole-egg mayonnaise
• 1 small garlic clove, crashed
• 1/2 tsp finely grated lime rind
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

Preparation:

-Make Lime Pepper Aioli

-Shell and devein raw, fresh shrimp and boil in water until fully cooked or pink and let cool. Halve lengthwise, stir in aioli. Season to taste.

-Top half the slices of bread with prawn mixture and shredded lettuce, then remaining bread.

Lime Pepper Aioli:

-Combine ingredients in medium bowl

Not my work once again, but this is what you’d want to look for.

Turkey and Apple Jam with Havarti cheese Sandwich-

This one here is one of my own creations. It’s very easy to make and very delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb of fresh deli-cut turkey
• 12 tsp of Apple Jam
• Lettuce mix (Spring Mix and baby spinach)
• 1/2 lb fresh deli-cut Havarti cheese
• 15 mini croissants
• Kraft Mayonnaise or homemade mayonnaise (whichever one really, doesn’t matter)

Preparation:

-Slice croissants in half. On each side, spread the apple jam on the croissant bread. Add a bit of the lettuce mix, then turkey on top of it. Spread a bit of apple jam on turkey.

– Layer Havarti cheese over the turkey. Add a bit of the mayonnaise (1 tsp). Place top of croissant. Done.

Yields 15

So far those are the “meal” ideas, as for sweets there are two things in mind, okay.. maybe three.

Violet & Lavender Macaroons-

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup ground almonds
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 extra-large egg whites
• 1/4 cup lavender sugar
• violet food coloring paste or liquid
• 1 tsp candied violet
• 1 tsp dried lavender

Filling:

• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 2 tbsp lavender sugar

Preparation:

-Place ground almonds and confectioners’ sugar in a food processor and process for 15 seconds. For this, I advise to use a food mixer or food processor so that the macaroon dry mixture is NOT over mixed. That will make a HUGE difference in the baking results. Sift the mixture into a medium mixing bowl. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (a bakers greatest friend).

-Place egg whites in a large bowl and whip until holding soft peaks. Gradually beat in lavender sugar until to make a firm, glossy meringue. Mix in enough food coloring to give a pale violet color.

-Using a spatula, fold almost mixture into the meringue one-third at a time. When all dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, cut and fold mixture until it forms a shiny batter with a thick, ribbon-like consistency.

-Place a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch/ 1-cm plain tip in a glass with tip down.. Pipe 32 small circles small circles onto the prepared baking sheets. Tap baking sheets firmly onto a work surface to remove air bubbles. Sprinkle over the candied violets and dried lavender. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit/160 degrees Celsius.

-Bake for10-15 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes. Then carefully pull macaroons off the parchment and let them cool completely.

Filling:

-Mix cream cheese and lavender sugar until smooth. In a seperate piping bag fitted with another piping tip of the previous size or whichever kind for those who want to be creative, fill macaroon. Place in pastry box and feed it away to all the others. Mwuahaha!!! ^,.,^

Here was a very lovely photo I found from LOVE FOOD- Macaroons (For the idea bite-size treat) book. Check it out or buy it if you have an interest in these little treats at Barnes & Nobles or online.

A fruit tart, is also a wonderful idea. It’s a refreshing, cool sweet that goes well with the Autumn season (as it does with any other); but it’s something about fruits that simply brightens up that little bit of creation and wonderful, edible masterpiece.

I’ve gotten my fruit tarts down to the minute now and it’s as easy as pie. Not the dessert, the mathematical number or constant that’s the ratio of a circle’s circumference to the diameter. >,.,< I can get a bit technical.. don’t mind me. So here’s a recipe for my Fruit tart.

https://izcentric.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/sweet-treat-fruit-tart-galore/

But you don’t have to do it that way. You can also make it look red and blue, just like bruises or blotches of paint (it wasn’t my fault this time, I swear!). haha

On the stove top. It allowed the color pop out. Looks quite nice. I was very proud.

Heart shaped fruit tartAn extra bit of sweet Gothic love.

And what with the fall season coming by, what would a Gothic Tea Party be without any pumpkin bars? Be warned, these bars go by fast! Make sure they take the pumpkin bar and not your fingers. YIKES! Mwuahahaha. XD

Pumpkin Bars-

Ingredients:

• 2 cups pumpkin (1 can)
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil or corn oil (either one is perfectly fine)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup brown sugar (dark or light, will work, but don’t be surprised with the difference in flavor) will still taste good though
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tbsp freshly ground cloves (or already ground)
• 1/4 tbsp nutmeg (these you can ground yourself at home)

Preparation:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium mixing bowl sift in flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

-In a large bowl, pour pumpkin, brown and granulated sugar. Mix until combined. When pumpkin and sugar are well mixed, add one egg at a time to the mixture. Once the eggs have been incorporated to the pumpkin mixture add oil.

– Now add the dry ingredients 1/3 cup at a time to the wet mixture. Once completely mixed, pour into a lightly powdered, greased large square or glass baking pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

-Let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Yes.. TWO dreadful hours. Eat an apple while waiting or do 140 sit ups (that’s how many I do). haha

-When cooled entirely, remove from baking pan (should come out easily) lay in a rectangular plate, dust with confectioners/powdered sugar. The sugar should not melt if you let it cool to room temperature, but if it does, not to worry, it’s still yummy. ^,.,^

Sadly I have no photo of these little guys for you, but I’ll take one in no time.

So far the plans for our tea party have been made and it’s going to be themed out of Alice in GORE-land. ^,.,^ Such a wonderful idea and brain of mine (got it from a painting I’m doing which is titled just that). ^,.,^ Everyone shall be dressed up all gore-like and bloody or demented (Hatter). The shall be the ever popular characters: The Mad-Hatter (Sammi), Alice as an undead being (Jess), The Rabbit decayed maybe (Vicky), The tea “Rat” not mouse this time (Sarge), The Knave of Hearts (Brian), and lastly, but not least the ever so sneaky Cheshire Cat (Me) ^,.,^

I have that smile of his. hehe ^,.,^ I can see it. Mwuahaha

Well, I do hope that you enjoy and have some bit of inspiration from these little tea sandwiches and treats and plan one of your own. It would be a wicked thing to see!

Tons of Love Bites,

Izzy