Meadow Nocturne!

Hurray! My relaxation herbal tea (tisane!) is finally ready!

This tisane is actually many months in the making ... I spent a good amount of time trying different recipes... until I finally found one that tastes great, smells amazing, and looks as beautiful as it tastes. The result of the many many months of work and waiting is

MEADOW NOCTURNE

Available at all three of my online shops: Etsy, Artfire and Made it Myself!

This tea is delicious, with a hint of sweetness, and the perfect choice at the end of a long, hard day. It's a great way to encourage a sense of relaxation so that you can get a good night's sleep.

Try some today!

To Brew my Meadow Nocturne:

Water Temperature should be just under boiling (195 degrees F). Use 1 1/2 teaspoons of tisane for each cup (6 - 8 ounces) you plan on brewing and place directly into your teapot, or use an infuser or T-Sac. Carefully pour the hot water into your teapot and allow the tisane to steep for 5 minutes.

Strain the tea, and add a little sweetener if desired. Enjoy hot. Take a moment to enjoy the aroma as the tea has aromatic herbs that will also help relax you.

Delicious!

~Anne

Lemon Cupcake Recipe (Contest Winner!)

Hello Everyone:

Well, I've heard back from the contest winners (there were two!) and so I think it's safe to publish one of the two recipes -- I'll post the other one in a week or two.

Here is the recipe for Lemon Cupcakes, submitted by Christine from Ohio! I used Meyer Lemons for this recipe, mostly because they were available at Whole Foods when I shopped there, and they looked irresistibly beautiful!

Lemon Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 cup of butter (room temperature)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
zest from 4 lemons
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Juice from 2 lemons
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Lemon Drizzle:
Juice from remaining 2 lemons
1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray muffin tins and dust with flour. Alternatively, you can line the tins with cupcake liners, however, there is a step that follows baking that can leave your cupcake liners somewhat sticky. If you don't mind sticky cupcake liners, then use the liners instead of spraying and flour dusting.

Cream butter and sugar together at medium speed for about 5 minutes. Do not skimp on this step, it greatly affects the texture of the cupcakes.

Add eggs, one at a time, to creamed mixture, blending well before adding another egg. Add lemon zest, and blend well, taking time to scrape down the sides of the bowl of your mixer and the mixer blade. The zest accumulated on the blade for me when I made these, so do make sure that you scrape the blade to make sure that the zest gets well incorporated.

Sift together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. In a different bowl, mix together the lemon juice, buttermilk and vanilla. Gradually add 1/3 of the flour mixture, blend, and then half of the lemon juice mixture, blend. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, blend, the last of the lemon juice mixture, blend, and finish up with the last of the flour mixture. Mix for about 20 seconds on medium speed, making sure that batter is well blended but do not over mix.

Scoop batter evenly into muffin tins, filling each cup about 2/3 full. This makes about 24 cupcakes.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Cupcakes are done when a wooden skewer inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Now for the sticky part!

Juice the remaining 2 lemons (remember, you zested 4 lemons, but only juiced 2 of them), and pour into a small saucepan with 1/2 cup of sugar. Heat over medium heat until sugar is completely dissolved.

Using a wooden skewer, poke several holes into the crown of the cupcake. You should drive the skewer through to almost the bottom of the cupcake, as you want the syrup to be absorbed throughout the cake.

Now, spoon the lemon juice syrup over the cupcake. I used a soup spoon for this, and used about a spoonful and a half for each cupcake. Allow the syrup to absorb into the cupcake.

Allow the cupcakes to cool completely, and then frost them.

Thank you Christine for your winning recipe! I love these cupcakes! So yummy!

A note about the syrup ... do not make the same mistake I made and drizzle the syrup over the paper lined cupcakes while they were still in the muffin tin. Instead, move them to a cooling rack and drizzle them there... use yesterday's newspaper underneath the cooling rack to catch the drippings to avoid a sticky mess!

Christine won a Chatsford teapot, along with a tin of her favorite tea! (and I might add, these cupcakes are the perfect accompaniment to tea!!!)

Thanks for reading along, I hope you too will enjoy this recipe!

~Anne

A Tea Story...

Hello Everyone:

Over the past 7 years as I've been blending and flavoring teas, I've created tea flavors that I have wanted. It all started with my Chocolate tea, now called Chocolate Rose Romance. I wanted a chocolate tea that was similar to the chocolate tea I used to purchase from my favorite little antique store in old town Orange, California, an antique store that went out of business, and they took their delightfully flavored chocolate tea with them.

So, I visited all the tea shops I could find in the area, and some of them had chocolate teas, but, none of these chocolate flavors were quite as decadent as my fond memories of the Chocolate tea from that little antique store.

This is how I became inspired to try my hand at flavoring and blending my own teas. My first attempts were very hit and miss... mostly... miss! I did some research, and I did a lot of experimentation. And there was even a time that I gave up and threw in the towel on the whole endeavor, certain I wasn't going to ever achieve that flavor for which I longed.

Then, about 7 years ago, I decided to try again, and I came up with a blend that may not be exactly what I used to obtain from my favorite antique dealer, but, it was certainly close, and quite possibly, better! Since that time, I've made various improvements on my original recipe, and I must say that now, it indeed IS better.

None of my other flavors have undergone as many attempts and transformations as my Chocolate tea.

I am often asked which tea is my favorite, and I usually list my newest tea, or the most recently blended tea... but in truth, my all time favorite is indeed my Chocolate Rose Romance. The flavor is rich, sumptuous... it is everything I want it to be and more. It's a nice chocolate indulgence with little fat (I say "little" because I do add a splash of half & half to this tea, so there is a small amount of fat), and little calories (sometimes I add Agave Nectar, sometimes, I add honey, and sometimes I add Stevia to this tea, depending on what I have handy!)

My Chocolate Rose Romance is a blend of black teas, Chocolate bits, Cacao Nibs, Vanilla, Apple, Rooibos, Almonds, and just a sprinkling of Rose Petals. The rose petals are not added as much for flavor as they are for visual appeal. (Note, if you like rose flavored tea, try my Breakfast in Bed tea!!!)

Is there a tea flavor you'd like to try? Is there a combination that you think would make a winning tea flavor? Please, feel free to drop a comment on this blog, and let me know what flavor you'd like. I'll try creating a flavor to your specifications, and if the flavor is a hit, and I decide to begin offering it in my shop, I'll send you the first tin of it... FREE!

~Anne