Welcome to our blog....here we will share all our afternoon tea adventures with you...the good, the bad and the wonderful!

Sunday 24 April 2016

Meet the Executive Pastry Chef.....Cherish Finden, The Langham London

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you're well today.

If you popped by the blog yesterday you'll know we featured the new afternoon tea being served at the Langham London. Today we are meeting the talented creator of this beautiful new afternoon tea feast....executive Pastry Chef Cherish Finden. You might recognise Cherish from the current BBC programme Great British Bake Off - Creme de la Creme where she appears as the firm but fair judge.

Executive Pastry Chef Cherish Finden

Recently Lorna and I had the pleasure of meeting Cherish and I can confirm that as well as being super talented and passionate about afternoon tea....she is also a really lovely person. We're so pleased that Cherish agreed to answer our slightly nosey afternoon tea questions - giving us an insight into the effort required to create such a tea-riffic afternoon tea spread!

Q How long does it usually take you to create new afternoon teas?
About 2- 3months for creating and another 2 months for food tasting and recipe development

Q. Where does your inspiration for new teas come from? 
Mostly I am inspired by the Wedgwood collection and everything I came across interest me for example:
  1. the buttery Bloom – it is inspire by the Gerkin Building and Butterfly symbolise new life and to welcome spring
  2. Hathaway Rose Victoria sponge – to bring in the classic Victorian feel
Afternoon tea - Langham London

Q. So, what is your favourite part of your latest afternoon tea?
Well I always like a new challenge. The most interesting part is to create - how to balance the flavour, texture, taste, appearance and WOW Bang effect!

Q. Do you enjoy a spot of afternoon tea yourself and have you tried tea anywhere else? 
Yes, I love to appreciate Afternoon Tea. Most of the Top 5 star hotel.

Q. What is your favourite filling in an afternoon tea sandwich? 
Classic-cucumber and cream cheese

Q. The all important question - do you put cream or jam on your scone first?
Jam and then cream - the Cornish way

Afternoon tea scones - Langham London

Q. If you could invite any guest to enjoy afternoon tea with you, who would it be and why? 
It will be a honour to invite the Queen.

The Queen has lead such an interesting life and been a tremendous ambassador for Britain. I would love to to an opportunity to share a cup of tea and a slice of humble cake with the Queen.

Executive Pastry Chef Cherish Finden with some of her tea-riffic
afternoon tea creations!

It was a real pleasure to listen to Cherish talk about her new afternoon tea at The Langham, her passion for creating perfectly balanced sweet treats is obvious as she talks. We'd like to thank Cherish for taking time out of her busy schedule to answer our afternoon tea questions.

For more information about the new afternoon tea at Langham London please visit their website.

Thank you for popping by today,
Rachel & Lorna

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