So on Thursday i had my 10th Afternoon themed Tea as part of my ongoing Tea with me project. This was a more recent new idea i had and also inspired by the new Space restaurant being built in Epcot Disneyworld. I watched the videos with updates on it and concept art and thought why not do a Tea in Space theme.

As with them all first is the planning i jotted down ideas for treats to bake. Which is how it stayed for quite some time i then immediately went on a search for the tableware. This to me is the most exciting to source the decor and crockery. This was a difficult one to find Teapots for as they either are old retired pieces, or none for sale. I saw a really cool flying saucer UFO one but that was retired and £90!!

It seems i have Asda George to thank for a lot of my Tea ware, shame they cant deliver it in one piece half the time! Found some Astronaut mugs online ordered them and they were refunded as unavailable. Got some in store and they were then discontinued. I didnt search for plates or milk jugs etc as they were just not available. I did get a night sky tablecloth and a another great Backdrop for Aliexpress.

I ordered a spacesuit and Helmet for myself at full price then just after Xmas for some reason looked on H&M online and saw one for £10 from £34.99 so got 2 more.

THE FOOD

Planning the menu is always fun but tricky needs to be a balance of items that are not too heavy or rich to enjoy altogether without filling up too quickly. Most times i have that in balance this time was a bit off balance. Anyway this time round i had an extra challenge to make some things Gluten free, for mum as she is on a Gluten free diet. This worked for some but not all the dishes as the Flour is not like for like for some recipes.

I wanted to include as many Space related foods into the menu as possible. Earth scones turned out well however making them Gluten free they tasted awful all grainy and earthy. I did make the Cheese shooting stars Scones successfully. I had brought some Moon Oreos (50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing ) so used them photo below. I made Chocolate covered Oreos with a Sun/Moon mould which worked well, even though they are oversized.

The Meringues were supposed to be more vibrant colours, i should have coloured the mix rather than painting the colours in the bag. Rocket ship biscuits looked and tasted okay as did the Space Churros. The Churros i coated with edible Silver and made them Gluten free best eaten fresh as they did go a bit soft. The Chocolate cereal Asteroid Balls were far too big i should have made these much smaller. I have now recast them into smaller moulds and would have worked much better that size. The Asteroid balls were coco pops, Chocolate and dipped in Chocolate Galaxy of course! and rolled in Oreo crumbs.

The Galactic Orbs did work out yes and no. The Vegan chocolate Tofu Mousse was delicious inside and set nicely. The Gluten free Brownie needed to be refrigerated before cutting as it was too soft to cut and just fell apart.

I would have made a smaller Brownie disc inserted it into the Mousse and let it set. The Chocolate shells had an amazing shine to them, but should have poured off a bit more of the Chocolate as it was a bit thick at the top. It tasted great but very rich so we ate it last. Smaller in size would have been better also.

Not pictured were also some Space Eclairs with a Mirror Glaze, my 1st attempt at a Mirror Glaze and worked well, i could see my face in the baking sheet. I should have made a Cake as planned, as they did not adhere well to the top of the Eclairs. Tasted nice not the best looking.

This was my longest live Tea to date at 44mins and we also sampled some freeze dried Astronaut foods, including Ice cream, Strawberries, Peaches and Cinnamon Apples. This was interesting and added to the space theme. Throughout the evening as you can hear in the video below we had space sounds.

The finale of the evening was taking photos with the backdrop which turned out great, the contrasting bright colours, worked well with the bright white Spacesuits. We took some fun photos including one with an Alien mask i have had for years which Ryan wore. As a funny idea i had the Alien give the Spaceman a Toilet roll as a gift to humanity. At the moment with people panic buying them because of the Covid 19 virus they are like treasure. And worked well a little humor which people liked when i posted it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This Tea was not planned for this week as our travel plans changed because of the Covid 19 Corona virus, we were due to go to Amsterdam for 4 days on this my week off from work. As our trip got cancelled and we are advised to stay home i decided to do one of the Teas instead. I am relatively happy with how it all went and as always main thing is for it to be fun and entertaining .

Their are the changes above i would have made to the sweet selection and i definitely need to get a new tripod as this old/new hybrid one still is not working properly. So hopefully next time that will be sorted out.

LEFTOVERS

As with all my Teas their are always leftovers, i usually take into work, one time on my week off i sneaked in without anyone seeing me left the stuff and went out hahahaha. This time i cannot do that but most will be used and eaten. The leftover Mousse and Biscuits/Cream have already been recycled into a Mousse cup dessert yesterday. The brownies are being made into Brownie Eggs and i recast the Cereal Asteroids into smaller moulds. I added more chocolate and now they are easier to eat lol. The Eclairs are waiting to be eaten and Meringues will keep a fair while.

Nothing goes to waste especially in these times. Well that is it for now, hope you enjoyed the behind the scenes and i look forward to organising the next themed Tea as i have loads on the horizon.

If you could pick a theme for a Tea what would it be and why? any suggestions for themed Teas? leave a comment below.

Adam x