A short while ago i did my Wizard of Oz themed Afternoon Tea.

Now after having the idea, sitting on my to do Afternoon tea themed list, I wanted to make it authentic as possible.

I looked through actual Kansas based foods like BBQ and local dishes like Chilli and Cinnamon rolls. Speciality bread and Kansas mud pie. A local speciality of cheese foccacio called Cheese slippers and zwieback? 2 tier rolls.

I looked at Afternoon Teas out there already, plus took inspiration from themes in the film, songs etc.

Years ago with my Cupcake wrappers/cases business i design sell, I got a message from a person from a Hotel. They made a test purchase of my Wizard of Oz designs for an Afternoon Tea they were running. The one purchase of a set of 12 turned into an order for 400!

They kindly sent me a photo of it in use. It was the 4 Characters silhouette as they skip along the Yellowbrick road. That’s when i knew i wanted to do one of my own.

As usual i jotted down all my ideas, and was probably too ambitious. I had been gathering props like the costumes, tableware and backdrop. Taking too much on made it a stressful few days in food prep and a rushed table setting.

It’s a good thing i had planned a 2nd Return to Oz theme, so i can get a redemption. The toughest and hardest critic is always yourself. Wanting perfection al makes it harder.

For the most part I was happy with the selection, like Ruby Slipper Éclairs, Poppyseed Cake, Oreo Twisters, Witches Hats. I had a genius idea of making Lion Bar Brownies.

But for other dishes like the Rainbow Swiss roll which didn’t work out and the 2 Breads i made which didn’t rise (Yeast out of date) were disappointing.

Of course Their’s always room for improvement, coming up with your own untested recipe ideas. As a baker this is a constant learning curve.

For all the work entailed it’s usually worth it, when you finally sit down for Tea. With the delays and flops did put a slight downer on it.

For the savoury part i chose Kansas Barbecue, Short Rib, Burnt ends, Ribs, Chilli and Cinnamon rolls.

I also made a Sour cream Raisin Pie, Kansas City Mud Pie, Yellow Brick road Tiramisu and Witch hat cones.

Despite having all the elements for the table setting, I forgot my emerald charger plates, misplaced the saucers and forgot a sign. I also didn’t take too many table setting pics.

Frustratingly I also forgot my Wizard of Oz figures, from the Mgm casino in Vegas when they had the Wizard of Oz display. Back when the casino opened in the 90s?

I was however happy with the Pics, myself the Witch, parents as Dorothy and Scarecrow. I had planned originally to wear a Green suit and be the Wizard or citizen of Emerald. But I felt the Witch had to appear somehow.

I should have just gone with a Rainbow Cake, rather than divert to the swiss roll. One didn’t work with all the food colours, the second i tried to tye dye but was more Green Blue like the Wicked Witch.

In all my years doing this side project, have i had a Afternoon tea with many setbacks. By no means was it a disaster, just personally disappointing.

Bread has never been my thing, despite me getting my electric proofer! Next time I’ll make sure to use New Yeast.

Lessons learned, don’t take too much on!

The Mud Pie was supposed to go inside of a Chocolate heart case, for the Tinman reference. The Ruby Slipper Éclairs needed more Glitter bling on top, tasted great. Ruby Ganache on top worked well.

The Yellowbrick road Banana Tiramisu tasted good, but I think the Banana jelly i made on top wasn’t needed. A bright Yellow dusting of something on top probably would have done the job.

The Poppyseed Cake with Poppyseed filling tasted nice. I paired it with a Swiss Meringue Buttercream, thankfully that came together ok.

I mean if you don’t take risks, how do you know somethings going to work or not?.

What’s next?

Well a sequel Tea may not be just on the horizon, but will happen. And I’ll be ready to make the Rainbow Cake and make sure i get table shots.