The twinkling lights, the shops full of gifts, the sale signs and the dreadful Christmas music, none of it seems to help. When placing my online shopping for our early Christmas dinner I realised that Christmas to me starts in my mouth or my nose. The smell of mulled wine, the taste of cranberry or spices. The pate, the hot roasts, the cheeses all things that I treat myself to only around Christmas.
With Christmas tastes and smells meaning so much I just knew that the Radisson Blu Edwardian Manchester Hotels Festive themed afternoon tea was just what I needed to get my taste buds into the spirit of Christmas.
After a busy weekend Hubby and I made our way into Manchester whilst the children were at school to enjoy a relaxed afternoon tea. It was a first for us as this is something we have never done before but it was a fantastic experience that we will have to repeat.
There were two afternoon teas on offer, the lovely festive tea that I enjoyed and the gentlemens tea that Hubby devoured. It was great to see the difference between the two varieties.
The bottom layer featured our sandwiches the four varieties on my plate were crustless fingers which used three slices of bread. Each one was delicious and the added christmas aspect of the Turkey, cranberry and stuffing sandwich was just enough to remind me we were in the festive season without being over the top. Hubbys sandwiches were more rustic looking with the crusts still on and cut into wedge shapes. They were still made with three slices of bread and featured big manly flavoured like beef and mustard. I felt the bread quality was fantastic and I really enjoyed the simplicity of a cream cheese and cucumber sandwich which is something I would never make for myself. One more festive flavour wouldnt go a miss but I personally enjoyed each sandwich as it was.
Hubby’s top layer included a yorkshire pudding with beef and gravy, a pot of mushy peas with chips and a bit of fish and a pork pie topped with what I think was cranberry sauce (I don’t know as I didn’t eat it). My top layer included a mini chocolate fudge cake, a mixed berry jelly, a cream cone and a piece of fruit cake. I loved the fruit cake as it is a great alternative to Christmas cake which I don’t eat due to the marzipan, icing and strong alcohol taste.
The middle layers on both towers were the same with a fabulously festive cranberry and orange scone, a traditional scone, some jam and some clotted cream. This layer almost caused a domestic as we had a discussion on the right way to eat a Clotted Cream Scone. With Hubby declaring Cream then Jam and me adamantly stating it should be Jam then Cream we did the only thing that a social media loving couple would do and we took to twitter. May responses later including one from a well known Clotted Cream company and the hotel itself and it seems that Hubby is alone in his weird ways and that this is definitely the right way to eat a scone.
