Finally spring has sprung in England and the sun has made her lovely appearance once again over the weekend. Sunshine and Afternoon Tea go extremely well together.
Luckily enough for me, I live in the county which created Afternoon Tea. Apparently the Duchess of Bedford suffered that sinking feeling in the afternoon and requested some treats – that’s how the story goes.
For some reason, the shire hasn’t really embraced the Afternoon Tea resurgence that has hit the United Kingdom. It’s a pure shame to be honest but I am going to start my hunt to find the best Afternoon Tea’s in Bedfordshire.
The Duchess Tearooms at Woburn Abbey offers an Afternoon Tea for the bargain price of £12.50 pp.
The tearooms are located in a modern building on the estate so if you are thinking a quaint building in the middle of the Abbey you have got the wrong impression and will be disappointed.
Sandwiches
You get a five finger sandwiches including egg and mayo, tuna and cucumber, salmon, ham and cheese and pickle. The gluten free bread was lovely and light.
Scones
You get one scone each with the Afternoon Tea. The gluten free scone was okay but very dry and the same with the standard Afternoon Tea. There is no option of a fruit or plain scone.
Cakes
The gluten free option included chocolate coated strawberries and a couple of morsels of gluten free cakes including a brownie, flapjack and a almond slice.
The normal Afternoon Tea included a shoe pastry, bakewell tart, jam tart and mini Victoria sponge. G has informed me that these were very tasty.
Teas
The Duchess Tea Rooms serve Suki Tea which was lovely. I had the Woburn tea which had a slightly malty flavour and G went for something completely different – a Mango tea which he said was great good.
The Afternoon Tea served at the Duchess Tearooms is nice and simple however if you are expecting the delicacies that you get served up at the 5 star establishments in London then you will be disappointed.
It’s important to pre book the Afternoon Tea so that you get free entrance into Woburn otherwise it sounds like you get charged an entrance fee however if you have an Afternoon Tea booking then there is a no charge to get into the grounds.
http://www.woburn.co.uk/abbey/food-and-drink/
Woburn Abbey has a shop on site that sells pretty china and a variety of books on Afternoon Tea full of gorgeous recipes.
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