Cost – £16.00 (June 2016)
Background – This was an afternoon tea we were very much looking forwards to. We had discovered the wonderful Teacake on a rainy journey back from Royston with our oldest son after viewing a car for him.
What a find it is! I would definitely recommend a visit if you get the chance. Everything is home made and delicious.
The tea room is very small. Only a few tables available. It is housed in a beautiful old cottage in the village of Shepreth, which is to the south of Cambridge. The owners are delightful and very friendly.
Afternoon Tea is only offered occasionally and has to be booked well in advance. It is only available on a few Sundays. The tea room is shut to all other visitors and only serves pre booked Afternoon Teas on these days. However, it is most definitely worth the effort!
Contents – 4 finger sandwiches (egg and cress, ham and homemade chutney, smoked salmon and cream cheese and cucumber), 1 fruit scone ready loaded with strawberry jam and clotted cream, a rosewater meringue, a small square of lemon drizzle cake, a small square of pecan and cherry cake and a square of refrigerator cake (tiffin). A pot of your choice of tea (refillable). Also a small bottle of locally made cloudy apple juice was waiting ready on the table when we arrived.
Comments – This afternoon tea needs to be booked well in advance as it is only available on selected Sundays. We booked two weeks ahead. Teacake is a very small venue with only four tables of varying sizes. Everything is handmade by the owners. We were shown to a table right next to the fireplace in the fifteenth century thatched building. The other three tables were already in use on our arrival.
On arrival we were served with a small glass of local apple juice whilst we chose our tea.
We chose Assam. The tea was served in a patterned teapot with and extra pot of hot water as well. The rest of the tea was served on a two tier spindle type cake stand with patterned round plates.
The sandwiches were fresh, very tasty and were well filled. We particularly enjoyed the ham and chutney which was made with cut ham rather than packet ham and homemade chutney (always a winner with us!).
The scone was good, tasty and fresh. It wasn’t particularly large. I do not normally like the scone to be preloaded with jam and cream but on this occasion I could see why the proprietors do this in such a small venue. The jam was homemade. Personally I would have liked more jam and cream in the scone and would have preferred the two halves to have been separated and both spread with jam and cream.
The cakes were extremely tasty. The meringue was light and (luckily, in my opinion) didn’t taste strongly of rose water. The lemon drizzle square was rather small but was moist and tasty. The pecan and cherry square was unusual and really good. The refrigerator cake was served a little later than the rest (so it didn’t melt too much) and was particularly good. It was an excellent way to finish the tea as it is one of my favourite cakes.
The tea was made with bags and we were offered a refill. The tea was hot enough and of good strength. The local apple juice was a really pleasant addition. Service was attentive and informative.
| Savoury | 2.0 |
| Scone | 1.5 |
| Jam | 1.5 |
| Cream | 1.0 |
| Cake (variety) | 1.5 |
| Cake (quality) | 2.0 |
| Tea | 1.5 |
| Presentation | 1.5 |
| Service | 2.0 |
| Value | 1.5 |
| Total | 16.0 |
Sarnies Scones and Cakes 