Cost – £15.00 per person (July 2020)
Parking and Access – This tea was taken in the inside area of the venue. There is one small step to enter the building. The toilet is up a flight of stairs with no alternative access. There is on-street parking available in front of the venue.
Background – There are five branches of Barkers Bakery situated around Cambridge, with their head office based in Cottenham.
During the coronavirus pandemic, I discovered they were offering an Afternoon Tea delivered to your door service. Obviously, we had to test it out!
I contacted the bakery by email and arranged a delivery. Payment was by BACS to their account, which was quick and easy.
Contents per person – Four rectangular sandwiches (two of egg, and one each of ham and smoked salmon) and either a bite of quiche or a cheese straw. One medium sized plain scone and one medium sized fruit scone, a mini tub of strawberry jam and a tub of Rodda’s clotted cream. A macaroon, a mini fruit tartlette, a mini eclair, a small square of chocolate Brownie, a piece of Battenburg cake, a jammy dodger and a mini sponge fancy. A Twinings English Breakfast teabag.
Options available – No options were available for this Tea
Comments – We were told the Teas would be delivered between 11:30 and 1:30. It actually arrived shortly after 11:30. It arrived in two neat, well presented, covered plastic trays. We placed them both in the fridge until we were ready to have our Tea.
I have based my presentation score on the way the package was presented in the box. It was very good.
We used our brightly coloured teapot and plates on this occasion,
along with fruit patterned china mugs.
The tea was a standard Twinings English Breakfast Tea. As expected, it was a good flavour and was a good strength for us.
We served the Afternoon Tea on our two-tier cake stand with pretty flowered plates, with the sandwiches on our strawberry cake stand.
The sandwiches were all adequately well filled, and were fresh. There was a mix of white and brown bread. The ham and the smoked salmon were both good. However, the egg tasted like it had been made with salad cream instead of mayonnaise, so it tasted a little vinegary.
There was also a small bite of quiche with one Tea and a cheese straw with the other. The quiche was tasty but far too small, whilst the cheese straw would have been improved with the addition of some cheese!!!
We warmed the scones in the oven before serving them. They were medium sized, and were the smoother, softer variety of scone. There was one fruit scone and one plain each. They were tasty and very fresh.
The strawberry jam was a standard mini Tiptree strawberry jam, which is always fine, although there was not enough for two scones each. However, as we were at home, we were able to supplement the jam with some of our own.
The clotted cream was the usual small pot of Rodda’s clotted cream, which, again, is always a good option. There was just about enough for both scones.
There was a good selection of seven cakes in each box. The variety of cakes was very good. However, the quality was a little variable. The macaroon and éclair were fine and tasted good. However, the jammy dodger was soft, probably due to being left in the fridge with the other items, which was maybe our fault. The Battenburg was oddly sticky, with the marzipan layer sort of melting off the cake part. The fancy was overly sweet, but otherwise alright. One of us had a plain fancy, the other had a lemon one. We both felt the fruit tart contained far too much custard, with very little fruit. And, finally, the piece of brownie was topped with a caramel layer that was so sweet and strongly flavoured, neither of us could eat it! What a shame!
My service score is based on the service we received. This was efficient and contained the information we needed.
| Savoury | 1.0 |
| Scone | 1.5 |
| Jam | 1.0 |
| Cream | 1.5 |
| Sweet (variety) | 2.0 |
| Sweet (quality) | 0.5 |
| Tea | 1.5 |
| Presentation | 2.0 |
| Service | 1.5 |
| Value | 1.5 |
| Total | 14.0 |
All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The photographs are all my own.
I remain completely anonymous and always pay for my Afternoon Teas. They are never gifted to me by the businesses reviewed.
I am the legal copyright holder of the content and images on this blog.
Sarnies Scones and Cakes 