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Let’s play a little game today, shall we? I’m going to give you some clues and you have to try to guess what I’m describing.
Come on, admit it, you’re just a little bit excited now, aren’t you?
OK, so here goes …
You can find the most expensive ‘incarnation’ of this in the world at the Ritz Carlton in Hong Kong. It costs up to an eye-watering $8,888.
Some top London hotels are putting on up to six sittings per day for this very popular tourist ‘must-do’. They are always trying to out-do each other, but the current ‘best’ can apparently be found at Claridge’s Hotel in Mayfair.
Lady Violet invited her daughter-in-law Cora to the Dower House for this in Downton Abbey, if any of you are into that.
Now for a couple of easier ones …
A little girl called Alice experienced a very ‘mad’ one of these.
At a very traditional, old-fashioned version of this, you might find yourself nibbling on dainty cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off.
Have you guessed yet? OK, I know, not so difficult. But just in case you are still guessing … it’s afternoon tea, of course!
Me plus a friend drinking tea in the garden with not a care in the world. Oh, OK then, it’s not me. It’s Afternoon Tea, 1910, by Richard Emil Miller. Photo by Zambonia.
Apparently, we owe this very English tradition of afternoon tea to one of Queen Victoria’s ladies in waiting, the Duchess of Bedford, who one day complained of a ‘sinking feeling’ mid-afternoon. I certainly know how she feels as I get that feeling myself nearly every afternoon, especially on work days. Anyway, this crafty little duchess requested some sandwiches and small cakes with her cup of tea. Queen Victoria herself approved and thus was born ‘afternoon tea’.
I’ve always loved a nice hot cup of ‘cha’ any time of day, but especially just after waking up. I wouldn’t thank you for a cup of coffee before about 10am, but bring me a cup of tea first thing in the morning and you can be my very best friend! Fortunately I now have Mr. Scrummy pretty well trained and he brings me one most days. Anyway, I’m digressing a little here. Despite being a life-long tea lover, the only days I find myself craving some kind of proper ‘afternoon tea’ as such is on those (usually weekend) days after a long lazy breakfast when I’m not hungry enough for lunch but can’t quite make it to dinner time without some kind of snack.
It was on one such day as this a couple of weeks ago when Mr. Scrummy and I had been out somewhere with my parents and come home feeling very ready for a little bite of ‘something’ that was tasty but that wouldn’t ruin our appetite for dinner. So … I decided to make us an afternoon tea. Not one of the Lady Violet, Claridge’s, Alice, the Ritz Carlton or Queen Victoria variety with cucumber sarnies and jam and clotted cream scones. No. Instead, I made slow-roasted tomato and ricotta bruschetta (which was pretty much to-die-for, if you don’t mind me blowing my own trumpet a little here) followed by this sticky lemon curd & blueberry cake which I found on the very useful BBC Good Food website and adapted a teensy bit.
Well, let me tell you, I got plenty of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ from my family for this one when I served slices of it still a little warm with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and some extra lemon curd and blueberries over the top.
Not only was it delicious, but the cake also ended up being a bit more of a looker than I was expecting. I rolled the blueberries in flour so they wouldn’t sink and poked half of them into the top of the cake, where happily they still were when it came out of the oven. I also swirled half of the lemon curd into the top of the cake, as swirling things into cakes seems to have become one of my favourite pastimes lately. This left it looking sticky and almost glistening … mmm, wonderful!
It didn’t end up all that sweet, either, because I reduced the sugar in the original recipe by about a third. I guessed that the other half of the lemon curd blobbed through the cake batter would make it sweet enough, which it definitely did.
I truly enjoyed our little snack and have a feeling that this is going to become my go-to cake for any future easy-to-put-together afternoon teas … which I definitely intend to have.
Have you ever had a proper English-style afternoon tea before complete with the tiny crustless sandwiches and dainty cakes? Do you ever get a craving for ‘afternoon tea’ at home and if so, what’s your ‘poison’ (aka cake, sandwich, scone, other snack) of choice?
Serves: Makes 1 loaf cake
- 6 ounces/175 grams butter, softened
- about 4.5 ounces/125 grams caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3.5 ounces/100 grams Greek yoghurt, plus extra to serve
- 7 ounces/200 grams self-raising flour
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon curd plus extra to serve
- about 4.5 ounces/125 grams blueberries
- Pre-heat the oven to 320F/160C and line a loaf tin (I used a 9 x 5 inch tin similar to this one
) with baking paper.
- Cream together the butter and sugar with a handheld mixer
or a wooden spoon. Whisk in the eggs one by one, then stir in the yoghurt. Fold through the flour, then stir in the lemon zest and juice.
- Roll most of the blueberries lightly in flour (this stops them from sinking).
- Pour a layer of cake batter into the prepared baking tin, then dollop and slightly swirl some of the lemon curd over it. Scatter some of the blueberries on top, then pour in the rest of the batter. Finally, dot the rest of the lemon curd on top and swirl it a little again and lightly press in the rest of the floured blueberries.
- Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until it is golden and a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the tin for a while, then lift onto a cooling rack. Serve when the cake is still slightly warm with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and reserved blueberries on top.
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Oh la la, j’adore le tea time et avec un cake comme ça, c’est encore mieux! Il pareil tellement bon ! J’ai bien aimée aussi tes photos!
Have a nice weekend Helen 🙂
Merci, Eva … et pour le compliment sur les photos! Bon weekend et toi aussi!
hahahaha I couldn’t guess the first few clues but when it got simpler in the last three ones, I figured what the theme for the post was! yaya!! I loveeeee the piece of info you gave about how afternoon tea came to be! <3 *-* This tea cake is SOOOOO DELICIOUS I'm not even sure I have the right words to describe its awesomeness! I'm loving the purple bursts of color in the cake and that lemon curd must add so much of sweet tang to it….MMMmmmmmmm!!!!! It's making me salivate! And that swirl that you've done on top of the cake just makes it glisten! I need this cake in my life! No, I've never actually had a proper afternoon tea with the cutesy desserts but I am visiting London this October {SOOOOOO EXCITED} And I am going to make sure to experience this! <3
Ahhhh … you should definitely book an afternoon tea at one of the hotels when you go to London, Samina! That’s exciting – have you been to London before? Glad you enjoyed the quiz – I was thinking it might be too easy so I’m happy you didn’t guess til the end!
So happy you like the cake, too. It was beautiful and I definitely want to make it asap again!
I really enjoyed reading this post 🙂 And this is sooooo my kind of cake, yum! I love lemon curd (did you buy it or make your own?). It’s very hard to find here in Spain and I have still yet to make it myself. I would love this cake for afternoon tea to breakfast. Have a lovely weekend Helen! xx
Hi, Sofia! I actually bought the lemon curd, which is found in every supermarket in England, but I gather it’s very easy to make yourself. My mum used to make it when I was little. It’s just lemons, butter, eggs and sugar, I think. So glad you like the cake!
Hi Helen!
I can’t tell you how often I’m guilty of surfing Pinterest looking for this very recipe! Lemon curd with blueberry cake! Yes please. And I’m so glad you’re not even trying to call this a bread. It’s that desserty breakfast, lunch, dinner and yes, afternoon tea that we all crave.
Downton Abbey & Agatha Christie, yes please! Tea at Claridge’s and the Ritz Cartlton? Oh yes. Clotted cream. Oh so English. I want a piece right now!
Haha … no, this definitely isn’t a bread. It’s cake all the way!
I think I’ve only ever had one posh London afternoon tea and that was years ago, so I think I’m due another again soon. Maybe I should save up and go to Claridge’s. Very English indeed but also very worth it every once in a while.
So glad you like the cake. I loved that it was very easy (I pretty much only like easy recipes!) but also extremely yummy with all that sweet sticky lemon curd. 🙂
What a great post, Helen! I was thinking tea by the end of your questions…so great clues! As soon as I read lemon curd in the title, I knew I would love this cake! I think lemon curd and blueberries make such a great combination. This is definitely a great cake for the summer.
Thanks, Gayle! And congratulations on your correct guess in the quiz … haha! Sorry there aren’t any prizes!:-)
My daughter loves to drink tea, but I am more of a coffee girl. Your pictures are absolutely gorgeous. Such pretty warm light to complement the yellows and blues. Lemons and blueberries are such a great combination!
Thanks so much for the compliments on the photos, Christin. A little overexposed perhaps, but I think these particular piccies make the cake look more delicious like that. I must say as well, lemons and blueberries are definitely a match made in heaven!
Loved your little guess game! Nothing like a nice afternoon tea.
This lemon curd and blueberry cake sounds delicious! Love that’s it’s sticky.
Have a great weekend!
Thanks so much, Nathalie, and glad you liked the game. Did you guess? Haha …
So glad you liked the cake. I loved the ‘sticky’ part too!
Mmm, this made me lick my lips! It looks SOOO good… I love lemon and blueberry. You’re making me want to have an afternoon tea with a slice of this 🙂
Good, that’s what my intention was! I must say, I was very happy with how well the lemon and blueberries went together. 🙂
This cake looks honestly super tempting and delicious! Love lemon curd and blueberries in cakes- amazing. I’d love to make homemade curd- so when I do, perhaps I’ll try your cake recipe out! Hope you have a great weekend, Helen! 🙂 xx
Thanks, Jess! Making my own lemon curd is definitely on my food bucket list. I love that stuff, and it would make a great gift, too. Hope you do give this a try … I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed and you could probably even make little cakes, too.
We both have blueberries and lemon the brain today! 🙂 This looks super delicious!!
Really? Going over to your blog to check out your blueberries and lemons too, then! (Great minds and all that, Tina) So glad you like the cake! 🙂
I couldn’t guess until you got to the easier clues. But this bread, OMG, I love it. It looks scrumptious and would go perfect with afternoon tea. Come to think of it, It’s been too long since I’ve been to tea!
Pinned!
Glad you couldn’t guess until the easier clues, Norma … didn’t want to make it too easy now, did I? 😉
So happy you like the cake, too. Maybe I’ve inspired you to have an afternoon tea yourself some time soon!
I have an obsession with afternoon tea and have enjoyed many different versions. My latest blog post is in fact my birthday afternoon tea a couple of weeks ago. I thoroughly enjoyed your post and thank you for the recipe. This cake looks so light and the flavours sound perfect. I’m delighted to have stumbled across your lovely blog and I’m now following along!
Hello, Miss B! Every once in a while a comment makes my day, and yours definitely falls into that category! Thanks so much for the compliments and I’ll definitely be heading over to check out your blog, too. I love making friends with bloggers from the UK, too. I’ll be back there in September!
I love a good afternoon tea, but I think 100 dollars would be my limit! Better yet, I’d love to make my own…starting with this lovely cake!
Even a hundred dollars seems a bit expensive to me, but then I suppose if it was REALLY good and a special treat it would be just about OK. I agree though that the best solution is to make your own … a slice of cake feels more justified when you are eating it as part of a meal rather than after it.
Afternoon Tea is probably my favourite meal of the day if it’s a good one! This would be the perfect cake 🙂
It is, isn’t it? I think it’s because it speaks ‘free time’ and a special treat rather than just an everyday meal. 🙂
I LOVE lemon curd, and I never would have thought to add it directly to the bread- I just slather it on the already cooked loaf. DEFINITELY doing this!
Hi, Chrissy! So glad you like it. It really did work well putting the lemon curd straight into and onto the bread, so definitely do give it a go and let me know what you think. Hope you are well. I need to come on over and see how your travels are going! 🙂
Ha! I was totally hooked by this post, Helen. I love a little game and fun food trivia! I always watch those history shows that have food anthropologists and I think, HOW DO I GET THAT JOB?? I’ve done afternoon tea in NYC and Victoria, BC and London! Love it. Although, I was younger and my dad took me, so I certainly won’t be doing it again anytime soon unless I come into a big bag of free cash. They do get rather pricy, which is why making your own at home is so perfect!!! More my style, anyways -no dress code 🙂
I am obsessed with lemon curd and will eat it straight-up. Pairing the lemon and blueberries, oh em gee. I am dying for a slice of this for breakfast right now! Perhaps we will be in the same corner of the world sometime in the future and we can have our own little afternoon tea 🙂 Preferably with this cake! Also, I would love to know how to make a real cup of tea. I can brew coffee, but tea is another story!
Ahhh … now you’re tempting me to tell you right now how to make a ‘proper’ cup of tea. Nope, really can’t resist, so here goes …
First of all, there are two ways of making it, in a pot or in a cup. Making it from loose tea leaves in a pot is the best way, of course, but for the sake of moving with the times, I’ll concentrate on the other way 😉 So … you boil the kettle (always to 100% if it’s black tea) and pour your water onto your tea bag which will be there waiting patiently in your cup or mug. You then leave it to infuse for about 3 minutes, take out the tea bag, then add a little bit of milk. I find that a lot of the tea I find when I go abroad isn’t strong enough because it’s meant to be drunk without milk, but a proper English cup of tea is always drunk with milk so I’d advise finding a really good brand of stronger tea, like Twinings.
TMI? Sorry, I got a bit carried away there!
So glad you enjoyed the quiz and YES, if our paths ever cross in real life, we’re going for afternoon tea!
Oh Helen, your afternoon tea sounds so lovely! Consider me slightly jealous 😉 No wonder this got so many oohs and ahhs! It is beautiful! And I’m falling just as hard for this swirled cake as your peanut butter one. I’ve been trying to find the perfect use for the lemon curd in the pantry – a blueberry lemon bread sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing, pinned! And hope you are having a fantastic weekend!
Thanks so much for the lovely thoughts, as usual, Mary Frances. I’m definitely getting a bit obsessed with the swirly cakes thing, but they’re really good! I love to really taste certain ingredients, and lemon curd is one of them. Thanks for the pin and I hope you’re having a great weekend, too!
And a massive thank you goes to the Duchess of Bedford. What better to lift yourself up in the afternoon than nice tea and cakes. I love the freshness of this cake, lemon curd is an absolute must in my cupboard, always.
Lemon curd is something I love but don’t always remember to buy and eat. It’s definitely on my food bucket list to try making some of my own! We definitely do need to thank the Duchess of Bedford, don’t we? The horror of life without afternoon tea!
Haha when I saw Alice, my favourite kid’s book ever, I got it!! This cake looks so yummy and perfect to carry to an afternoon tea!
I thought you would all guess it from that one! Glad you liked the cake! 🙂
Oh I’m excited! One of the my favourite things to make at home is sweet loaves – this one looks fab!
Thank you, Jess, and thanks so much for paying me a visit. I really love these kinds of loaves, too, because they are so easy to make. I sometimes have to stop myself from making yet another one and make something else instead! 🙂
Afternoon tea is a true favorite of mine een though I’m not English. Especially when cake is involved. Especially x2 when said cake is smothered with a generous amout of lemon curd OH HOW GLORIOUS! This loaf looks absolutely delicious and the texture seems perrrrrrrrrrrrfect. I need this!
I confirm that you do need this, Consuelo! It was glorious indeed! 🙂
This is such a gorgeous loaf… Perfect tea time cake… Love the blueberries and lemon curd combination… and really enjoyed your little guessing game too.. 🙂
Hello, Arpita! Thanks so much for paying me a visit. I love ‘meeting’ new people here. So glad you enjoyed the post! 🙂
Thanks for giving the answer. I was a bit stumped. Haha
This blueberry cake looks amazing! I love all the blueberries and the lemon curd. This would be perfect with a cup of coffee or tea 😀
Hehehe … I’m actually glad you said that, Cindy, because I was worried that the quiz was too easy. Very happy that you like the cake!
it looks yummy!
Thanks so much, Dina!
I’ve never done an afternoon tea at a restaurant but I LOVE a mug of tea and some little snack around 3pm! Gets me through the workday! And tea just makes everything better : )
This cake sounds so so good. I mean lemon and blueberry is such an awesome combo to begin with … and I love that you used lemon curd!
Thanks, Ashley! You’ve got to try a posh hotel afternoon tea some day – preferably in London (and avoiding any $8,888 rip-offs!) 🙂
Hi Helen, what a fun post, I had no clue going through your questions until the Downton Abbey, then I got it. Love this little cake.
Ha! So glad you got it in the end. I think I got the ‘level’ of the quiz just about right judging by the feedback .. haha! So glad you like the cake!
Ah, Helen, I want to spend tomorrow afternoon like this! Tea and this beautiful bread. I’m in love with lemon curd, and I think those swirls were a brilliant idea. I really need to try this — I’m so pinning. 🙂
It would be great to spend EVERY afternoon like this, wouldn’t it? So glad you like the cake – especially the swirls! I’m a bit swirl-crazy, lately! 🙂
Who doesn’t love a good spot of afternoon tea? Also, who doesn’t love lemon curd? This cake looks delicious and almost amazing as your writing 🙂 The caption on that painting had me laughing out loud!
Aww, thanks Medha! You certainly know how to make a humble food blogger’s day! So glad to have made you smile … and happy you liked the cake, too.
P.S. Love the name of your blog!
I am so going to have to make curd so that I can make this – which might become breakfast, tea and dessert! I have never had a high tea out before, but it is on my list of things to do 🙂
NEVER had an afternoon tea? Oh my goodness, now I think you need to put that right asap, Tandy. I would love to make some of my own lemon curd, too. I think it’s pretty easy … 🙂
Okay, hold on. $9000 for TEA. That is crazy. And people actually pay for it?!
I would much rather bake up this luscious loaf and brew the tea myself thankyouverymuch!
Haha … totally agreed!! My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I read that. Maybe it’s not even true! 🙂
This is eye-poppingly gorgeous! Blueberries and lemon are always the perfect match, and I love how you combined them in a much healthier treat! Definitely worthy of an $8,888 tea!!!! 😀
Oooh, now I did like this cake, but would I pay $8,888 for any kind of food? Errr … nope! So glad you liked the cake too, Shelley! 🙂
Well, aren’t you a fancy girl with your nice little afternoon tea 🙂 ! I am not big on lemony stuff but I must admit that this cake was kind of calling my name… I ought to try it, what time shall I stop by 🙂 ?
Hahaha … well, I like to think I’m fancy! Glad I managed to tempt even a non-lemon-lover with this cake. Stop by whenever you like, Melanie. I’m just a handy 1-day flight away! 🙂
Love this post and love afternoon tea. You know what would be perfect with the tea? This cake! You know when else this cake would be great for? Every single second! Looks amazing!
Aw, I take all that as a huge compliment, Pamela. So glad you like it! 🙂
I really enjoy reading your posts Helen, you’re such a great storyteller. I wish we had afternoon tea at work because I too get that “sinking feeling” in the afternoons. Great recipe, I love the idea of swirling the lemon curd into the bread before baking, yum. 🙂
Aw, thanks, Lou! I take that as a huge compliment! Now wouldn’t that be great – someone coming around and serving us afternoon tea at work? I promise you if you ever make this cake you’ll really enjoy the swirling! 😉
Although I’m not drinking much hot tea these days, I think this cake would also go perfectly with a big glass of iced tea! Lemon and blueberries are seriously one of my favorite dessert flavor combos!! This cake looks so moist and delicious and I really need to stop reading food blogs late at time before I go to bed because I want to eat this cake right now! Maybe I’ll have sweet blueberry cake dreams tonight 🙂
Oh, I hope you did have a nice sweet blueberry dream last night! That sounds pretty wonderful! Sorry to have made you hungry at an inappropriate time, but I’m really happy that you like this cake. 🙂
I’m very much a coffee girl rather than tea but I wouldn’t say no to a slice of that cake Helen! It looks lovely and I think the swirl of lemon curd and blueberries on top make it look really rather special!
Aw, thanks, Sian! I have some blueberries in the freezer that I think I’m going to use to make this again soon. Sorry to blow my own trumpet here, but it really was delicious, especially still a little warm straight out of the oven.
I’m dying to dig into a slice of this bread, Helen. The first site of the words Lemon Curd made me start to drool. What a fantastic recipe!
While I’m a coffee drinker, I do love tea. And sometimes I prefer a cup of hot tea over a cup of coffee. And I LOVE a big glass of unsweet iced tea on a hot day!
So happy you like it, Julie. I’ve been craving another big slice of this ever since I made it and we gobbled it up super fast. I alternate my coffee and tea drinking, too, and altogether probably drink a bit too much!
How did I miss this recipe? I think I’ve seen all of your recipes Helen. This caught my eye because I love fruit curds! 😀
Oooh, thanks so much, Lorraine! This is one of my fave cakes on the blog. It’s super delicious and I’m so glad you found it!
This looks beautiful, thanks for sharing this delicious recipe.
Simon
Thank you, Simon, and you’re welcome. Hope you give it a go some time!
This looks so scrumptious! I can’t wait to taste it.
Hi! Thank you! This is absolutely delicious and now you’ve reminded me to make it again!