High Tea Brunch at Home

True be told I love a High Tea situation for brunch. I have such fond memories of doing the Grand Floridian high tea at Disney. If you haven’t tried it you definatley should the next time you’re ever at Disney.

My baby shower was over tea and scones on a beautiful fall day. There’s something about mini tea sandwiches and cookies with a hot cup of tea that brings me so much joy. This is a great option in so many different scenerios. This high tea at home set up was more for a Galentine’s / Valentine’s Brunch at home with some girlfriends or a date day with your special someone.

This could easily be recreated for any occasion: a bridal shower brunch, Easter brunch, Kentucky Derby themed brunch. I mean the possibilities are truly endless here.

As you’ll see below, store bought is fine in my book and the easiest way for set up and planning this party.

Here’s how you can recreate your own “High Tea at Home”!

Ingredient List:

TEA!

  • Your favorite tea. (1 -2x tea bags).

    • English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Green Tea are some popular options

Fruit Plate & Spread:

  • Strawberries

  • Raspberries

  • Blueberries

  • Grapes

  • 1x Grapefruit

  • 1x Orange

  • 1x Banana

*Really any fruit you love here! Citrus is in season during winter (when I shot this) and picked more orange and grapefruit because it really brings out these bright vibrant colors.

fruit plate

Tea Scones, Breads, & Sandwiches:

  • Mini Scones - Store bought package at Wegman’s will do here. This is what I did and got the Orange Cranberry Mini Scones.

  • Tea Bread - I had made homemade banana chocolate chip bread so I used this here. Any tea bread (again store bought is fine) will do. Example - Lemon Loaf (ex: Starbucks), Chocolate Chip Bread, Blueberry Bread.

Tea Sandwiches I made here were:

Cream Cheese and Cucumber:

  • 1-2x - Cucumbers

  • 1x - 8oz Package/Container of Cream Cheese

  • 1x - Loaf of White Bread

Tuna Salad Sandwiches:

  • 1/4 pound Tuna Salad - Got this at my local deli to make my life easier - This would make about 2x sandwiches

  • 1x Loaf Marble Rye or Pumpernickel - Got a fresh loaf at a local bakery but any loaf will do.

*NOTE: You can cut the sandwiches in strips/fingers, triangles, and squares here.

Dessert Plate:

  • Any assorted tea cookies, petit fours, or mini cupcakes.

    • I went to my local bakery and picked out an assortment of pink Italian butter cookies to go with this Valentine’s Theme.




SupplieS:

  • Tea Tower Stand - I got this tea tower stand with no plates are a gift and have no idea where it’s from but had to get seperate plates for it which I did love to go find some antique plates for it . But here are some great options too.

  • 3x Large Plates - I found mine at an antique store.

  • Tea Pot - I got mine from my grandma, but you can try an antique store, or here are some other great options on Amazon.

  • Tea Cups and Saucers

  • Optional Items to Elevate your High Tea:

    • Mandoline - To slice the cucumbers very thin. (For the Cream Cheese & Cucumber Tea Sandwiches).

    • Table Linens or themed paper napkins

    • Flowers

tea pot and saucer for high tea at home

Enjoy your High Tea in the comfort of your home! Let me know in the comments what combinations you make and for what brunch party.

Cheers!

Nicole

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Spiced Pecans Recipe

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Whether you’re making these to snack on, add to salads, or gifting them as a Christmas hostess gift, these are my all time favorite spiced nut recipe. It’s my favorite winter holiday treat to make and the best part, it’s super quick and easy to make.

Ingredients (Makes 4 Cups):

  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

  • 1/2 (packed) golden brown sugar

  • 1/4 cup water

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder

  • 4 cups pecan halves (1x 1lb bag)

Preparation:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.

  2. Using a silicone baking mat, spray with a little Pam.

  3. In a large skillet, melt 1/4 cup butter over medium heat.

  4. Add brown sugar, 1/4 cup of water, salt, and the five-spice powder; stir until sugar dissolves.

  5. Add nuts to sugar mixture and cook until syrup thickly coats nuts, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.

  6. Transfer nuts to prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Let cool. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

Notes:

As a Hostess Gift: If you are preparing these for a hostess gift, I got these vintage looking glass jars at my local grocery store (Wegmans). It elevates the gift and presentation just slightly.

Snack & Salad Option: I love these as a snack; but a great combo is on salads. My go-to is a spinach salad with these spiced pecans, cucumber, apple, crumbled goat cheese, cranberries, and croutons.

Alterations: Sub pecans for walnuts or almonds if you’d like!

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High Tea Brunch at Home
High Tea Brunch at Home
Spiced Pecans Recipe
Spiced Pecans Recipe
Iced Coffee Tasting Flight
Iced Coffee Tasting Flight
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Iced Coffee Tasting Flight

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You’ve probably heard of beer and wine tastings, but have you seen or heard of iced coffee tastings? There’s only a handful of restaurants and coffee shops that I know of that do them and they are in different states. I thought it would be fun to try this at home; to mix my love of coffee and charcuterie boards.

If you haven’t already seen my Mimosa Board or Brunch Board posts, check them out and let me know if you make them!

In this tasting flight I create the following flavors:

  • Mint Mocha (w/ homemade syrup)

  • Lavender Oat Milk Latte (w/ homemade syrup)

  • S’mores

For the end results I think the lavender oat milk and s’mores had a tie for my favorite flavor. To recreate your own, below is a list of items and variations of flavors to get you started.

What You’ll Need:

  • Large Slate Board - Got mine from Brooklyn Slate

  • Chalk Pens

  • 3 Glass Jars (Mason or Ball Jars, I opted to get 3x branded beer can glasses from my favorite coffee companies. Here’s something similar on Amazon.

  • 3x Types of Coffee

    • (Variety of options here. I went for buying 3 different coffee company ground beans, grinding them, brewing and then chilling in the fridge. You could also buy store brought iced coffee / cold brews. So many options to be creative here in your flight/tasting choices. At grocery stores some great options are Starbucks, RISE, La Colombe, Stok, Grady’s, etc.)

  • Milk Options (Whole Milk, Oat Milk, Almond Milk, etc.)

  • Syrups

    • (I made homemade Mint Chocolate syrup and Lavender Syrup here for this flight. Other great options: Caramel, Vanilla, Toasted Coconut, Raspberry, White Chocolate).

  • Garnishes:

    • For this tasting I went with Mint Chocolate Mocha, Lavender Oat Milk Iced Latte, and S’mores flavors. Think in terms of your flavors. For this I had to also get mint as a garnish, marshmallows and toast them (as a garnish), melt chocolate around the glass and added graham cracker crumbs to the s’mores one, and added lavender to put on top of the lavender oat milk. Think in terms of what might elevate the tasting… whipped cream, real herbs/fruit, etc.

You can shop all of my favorite items that I have on my coffee bar on our Amazon storefront, including items listed here. I’m so looking forward to hearing all your coffee tasting combinations and flavors.

Tell me what you made and what was your favorite flavor in the comments!

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Iced Coffee Tasting Flight
Boards, Brunch, Brunch Party, At Home
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Iced Coffee Tasting Flight
Boards, Brunch, Brunch Party, At Home
coffee, iced coffee, iced coffee tasting, iced coffee tasting flight, smores, lavender latte, lavender, lavender oat milk latte, mint mocha, coffee tasting, boards, brunch board, at home, brunch ideas, brunch events
Boards, Brunch, Brunch Party, At Home
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Brunch, Boards, Recipes, At Home, Brunch Party
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New York Board - Like a Cheese Board But With Pastrami on Rye
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Cranberry Orange Scones Recipe

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There’s something about a fresh flaky buttery cranberry orange scone in the morning with a hot cup of coffee. Maybe because it reminds me most of my barista days in college at Starbucks when I was first introduced to this flavor combo.

Recently I’ve been trying to make recipes that are easy and quick to grab, now that I have a newborn. This recipe is both fast and hearty, mixed with a comforting feeling.

This recipe makes 8 scones and is great for when you’re strapped for time or looking for a cozy winter pastry to start your mornings.

Ingredients (Makes 8 Scones):

  • 3 cups all purpose flour

  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar

  • 1 tablespoon baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries

  • Zest of 1 orange

  • 1 stick (2 ounces) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

  • 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, plus more for brushing

  • 1 large egg

  • Turbinado sugar

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment.

  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter and work with your fingers onto pea sized crumbles, then toss in the dried cranberries and add the zest of 1 orange.

  3. Add the heavy cream and eggs, then work into a dough. Transfer to a floured work surface and roll 1 inch thick. Smooth edges and slice into 8 wedges.

4. Transfer to the prepared sheet pan, then brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.

5. Bake for 25 minutes. Enjoy!