Friday 16 March 2012

Bea's of Bloomsbury


"No, I thank you; I have had an elegant sufficiency of the numerous delicacies. Any more would be an unsophisticated superfluity, for gastronomic satiety admonishes me that I have reached the ultimate stage of deglutition consistent with dietetic integrity. " Anonymous  (although an often cited early reference is the line by James Thomson (1700-1748): "An elegant sufficiency, content, ..." (cited by The Imperial Dictionary, 1878)



It takes something rather special to impress me.  It’s not that I am snooty about cake at all  .. but I am fussy and rarely do I ever find a cake that is made commercially that compares to one I might make at home. A couple of weeks ago my friend Helen (who writes the most wonderful blog called Fuss Free Flavours) and I went out for afternoon tea to Beas of Boomsbury.

 It was a lovely cafĂ©, pretty and lively and relaxed.  I’d just eaten a fabulous lunch at Corrigan’s in Mayfair so the very last thing I wanted to do was eat more .. however Helen ordered a Chocolate Peanut Butter  Swirl Cheese Cake and offered me a taste.  I gingerly popped a small piece on the fork and oh …. oh .. how I wished it had been a more generous piece!

 Despite having had an elegant sufficiency  I unashamedly, without hesitation took a second. Luckily Helen pretended not to notice my overindulgence and I am delighted to have found the recipe in Bea’s delightful new recipe book Tea With Be  so watch this space because I shall be making more from this beautiful book of delights.






8 comments:

  1. I love Bea's of Bloomsbury. I tried two of them and can't wait to go to the one in Saint Paul's. Her hummingbird loaf cake is amazing. I had the chance to take part in a chocolate cake contest last year and Bea was one of the judge. She was lovely and gave me lots of compliments and some advices on my dark chocolate & orange cake.
    As Helen says in your interview, marshmallow are dead easy, but I won't do them without a stand mixer! I love to make a trio of them :vanilla, rose water and best of all, orange blossom. So sweet and delicate! :)

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  2. Oh I have to admit my stand mixer is my absolute top gadget in the Kitchen

    I love my Kenwood!!

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  3. we were there at the St Paul's branch yesterday for my friends 50th. We had the champagne tea and it was divine!

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  4. Well there's a treat to plan. It sounds truly scrumptious, and of course another book to add to my wish list! Have a great weekend. Jude x

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  5. I was there earlier in the week, as I'd been meaning to visit this branch for ages, and not been in local area, finally was. As always, friendly service and bloody marvellous cakes!
    Bea is lovely too, very generous with her advice and help for home bakers.

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  6. Some more delicious places to add to my must 'visit list'!

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  7. Where is that in St.Paul's cathedral?

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