Afternoon Tease

I have to be honest with you, I hadn’t planned on donning my apron and cracking open the Guinness cans (for baking purposes only I promise). But…desperate times call for desperate measures.

In the midst of this unusual, uncertain and pretty darn crazy time, I figured that you all might need a bit of cheering up and the best way I know how, is with cakes!

I’ve recently had the pleasure of being welcomed into the Vanderlyle family as their temporary pastry chef. Needless to say COVID 19 has hit them and all of the hospitality industry really hard, with the public being warned off eating out and understandably nervous diners cancelling reservations. Instead of letting this knock them down, Alex, Lawrence and the rest of the Vanderlyle team have come back fighting and offered to take me on the journey with them. Vanderlyle really break the mould when it comes to the old-school stereotypical restaurant industry, they run their business with kindness and respect for their suppliers, staff members and customers and this has become even more prevalent during recent events. They have built a community that I am very proud to be part of.

The hospitality industry needs to diversify to survive and that’s just what we plan to do!

So, now down to the nitty gritty…

From Saturday 21st March onwards, for as long as possible, I will be selling an Afternoon Tease Selection Box online here.

For £15 you can enjoy…

1 slice of chocolate Guinness cake w/ cream cheese icing

1 slice of carrot cake w/ cream cheese icing

2 brownies

2 cheese scones

These can be collected from Vanderlyle at 38-40 Mill Road, Cambridge, CB1 2AD (map here). At the moment we’re playing it a little bit by ear and will do collection only, however, I’m hoping that between those of you who are not in quarantine we can arrange a few doorstep drop offs via social media.

Throughout all of this we have both yours and our good health in mind and have tried to think of ways to make this work. When placing your order you will be able to select an hour time slot from 10am to 5pm, this is to spread visitors out throughout the day and limit contact. I will have your cakes boxed up and ready to go for a speedy handover. I’m afraid I am unable to cater for dietary requirements and all of my cakes contain gluten, eggs, dairy and some contain nuts.

I will also be able to take a few orders for whole carrot or Guinness cakes. If this interests you please send me an email to info@afternoontease.co.uk

Please note I will need whole cake orders a minimum of 24 hours in advance.

Please also take a look at the delicious offering from Vanderlyle (to go), a meal box offering a feast of locally sourced produce to enjoy at home. The contents of the box will change weekly but will include treats such as homemade focaccia, smoked yellow pea hummus, vegetarian lasagne and lime and basil tart for just £15 a head, along with delicious wines from Thorne Wines and Beers from Wylde Skye and Calverleys. Book here.

This is truly a collaboration of independents…we’d love your support but most of all we want to spread a little happiness with our food and drink!

It’s true! I’m going to be popping up with a stall laden with cakey goodness in the Guildhall (on Market Square) on Thursday 20th December until Saturday 22nd December from 12-8pm each day.

The wonderful people of Enchanted Cinema will be hosting their very own Christmas Film Festival, featuring all of the classics…Muppet Christmas Carol, Love Actually, Elf, Die Hard and many more. You can find show times and ticket information here)…tickets are selling fast!

There will also be a Christmas Market, featuring me! which is open to everyone, even those without a cinema ticket…so come one, come all! I’m in very good company…savoury food will be served by Signorelli’s Deli and I’ve obviously got your sweet needs sorted. But there’ll also be some lovely stalls run by small independent craft businesses for those last minute pressies.

So enough chit chat…let’s get down to the nitty gritty 🙂

I’m going to be stocking my stall with loads of Afternoon Tease classic bakes, think chocolate Guinness cake w/cream cheese icing, ginger cake w/ caramel biscuit icing and Afternoon Tease Christmas cakes fed with oodles of spiced rum…and I’ll also be bringing back #cheesesconethursday (and Friday and Saturday 😉 )…there’ll be a delivery of freshly baked cheese scones every day not to mention some exciting new additions that I’ve been working on!

I’ve been busy cooking up some old faves from the cafe…jars of sweet chilli jam & pineapple chutney, which will be packaged up ready for you to buy for your loved ones (or yourselves). In short, I hope that I’ve got all of your needs covered…cinema snacks, cakes to takeaway, Christmas pressies and last but not least, I’ll be taking a limited amount of cake orders!

If you would like to place an order for a whole cake to collect from the Guildhall on Thursday 20th, Friday 21st or Saturday 22nd December, please drop me an email to info@afternoontease.co.uk specifying which of the cakes below you would like to order along with which day you would like to collect your cake and I will get back to you asap to confirm your order and arrange payment.

• Chocolate Guinness cake w/ cream cheese icing
• Carrot cake w/ cream cheese icing
• Ginger cake w/ caramel biscuit icing
• Orange drizzle cake w/ dark chocolate ganache icing
• Hazelnut sponge w/ black cherry jam & vanilla buttercream

Examples of these cake can be found here. They are all 8 inch cakes, serve 12 generously and cost £35.

Please note: If you are looking for a cake to eat on Christmas day, to ensure that it’s still totally delicious…I recommend that you order it for collection on Saturday 22nd December.

I can’t wait to see you all soon! 🙂

It’s time for another Sweeteasy!…after a 2 night sell out back in April, gin dons Cambridge Distillery & I are bringing back our night of gin & cake on Friday 19th & Saturday 20th October.

I’ve already started devising my menu of 3 cakes based on the tasting notes of 3 of The Cambridge Distillery’s amazing gins and in turn the guys at the Distillery will be crafting 3 delicious gin cocktails for you.

In true Sweeteasy style, I’m keeping the exact menu close to my chest but to give you an idea, the menu last time looked like this…

Once again we will be transforming the Cambridge Distillery’s beautiful showroom in Grantchester into our very own ‘Sweeteasy’.

So, here’s everything you need to know to join us for a very special evening of cake & gin co-hosted by Afternoon Tease & The Cambridge Distillery…

I can regularly be heard extolling the virtues of brunch…I bloomin’ love it! What I love more than the meal of brunch is a long, lazy, (possibly boozy) brunch session, which brings me smoothly on to the fact that My Little Festival & I are bringing a brand new brunch event to Cambridgeshire…let me introduce Brunch Club!

My Little Festival are the guys behind The Wild Wood Disco and Rumpus that took place in June of this year and are masters at hosting epic magical events as well as being huge brunch fans. So, along with my pretty extensive brunch experience we’re planning to create a brunch session of epic proportions all in the totally enchanting setting of The Great Barn at Manor Farm in Bourn…

Picture the scene…sofas & day beds, Sunday papers, bottomless Bloody Marys and Mimosas, a leisurely 3 course brunch (including cake of course), live music, DJ’s and even a bit of dancing if the mood takes you! 🙂 Sound good? If so…see more details below…

Credit @photolotte

Here are a few more details for you…

When : Sunday 7th October, 12-5pm

Where : The Great Barn, Manor Farm, 14 Alms Hill, Bourn, CB23 2SH (Map here)

How much : An adult ticket, which includes a 3 course brunch, welcome drink and all entertainment is £35

Children’s tickets are available…follow the ticket link below to see different age options.

We’re really excited about this one, spaces are limited so gather together your brunch buddies and get booking 🙂

Just a little note…due to the nature of this event, I need to know dietary requirements as soon as you book…we aim to cater for most requirements but if you do have any (including vegetarians) go ahead & buy your tickets but please email me at info@afternoontease.co.uk to let me know & I’ll confirm with you ASAP.

I’m so excited to announce that Platelickers Supper Club is going to be making a come back on 17th and 18th of August!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, let me explain…back in 2012, me and my great friend, Ivana, started a supper club in Cambridge called Platelickers. Supper clubs are basically a very sociable, and slightly clandestine, way of dining…tickets go on sale but the location and menu are usually kept secret until the very end, in the case of the menu, until you arrive! We seat you on long shared tables, encourage you to BYO and join in conversation with other diners if the mood takes you 🙂 We then serve you a delicious menu of a welcome drink and snack followed by 3 courses.

We absolutely loved hosting Platelickers but due to our busy lives and living in different cities we had a bit of a hiatus, a lot has changed since 2012 and we’ve both come a long way in our careers, which makes our return even more exciting!

So, now for a bit more detail…

On Friday 17th and Saturday 18th August Platelickers Supper Club will be popping up in the beautiful hilltop terrasse at Paus, just a few miles out of Cambridge…

Paus have created a beautiful space in a meadow close to Bourn, where their wood-fired hot tubs are situated along with a stunning, scandi-style hilltop terrasse, where you’ll be dining! (I’m afraid the hot tubs won’t be available for use on the night, but you’ll be too busy eating 🙂 )

Tickets are £35 per person and are on sale now…see buttons below. Spaces are limited so we recommend booking early to avoid missing out.

Ivana & I are busy finalising the menu, which we’ll divulge on the night…it will consist of welcome drink and snack followed by 3 courses. Drinks wise, we’re doing BYO so feel free to bring your favourite tipple to accompany the meal.

Due to the nature of this event, we need to know dietary requirements as soon as you book…we aim to cater for most requirements but if you do have any (including vegetarians) go ahead & buy your tickets but please email us at platelickersanonymous@gmail.com to let us know & we will confirm with you ASAP.

We hope to see you there!

To buy tickets for Friday 17th August, 7pm  – SOLD OUT

To buy tickets for Saturday 18th August, 7pm – SOLD OUT

For more sneaky peaks & updates follow us on Instagram (@afternoontease & @ivanabrdanovic), on Twitter (@afternoontease & @Ivanabrdanovic) & Facebook (The Afternoon Tease & Ivana Brdanovic) #PlateLickers

I will then get back to you to confirm and arrange payment.

Bring on the 17th June 🙂

Way back in 2013 (pre-Afternoon Tease cafe) I ran a series of events called Sweeteasy…where I hosted a high class drinking den with a twist, the twist being a carefully devised set menu of prohibition era and cake inspired cocktails and cocktail inspired cakes.

This time, I’ve partnered up with the wonderful Cambridge Distillery who know an awful lot about gin, producing their own range of exclusive gins. I’ve handed the booze baton over to these guys, who will craft 3 delicious gin cocktails for you.

Alongside these, I will serve 3 very special cakes, which I have devised using the tasting notes of 3 of The Cambridge Distillery’s interesting and unusual gins. Think Japanese gin martini coupled with a sesame & orange brownie topped w/ caramel, black sesame seeds and dark chocolate & citrus ganache.

We will be transforming the Cambridge Distillery’s beautiful showroom in Grantchester into our very own ‘Sweeteasy’.

So, here’s everything you need to know to join us for a very special evening of cake & gin co-hosted by Afternoon Tease & The Cambridge Distillery…

3 months on from the sale of Afternoon Tease, life is very different indeed. The main factor being that I actually have a life once again 🙂 Don’t get me wrong, I loved my little cafe and definitely miss (most aspects of) cafe life, however, being on the other side of it has made me realise just how hard I was working and the toll it was taking on me to keep up with the relentless needs of a small business.

But, that’s enough of that! What I have most definitely missed is cooking, baking and feeding people! So, for 1 day only, Saturday 17th February…Afternoon Tease is coming back for a brunch pop-up!

The wonderful people at The Waggon & Horses in Milton have handed over their little pub to me for the day and I’m really chuffed to be joined by some of my awesome AT team…

Unlike the cafe, this will be a bookable event and there will be 4 slots to choose from, 11am, 11.30am, 2pm or 2.30pm.

We will be offering a 3 course brunch menu featuring AT old faithfuls but also a couple of specials inspired by my recent (well Instagram documented) trip to New York.

Afternoon Tease Pop-up Brunch menu

£24

Dovecote Bakery crumpets (2) w/ our homemade jam

or

Banana bread, 2 slices served warm w/ butter & cinnamon

*

Eggs on Dovecote Bakery sourdough toast (poached, fried or scrambled) w/ avocado & bacon

(V) Eggs on Dovecote Bakery sourdough toast (poached, fried or scrambled) w/ avocado & halloumi

or

Dovecote Bakery challah French toast w/ crispy streaky bacon, banana & maple syrup

(V) Dovecote Bakery challah French toast w/ fried egg, banana & maple syrup

or

Cheddar & dill biscuit (cheese scone 🙂 ) w/ creamed spinach, poached eggs (2) & Mill Road Butcher’s Cumberland sausages (2)

(V) Cheddar & dill biscuit (cheese scone 🙂 ) w/ creamed spinach, poached eggs (2) & veggie sausages (2)

*

A slice of cake – there will be a selection to choose from

(There will be boxes available so that you can take this away if you’re full to bursting)

*

Tea or coffee

Also, the best part of popping up in a pub is that the bar will be open for you to purchase your tipple of choice…prosecco or bloody Mary anyone!?

Now for the important part…how to book your place!

Please send an email to info@afternoontease.co.uk telling me how many people you would like to book for, their names and which slot you’d like (11am, 11.30am, 2pm or 2.30pm). I will then send you instruction on how to pay and how to select you menu choices. Your booking will not be confirmed until all of these have been received.

Due to the nature of the event and menu, I’m afraid not all dietary requirements will be able to be catered for. We will be able to accommodate vegetarian guests and will be able to make a selection of the dishes gluten free but please let us know when you book.

I’m really looking forward to seeing you all again and serving brunch to the masses 🙂