Welcome to Gaia! ::

I saw that as of yet, no one had posted any recipes for any parties that a victorian or edwardian lady would hold so, here I am, posting some. All the ones I'm posted won't be considered "old fasioned" as I use some modern methods to make them but they are all useful for hosting a tea part.

The First is:

Lemon Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

Ingredients

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Grated zest of 1 lemon (outside/brighter yellow of a lemon shredded with zester)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
12 thin slices white or whole-wheat bread
1 small cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
Granulated sugar, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

How To

1- Cream the butter with the zest and lemon juice in a small bowl.
2- Evenly spread a light layer of lemon-butter on each slice of bread.
3- Cover half the bread slices with a thin layer of cucumber.
4- Sprinkle lightly with sugar and pepper.
5- Cover with remaining buttered bread slices, trim the crusts, and cut each sandwich into 4 triangles.

Makes 24 sandwiches.

If anyone has any other recipes to share, please do so. I always love to bake so any recipes would be helpful.

This tartlet is good and using the Always Ready Flaky Mix above:

Caramelized Apple-Pear Tart Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

Fruit:

3 Golden delicious jonathan or gala apples

3 firm bartlett or bosc pears

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 cup sugar

1/2 stick/4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Crust:

Always Ready Flaky Biscuit mix

1 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinamon

1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy/whipping cream
or half-and-half


Directions:

Peel, quarter, and core the apples and pears. Place the fruit in a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice and zest and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Set aside.

In an 8-inch cast-iron or heavy nonstick ovenproof skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Cook, stirring with wooden spatula, for 1 to 2 minutes, or until sugar is melted. Remove from heat.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Drain the fruit, and slice the quarters in half lengthwise. Arrange alternating slices of apples and pears attractively in a single layer in the bottom of the skillet. Fill the skillet with the remaining slices and set it over medium heat. Cook, basting occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes, until the fruit is tender but still holds it shape, and the juices have begun to caramelize.

Meanwhile, place the biscuit mix in a large bowl. Add the 1 tablespoon sugar and the cinnamon and toss gently to combine. Using a fork, gradually stir in the cream to make a moist but not sticky dough. Turn the dough out onton a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough lightly, then roll it onto a circle about 1 inch larger than the skillet. Carefully fold the dough in half and then into quarters. Center the point over the fruit in the skillet and unfold to cover the fruit. Fold the edges in and flute them inside the edge of the skillet. Bake the tart on the middle rack in the oven for about 20 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Let cool 5 minutes then place a round serving plate 2 inches larger than the skillet face down on top of the tart. Carefully invert tart onto a plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I make this with the same two pans as the blueberry honey bread. Its also lighter than the blueberry one.

Lemon Tea Bread Makes 9 by 5 by 3 inch loaf

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick/ 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
(appx from 2 large lemons)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup buttermilk


Lemon glaze:

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Slivered zest of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9 by 5 by 3 inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment or wax paper and grease the paper. Flour the pan, shaking out the excess.

Sift the flour, baking power, baking soda, and salt together into a medium bowl; set aside. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the grated lemon zest and vanilla and beat at high speed 1 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, in three additions. Beat the batter until just smooth; don't overmix.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake on the middle rack of the oven until the read is golden brown and just firm to the touch, and a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Allow the bread to cool in the pan on a wire rack, while you prepare the lemon glaze. In a saucepan, combine the lemon juice, granulated sugar, and slivered lemon zest. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring until the sugar dissolves and the syrup just begins to thicken, about 1 minute.

While the bread is still hot, spoon the glaze evenly over the top. Allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes, then run a sharp knife around the edges of the loaf to loosen from the pan. Invert onto the rack, peel off the paper and turn it right side up. Serve warm, or allow o cool to room temperature. Sprinkle lightly with confectioner's sugar before serving.

Note: Cooled bread may be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month. Bring the bread to room temperature and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar before serving.

I sincerely hope I'm not intruding on your cookbook, but I have a few recipies of my own I would like to share.

Icebox Cookies

Icebox cookies are both simple and tasty, created sometime after the invention of the ice box, when harried housewives recieved unexpected guests and needed a treat to serve on the double.

1 c. shortening (part butter)
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
3 1/2 c. flour

Cream shortening and sugar; add eggs and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients. Shape into 2" diameter rolls. Wrap in waxed paper and chill 6 to 8 hours. Cut 1/8" thick slices and bake at 400 degrees on lightly greased baking sheet, 8 to 10 minutes. If kept in the refridgerator, the uncooked bawill keep for about one week.

For Chocolate: Add 3 squares melted chocolate to batter after eggs are blended.

For Butterscotch: Add 2 cups brown sugar in place of white.

For Raisin: Add 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon allspice and 1 cup chopped raisins.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE:

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, cut into sm. pieces
6 oz. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. light corn syrup or honey

A renaissance omelet
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 small cooked potato, diced
1/4 teaspoon each, oregano, basil and garlic salt
1 slice of ham diced
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of water
1 teaspoon of olive oil (for the pan)
1 slice of mozzerella cheese

instructions
1.Pour oil into medium size nonstick skillet over medium heat. Swirl to cover entire bottom of pan. add onion and potato. sprinkle with oregano basil and garlic salt and saute about 1-2 minutes. add ham and saute for another minute. Turn off heat and set aside.
You know the rest of making an omelet

I have a recipe for scones that I got from my high school drama teacher, who spent a considerable time in Britain and got the recipe from a friend of hers while she was there. I'm pulling this from memory, as unfortunately, the book I have it recorded in is at the office, where I'm typing up my collection so I can add to it and share it more easily. I was goofy enough not to store it on my PDA, so I'll have to check on Monday to see if I got it right and edit then for any mistakes I've made in my remembrance.

Schuon's Scones
~~~~~~~~~~~

6 oz. self-rising flour
2 oz. butter (or margerine)
2 oz. sugar (instead, you may use the same amount of dried currents or shredded cheese)
1 egg, beaten
just enough milk to stick dough together without being sticky

Preheat the oven to 425. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the flour with the sugar (or currents or cheese). Cut the butter into the flour mix until the mix is somewhat fine and crumbly. I use one of those crescent-shaped dough cutters as it's faster than knives. Add the beaten egg and stir with a spoon until it gets mixed in. This part's a little icky: get in there with your hands and work the dough a little to make sure it's blended reasonably well. At this point, the dough will be rather a lot lumpier, but still in several pieces. Add just enough milk to the mix to kind of glue it all together. It won't be very much at all - nearly on the tablespoon level, so pour with a very careful hand. Mash all the bits together, cleaning out the bowl, and turn it out onto a floured surface. Roll out evenly with a rolling pin to about 1/4" thickness. Take a standard-size biscuit-cutter and cut out your scones, reforming the dough as needed, but don't mess with it too much, or it'll get kinda tough. There will be roughly 8. The last one will probably be a mutant, composed of the scraps of dough left over. Just make it look mostly like the others and it'll be fine. Place them onto an ungreased baking pan, evenly spaced and bake them for about 10-15 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown. Serve at teatime (or whenever) with clotted cream (I could swear I have something for that somewhere), or Devonshire cream (if you have a store with an ethnic section, they might have it in the British foods). Failing that, butter or margerine will do. Jam's nice.

Those recipes sound yummy! I have a wonderful tea cake recipe I'll post when I find it again.

*Edit*

Ok, I found it. Here goes:

Cook time: 55 minutes. Makes 18 servings.

Ingredients:
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
1/4 cup reduced-fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 packed cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
Confectioners' sugar, optional

Directions:
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Line a large (4 1/2-inch by 9 1/2-inch) metal loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Sift the flour, baking soda, ginger and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk the pumpkin, buttermilk, and vanilla in another bowl.

Beat the butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the light brown sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes more. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. At low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the pumpkin mixture in 2 parts, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix briefly at medium-low speed to make a smooth batter. Turn off beaters and add the crystallized ginger. Finish folding batter--which will be thick--by hand with a rubber spatula.

Scrape batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the cake comes out clean and top springs back when lightly pressed, about 55 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 to 15 minutes, then invert pan to release cake onto rack to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired. Serve.