Honey Earl Grey Cupcakes for National Tea Day 2017

Like them or love them there seems to be a national day, week, or month for just about everything. The foodie that I am, I love food and drink days. Even if they are foods and drinks that we consume on a daily basis it is always good to celebrate them and try something new.

On Friday 21st April it is National Tea Day so it is only fitting to celebrate this much loved drink by creating a recipe incorporating tea. There are so many different teas, blends, flavours, makes available on the market. If you are a tea drinker you really are spoilt for choice! Aldi stock a good range of teas at a great price. From Mao Feng green tea to Earl Grey, from fruit infusions to the traditional black tea, we have even found special green teas that contain coconut, manuka honey or mint.

This recipe features the Aldi Earl Grey tea. Earl Grey is a lovely blend of black tea with flavours of bergamot. Bergamot that is used in Earl Grey is an oil that comes from the bergamot orange that grows in Italy. It gives you a light citrus cup of tea which goes perfectly with a slice of lemon and no milk. Tea also has many health benefits which make it an even better drink, they are:

• Tea contains antioxidants which help protect our bodies from pollutants
• Herbal teas contain no caffeine
• Black teas contain half the amount of caffeine than coffee
• Herbal teas can help settle your digestive system
• Tea is hydrating

Whenever we think about afternoon tea we immediately think of cake. This cake recipe is the ideal accompaniment to you cup of tea.

This is what I did...

Summer Time Tea with teapigs

If you are regular reader you will know how we love tea and teapigs!

So when I was asked if I would like to try making some summer teas I could not wait to get started! Tea is such a versatile drink. It can be drunk both hot and cold, used in bakes and can even have different holistic benefits.

I love iced teas but have you seen the amount of sugar they contain? I was gob smacked when I looked at the nutritional values on one very well known brand. In 591mls there was 31g of sugar, that is just over 6 teaspoons!

So why buy shop bought, heavily sugared iced tea when it is so easy to make at home without sugar, or with a lot less if you like it sweeter?

With teapigs it is so easy to have a wide variety of flavoured iced tea. My favourites are:

• Darjeeling Earl Grey
• Liquorice and Mint
• Lemongrass
• Super Fruit
• Rhubarb and Ginger

They are all super refreshing!

Lemon and Rooibos Madeira Cake

You know when the Bake Off has returned when you wake up in the middle of the night and start planning a cake to bake! Yes after a year the Great British Bake Off has returned as The Great Bloggers Bake Off has also returned!

Recently (since my depression began) I have completely lost my baking mojo. You may have noticed that the number of bake posts has gone down. I am hoping that GBBO will give me a kick up the bum and get me baking again. I have always loved baking and I cannot wait to get baking as I did before.

This cake was thought of in the middle of the night. But it was thought of in a different way first. The first cake that I made was a lemon and lemon rooibos tea. However I brewed the tea first and added the liquid to the cake. It did turn out too moist so a second cake, as per the hubby's request, was made with different measurements and using plain rooibos leaves.

This is what I did...

Teatox Review

I have recently been cleaning the way I eat and have detoxed a couple of times. I am also a tea lover so when I heard about a tea to help you detox I was curious to give it a go.

In the Teatox detox plan you receive 14 morning teas and 7 night time teas. While you are doing the detox you also a accompany it with clean eating. The teas are designed to work in harmony with your body to help rid it of unwanted toxins. The teas cleanse your digestive system and detoxify your body. They can also increase your metabolism and reduce cravings.

I have followed the Teatox plan and here is my honest review.

Easter Simnel Tea Loaf

My favourite thing to bake at Easter has to be a simnel cake. I love the combination of fruit with the marzipan.

This year I decided to add a little twist to the traditional bake. Instead of making a simnel cake I have made a simnel tea loaf. The dried fruit has been soaked in a delicious Tarocco Sunrise Tea which contains Rose Hip peel, Hibiscus flowers, apple pieces, safflower and natural blood orange flavours. The tea adds a zingy citrus tang to the cake.

This tea loaf is a lovely alternative to the traditional simnel cake. This is what I did...

Everyday Brew from teapigs

If you are a regular reader you will know that I love a good cup of tea. So when teapigs asked me of I would like to try their Everyday Brew black tea I was certainly eager to see what it was like.

I am a tea lover, however I must admit that I do not usually drink regular black tea. I have never enjoyed it as much as other teas. So I knew that Everyday Brew had a job to convince me to drink it regularly. However drinking teapigs Everyday Brew I now realise that it was not the tea that I disliked, it was how the mass produced tea bags made the tea taste.

When I had my first cup of Everyday Brew the first thing I noticed was how the water changed colour as soon as the boiling water was poured over the bag, a lot quicker than other bags! I left the bag to brew for just 3 minutes as I do not like it too strong. When I took the bag out it had gone from being a quarter full of dried tea leaves to being packed with tea leaves that had opened up during the brewing process. The Everyday Brew certainly makes a lovely hot drink. I had mine both black and with a slice of lemon.

As I was so surprised with the difference that I could taste, I decided to look into the differences a little closer. To do this I have compared a regular tea bag with a teapigs tea bag. I emptied the contents to compare. I made a cup of tea in a glass so that I could see the difference and of course I did the taste test!

Here is how I got on...

The contents of the tea bags show how the tea of the

regular bags are ground down into nearly a powder.

 

The picture above shows the tea after boiling water has been

poured over the bags. The teapigs Everyday Brew on the left is

more of a golden colour while the regular tea bag on the right

looks very pale.

I left the tea bags to brew for 3 minutes.

The Everyday Brew tea bag in the first picture has made a cleaner,

more golden tea. While the regular bag in the second picture made

a duller, cloudy tea.

 After the tea bags had cooled a little I opened them up to see what
had happened to the contents during brewing. As you can see the
teapigs Everyday Brew tea on the left has opened and expanded
to release the flavours. While the regular bag on the right has become
a mushy mess.

Doing this comparison between the two tea bags has made me see the true difference between the cheaper mass produced bags and the quality tea bags that teapigs produce. The evidence is clear to see in the pictures but you can also taste the difference. I drank the glass of Everyday Brew and simply put the other on down the sink!

Why don't you give them a go and see for yourselves!

Disclosure: I was sent some Everyday Brew and a lovely mug from teapigs for the purpose of this post. No payment was received. All views and opinions are my own and 100% honest.

Everyday Brew Tea Loaf

When teapigs asked me to try their Everyday Brew I knew that I would use it in baking and not just drinking.

My hubby is a huge fan of my Settling Ginger Tea Loaf but I wanted to try something a little different. I have gone back using original black tea using teapigs Everyday Brew. With the addition of a lemon slice during brewing and mixed spice in the flour I have created a deliciously moist tea loaf which can be enjoyed at any time of day. Whether it be a mid morning snack, to accompany afternoon tea or as a snack, it goes perfectly with a cup of tea.

This is what I did...

Everyday Brew Tea Loaf

Ingredients

180mls boiling water
1 teapigs Everyday Brew teabag
1 slice of lemon
225g mixed fruit with candied peel
150g dark muscovado sugar
1 egg
225g self raising flour
2tspn mixed spices

Method

1 - Place the teabag and slice of lemon in a cup and pour over 180mls of boiling water and leave to brew for 10 minutes to ensure maximum strength.

2 - Pour the brewed tea over the dried fruit and leave covered for at least 1 hour. This time will ensure that the fruit is nice and plump for baking.

3 - Pre heat the oven to 150C

4 - Place the fruit and any remaining liquid in a large mixing bowl, add the sugar and mix until the sugar has dissolved.

5 - Add the egg and mix.

6 - Add the flour and mixed spice and mix well.

7 - Line a loaf tin with baking paper and add the mixture.

8 - Place in the pre heated oven and bake for 1 hour.

9 - Once thoroughly baked remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before removing and allowing to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Enjoy x

Disclosure: I was sent some teapigs Everyday Brew to try. I loved them and decided to create this recipe. No payment was received.

I am sharing my recipe with Honest Mum - Tasty Tuesdays and A Mummy Too - Recipe of the Week

The teapigs #MatchaChallenge

When I saw a request from teapigs for bloggers to take the two week Matcha Challenge I jumped at the chance. I was delighted to find out that I had been selected to take part!

To take part in the matcha challenge I was asked to drink matcha everyday for two weeks and see if I felt any changes at the end of the challenge. I was sent a teapigs Matcha Kit so that I had what I needed to get started. The kit contained:

• 30g tin of Matcha
• Electric hand held whisk
• A shot glass
• An information leaflet
• Matcha badge
• Spoon

If you are wondering what matcha is let me tell you what it is, and how it can benefit you.

Matcha is 100% natural, organic green tea leaves. It is like no other green tea, the leaves have been ground down into a fine powder. When you drink matcha you are drinking all of the goodness unlike with regular green tea where you only consume a portion of the goodness as the remaining nutrients are left in the bag and put in the bin. Matcha tea leaves are grown in Japan and are grown undercover for the final two weeks. This enables to plant to produce lots of chlorophyll which gives it the bright green "good stuff". Matcha is not new, it has been drunk in Japan for almost 900 years as part of their tea ceremony. It is also used by Buddhist monks as it keeps them alert, awake and focused during long periods of meditation.

Until recently all matcha was consumed in Japan, however it is now becoming more and more popular in the UK.

After researching matcha further on various websites I was amazed by the possible benefits from drinking this super green powder. They include:

• Packed with Antioxidants including flavonoids which help protect our bodies against harmful free radicals such as pollution, UV rays, radiation and chemicals which can lead to cell damage.
• Naturally detoxifies the body
• Improves mood and increases concentration
• Calms
• Boosts metabolism which ultimately burns calories
• Lowers cholesterol and blood sugar
• Contains the naturally occurring acid l-theanine which along with caffeine is a well know stimulant

Before Taking The #MatchaChallenge

If you are a regular Hijacked By Twins reader you will be aware that during the last 6 months I have struggled with depression and anxiety. This was one of the reasons I was so keen to try matcha. Having read that this super green drink can improve moods and calms I was excited and curious to see if it would work. Along with my depression came a lack of motivation which in turn resulted in a low mood. I was stuck in a vicious cycle.

During The #MatchaChallenge

I was amazed by how quickly I noticed the change in my mood. At first I wondered if it was purely a coincidence but my mood continued to lift. I became more motivated which in turn lifted my mood further. I recently cut out coffee and have longed for a drink to replace it and at last I found it! Matcha became part of my morning breakfast routine and I felt that it gave me a kick start to the day. In general I felt better in both my mood and my body.

How To Drink Matcha

There are many ways to drink and consume matcha. So far I have drunk it...

as a shot using hot water at 70C

as a latte with almond milk

as a cup of tea

even in my slimming shake

and as Matcha Breakfast Cakes.

After The #MatchaChallenge

Once the Matcha Challenge had finished I decided to have a couple of matcha free days to see if I could really see a difference. After the first morning of having little energy I was straight back to drinking matcha. I have honestly noticed a change in how I am feeling both mentally and physically. I have the motivation for the day ahead. I feel that matcha has helped me over come my anxiety and has lifted my mood no end. I am me again! I have also noticed an improvement in my skin, I am more alert and certainly a lot less anxious. I will continue to drink matcha daily and am enjoying finding new ways to incorporate it into my diet further. Keep an eye out for more recipes using matcha!

For further information about matcha or to purchase matcha visit teapigs. Also during January 2015 teapigs are offering 20% off their matcha range when you use the discount code MATCHA15.

Disclosure: I was sent the teapigs matcha kit for the purpose of this post. No payment was received. All views and opinions are my own and 100% honest.

I am sharing with: