iced green tea w lychees & lime

It’s lychee season.

A few years ago I got drunk on lychee liqueur and killed my love for lychees . . . until now.

On behalf of Aussie lychee growers, Cessie at IMPACT Communications sent me a box of beautiful, perfect lychees and when I popped the first, slippery nugget into my mouth I swooned with love all over again with these sweet, juicy, tropical fruit.

Oh lychee, I am so happy our love for each other has been rekindled.

This is a versatile iced tea and perfect for summer barbeques. I’ve made it for my sister-in-law when she visited from Sweden early in the year and again in October when The Green Ninja and the VB Samurai visited from Tokyo.

The flavours were inspired by Japanese sensibilities - a love of lychees combined with refreshing green tea and topped off with a little tang and colour from the lime slices.

It's a great addition to summer evening BBQs or any Asian lunch menu.

Lychee & Lime Iced Green Tea

Anna's very own recipe. Makes 1 litre.

Ingredients:
3 bags of green tea or 1 tablespoon loose leaves
400ml boiling water
500ml water
200ml sugar syrup
2 limes thinly sliced
16 lychees, peeled & stone removed
Ice, for serving

Method:

1. In a jug, pour the hot water over the tea bags and steep the tea for 30 minutes.

2. Remove tea bags, add the remaining water, sugar syrup and allow tea to cool to room temperature.

3. Add limes and lychees then refrigerate until completely chilled. Serve with ice.

strawberry, vanilla & rose iced tea

One of my 2011 Food Challenges was to try and cook with tea and make more iced tea.

Now iced tea is a pretty normal drink option, but it’s funny to think not long ago it wasn’t so readily available in Australia.

I used to drink it often as a kid because my American grandfather made a lot of it (and sun tea) and
Australia’s Asian population helped to boost iced tea popularity with bubble tea stores opening up around the country, but it wasn’t until about 10 years ago that Lipton released an iced tea range and everybody started to enjoy it as an alternative to soda.

Making iced tea at home is so easy and it’s a great way to get creative over summer.

I’ve been coming up with a lot of different combinations and here are some of my favourites:
• Strawberry, Vanilla & Rose Iced Tea
• Lychee, Lime & Iced Green Tea
• Apricot & Earl Grey Iced Tea
• White Peach & Thai Ginger Iced Tea
• Honey & Lemon Iced Camomile Tea
• Mint & Pomegranate Iced Rooibus Tea
• Star Anise, Tangerine & Black Iced Tea
• Passionfruit & Jasmine Iced Tea Soda

I’ll be posting some of them randomly over the coming summer weeks, so stay tuned.

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This iced tea is just so pretty.

Served in elegant little glass cups it makes for a perfect afternoon tea with the girls, and if you want to be a little naughty you could always add a splash of vodka or strawberry schnapps for the sweet tooths.

The tiny dried rose petals (I use Pariya) need to be added just before serving to ensure the fragrance rises gentle from the glass.

Serve it with a fat slab of sticky Turkish Delight, heavily dusted in icing sugar, for an extreme indulgence.

Strawberry, Vanilla & Rose Iced Tea

Anna's very own recipe. Makes 1 litre.

Ingredients:
2 bags of Dilmah Rose & French Vanilla Black Tea*
400ml boiling water
500ml water
100ml rose syrup
200ml sugar syrup
5 strawberries, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon dried rose petals
Ice, for serving

Method:

1. In a jug, pour the hot water over the tea bags and steep the tea for 30 minutes.

2. Remove tea bags, add the remaining water, sugar syrup, rose syrup and allow tea to cool to room temperature then refrigerate until completely cold.

3. To prepare iced tea, combine the sweetened tea with the strawberries and ice, then stir in rose petals just before serving.

*You could use black tea, vanilla essence/pod and some rosewater to get the same effect.

earl grey & rhubarb jam

 

This is one of the best jams I’ve made in a while.

The sweet-sour flavour of the rhubarb goes so well with the aromatic bergamot in Earl Grey. The jam is a perfect balance of rhubarb flavour and the hint of Earl Grey at the end.

I am so happy with the results and long to devour it heaped upon warm scones and clouds of clotted cream. With a cup of Earl Grey, of course!

Earl Grey & Rhubarb Jam

Anna's very own recipe. Makes 2 x 250ml jars.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Earl Grey tea leaves
1 cup water
350g rhubarb
350g sugar
15g Jamsetta (optional)
1 lime, juiced

Method:

1. Chop the rhubarb into small pieces.

2. Boil the water and pour it over the tea leaves. Leave to steep for about 15 minutes.

3. Strain the tea into a large saucepan and bring to boil.

4. Add the rhubarb and lime juice, cover and stew until the rhubarb has softened (no more than 5 minutes).

5. Add sugar and jamsetta, stirring until dissolved.

6. Bring to the boil and allow jam to bubble away for 5-10 minutes until it reaches setting point.

7. Pour into sterilised jars and seal.

Note: to check setting stage, drop a small amount of jam onto a chilled saucer for 30 seconds, run finger through the mixture and if it wrinkles or remains separated it has reached its setting poin.

earl grey & pear tea cup puddings

These delicious puddings were a great little discovery.

Based on Haalo’s Caramel Croissant Pudding, I used up all the leftovers in the fridge and cupboard to make an elegant and unique dessert that was not only tasty but soul-satisfying on a cold night.

You could make it with any combination of fruits and liqueurs.

Earl Grey & Pear Tea Cup Puddings

Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 2.

Ingredients:
2 stale mini-croissants
1 pear, cored & peeled
4 dried pears, finely chopped
1 teaspoon butter
50g (¼ cup) vanilla sugar
20ml (1 tablespoon) water
1 tablespoon loose earl grey tea leaves
125ml (½ cup) double cream
40ml (2 tablespoons) poire williams eau de vie
1 egg, beaten

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Chop the fresh pear into small pieces. In a saucepan, heat with butter over low heat for around 5 minutes until moisture is reduced and pear starts to break down. Break up further with fork into a lumpy purée.

3. Tear the croissants into small pieces and layer into oven-proof tea cups with pieces of dried pear and pear purée.

4. Put the caster sugar, eau de vie, water and earl grey tea into a saucepan, and swirl around to help dissolve the sugar before putting the saucepan on the hob over a medium to high heat. Bring to the boil then simmer for 2 minutes to release the flavours of the tea.

5. Strain the syrup into a new saucepan, discarding the tea leaves and then add the cream to the earl grey syrup.

6. Turn heat down to low and heat the mixture to a simmer.

7. Take off the heat and, still whisking, add the beaten egg.

8. Pour the custard over the croissants. Leave to steep for 10 minutes if the croissants are very stale.

9. Place the tea cups on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

10. Serve warm with honey-lavender ice cream.

Note: Alternatively, substitute poire williams eau de vie with amaretto.

orange slices w earl grey syrup

When Meeta announced her November Monthly Mingle theme “coffee & tea”, she was very specific to warn people off making tea and coffee drinks as an easy way out.

I decided I wanted to make something with earl grey tea, since I have disliked this particular tea until very recently. Suddenly my taste buds are changing and I adore the fragrance of earl grey while I’m no longer craving chocolate. I don’t know what’s going on!

There are many marmalade recipes featuring earl grey infusions and I figured, since earl grey and orange seem to go so well together, they would make a good match in a fruit salad.

The oranges were bright and fresh while the earl grey added fragrant complexity. Almond provided an earthiness and enhanced the texture while the cream perfectly enriched the dish. It was a tasty, simple and light dessert that you could eat on any occasion.

Orange Slices w Earl Grey Syrup & Almonds

Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 2.

Ingredients:
2 oranges
¼ cup thickened cream
2 tablespoons almond flakes, toasted
Syrup
2 earl grey teabags (or 1 tablespoon loose leaf)
1 cup sugar
1 cup boiling water

Method:

1. In a saucepan, place the boiling water over the teabags and allow to infuse for 30 minutes.

2. Discard teabags, add sugar and then cook over a medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

3. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Reduce syrup until thickened.

4. Peel oranges and slice into thin rounds, being sure to discard any seeds you come across. Arrange slices decoratively on a plate.

5. Drizzle oranges generously with earl grey syrup (there will be some leftover), top with cream and almond flakes.

But then, just because Meeta said no drinks (I'm always a little bit naughty), I used up the leftover earl grey syrup and created a liquid version of the very same dessert:

Earl Grey Tipple

Anna's very own recipe. Makes 2.

Ingredients:
50ml Amaretto (1 part)
50ml Grand Marnier (1 part)
100ml orange juice (2 parts)
50ml earl grey syrup (1 part)
50ml cream (1 part)

Method:
Shake with lots of ice and double strain into martini glasses. Drink immediately.

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes dessert earl grey earl grey tea oranges almond recipes orange recipes fruit recipes earl grey recipes earl grey tea recipes dessert recipes