The merriest way to celebrate the upcoming Christmas holiday in London? Festive afternoon tea at Claridge’s! This festive afternoon tea add an extra special Christmas touch to the already fabulous experience.

As always, champagne to start. Followed are the selection of traditional tea sandwiches. While nearly everyone in my family selected the Turkey or Ham as their favorite, I actually preferred the traditional smoked salmon and cucumber! They were all delicious as the details suggest:

• English cucumber, pine cream, wild rocket, white bread
• Truffled Burford brown egg mayonnaise, watercress, white bread
• Cambridge bronze turkey, pork, chestnut & sage stuffing, cranberry, malt bread
• Dorrington ham, celeriac remoulade, winter spiced butter, onion bread
• Severn & Wye smoked salmon, dill and orange, rye bread
• Croxton Manor cheddar and pickled walnut Eccles cake

We also began with a few teas including the classic, bespoke Claridge’s blend and Malawi Antler white tea. Malawi Antler is one of the world’s most sought after teas, and Claridge’s is just one of two places in the world where it is served.

The next, special, course was the Claridge’s Christmas Pudding. Made from a secret Claridge’s recipe for over 100 years, it is certainly a holiday treat. It it served with a flambe touch! While the recipe is secret, it tastes like the holidays and incorporates many spices and dried fruits.

Following the pudding we moved onto the traditional scones. In the great debate of how to dress your scone (does the clotted cream go on first, or the gelee/jam??), Claridge’s suggests you being with cream, followed by a teaspoon of tea-infused, holiday special Mariage Frères gelée.

As always, the delectable pasties arrive as the final course. These gorgeous holiday treats were almost too pretty to eat…ALMOST! They included a dark chocolate and cherry cake, a roasted pear and cream, lemon cream eclair pastry with gold leaf, and a chocolate mouse pie with raspberry filling.

This was the perfect way to get into the holiday spirit and Claridge’s does nothing without perfect execution. The entire experience was wonderful and I may have to make this a new holiday season tradition!

– MAL