more tea and cake plus coffee

Thought I would expand my list of good places to have coffee/tea and cake...

The Mock Turtle - near Old Steine is one of the long standing success stories for afternoon tea. It is a classic old fashioned tea shop, I imagine as they used to be. It is sort of like sitting in your grannys front room, ultra cosy. The window is always enticing from traditional sponge cakes to huge flavoured meringues.
As far as I can see the kitchen, general setting and decor has remained unchanged for years, and that, I think, is part of it's appeal. A million miles away from the sanitised chains that now dominate our high street.
It is a great place to take a visitor from abroad as it gives them a real taste of England.


The Tea Cosy - off St James St can only be described as mad ! It is an ode to patriotism in it's purest form. Every possible wall space, ceiling, toilet is covered in memorabilia in honour of
our royal family, past and present. There is a self playing piano which randomly plays the national anthem. Standing is expected on Sundays !

The menu has to be seen to be believed as does the page on 'Etiquette'. Forget about trying to answer your mobile, let alone actually use it. You will get short shrift from the camp, unpredictable front of house, complete in nail varnish, frilly shirt and snarl of derision.
The portions are huge, plentiful. Tea is served by the pot, again large, complete with tea cosy.

If you happen to require something gluten free it's not for you, as we are talking wheat overload here, and asking for such recieves a fairly dismissive reply depending on mine hosts mood.
It is all part of the theatre, very Brighton and a great place to take ' open minded' visitors.


Coffee 33 - in Trafalgar Street is a bit too trendy to make me want to linger, but very stylish all the same. Their open display of cakes and savouries are good quality and they offer gluten free...well done. They are also the only place in Brighton that I know of that actually understands what a 'flat white' is and how to make it. I normally have to wait for my visit to Sydney to get that!


Spinelli - tucked away in Kemp Town is another lovely coffee shop. A little more corporate looking, it is owned by the lovely Carlo and partner. (They also own Enzos, the hairdressers, just around the corner in the village). They take coffee seriously. Offer great cakes, at least two gluten free and brownies handmade by Carlo himself, as are some of the savouries.
These men like food...with Italian and Polish heritage they have to !

It deserves the success it has had as they are so friendly, always willing and understand totally the concept of 'service', so lacking in England. You are looked after, remembered and chatted to.
Free internet downstairs.

I wish them every success with their new venture in St James Street, complete with a kitchen so more food I hope.

Hot chocolate puddings

For anyone who hasn't tried these perfect little desserts I recommend you do...
So quick and easy. They look really pretty too and you can either leave them in the ramekin
or after buttering the inside turn them out and watch the centre ooze out into a
puddle of thick hot chocolate...the ultimate comfort food.

I use 70per cent chocolate with added sugar, but not everyone likes the slightly bitter taste this gives. You can replace this with the chocolate of your choice, remembering the lower the cocoa solid the less likely it is to need any added sugar.

Serves 4 - or 2 if your having a bad day....!

100g chocolate - see above
100g caster sugar - see above
20g plain sifted flour - ( gluten free works as well though the end result is a little denser.)
100g butter
2 organic eggs

Preheat oven to 2oo deg

Butter the inside of 4 ramekins and set aside. Place chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of gently simmering water until melted. Leave to cool.
Beat eggs, sugar and flour then add the chocolate mixture.
Pour mixture evenly into the ramekins almost to the top ( cleaning of any spillage. as this is set in the oven making it hard to remove and looks unsightly.)

Place dishes on a baking tray for approx 10 -12 mins. You want to see them risen and slightly
firm to the touch whilst keeping them gooey inside. If you are not successful the first time, don't
be disheartened just take them out 2 mins earlier next time. Remember they will continue to cook once out of the oven.

They will be too hot to eat immediately so after 5 mins either remove them from the dishes and dust with icing sugar or leave them as they are.

I serve them with either very cold pouring cream or ice cream. The sensation of both warm and cold seems to complement.

Yumm...

Chocolate guinness cake

A friend sent me this recipe so I tried it out yesterday.. Very good, it has an unusual flavour because of the guinness. Sort of nutty. It is kept moist because of the stout and the added sour cream .
I did a cream cheese topping which sort of looks like the head of the guinness but I think I will try a chocolate icing next time.
I often find cakes are better warm and this certainly lends itself to that especially after a couple of days.

It's not a gluten free recipe but I simply replaced the flour with a gluten free option.. and voila !

Recipe and photo to follow....