I've always loved tea parties... from the days when I used to play with my little tea set as a child... and I love getting together with friends over good food and relaxed conversations while drinking tea....I still collect tea pots and adore tasting different teas.
Somehow in conversation one day, my friend Brenda said she had never been to a tea party, so I talked it over with my friend-and-just-about-daughter Cathy and we decided to host a tea party for a few women friends on the lanai of Cat's wonderful 'Pond House' down in Kapoho, and invitations were sent for yesterday afternoon.
Cat's lanai, setting for our tea party - photo by Gail Armand
So it wouldn't be too much on just one person, we did what comes naturally to anyone who has lived in Hawaii for any length of time...we hosted a pot-luck tea party! Guests were asked to bring either a savory or a sweet dish and no one was disappointed.
Some of us commented afterwards how it always works out and the food brought is always a good balance between sweets and savories and there never are duplications!
I follow a blog called 'Home is Where the Boat is' by a very talented woman called Mary in North Carolina. Her posts are very creative, her photos are gorgeous and regardless of what the topic is, I get inspired to also create after reading her posts. In a post a couple of weeks ago, Mary posted this "Fairy Cake" and I was determined I was going to make something similar.
What makes living in Hawaii so wonderful can also cause havoc with cake frostings.... our lovely humidity which contributes to dewy complexions can make a lovely cake look like a little pu'u (small hills formed by volcanic eruptions through vents on the flanks of a volcano) with white lava and decorations flowing down the sides...
My "Fairy Cake" was not as pretty as Mary's but it was delicious.
Start with a sponge cake and cut it into three layers. Mary used a lemon curd and whipped cream, berries, flowers, butterflies and chocolate mushrooms.
Mine was layered with fresh mango I had poached in a bit of simple syrup made with Maui raw sugar and a vanilla bean. Refrigerated overnight, the mango firmed up enough and was lovely spread in between the layers. I then sprinkled some blueberries and placed slices of strawberries on top of each layer and added cream cheese vanilla frosting. I was hoping the frosting would hold up better than just whipped cream....No such luck!
Fresh whole strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and poha berries were scattered all over as well as some freshly picked blackberries that my friend Gail brought me from around the Volcano Golf course. Doing a canvasing around the neighborhood for flowers to use on the tables, Cat found 2 Surinam cherries, which were also added to the cake as well as an assortment of edible flowers....including some blooms from my own strawberry plants, which are ready to gift us with a second harvest this year....!
Flowers in the pitcher on the food table were my hostess gift to Cat - from the Hilo Farmers Market
The assorted hibiscus on the table were some that Cat and Janet picked canvassing the neighborhood
Lovely company on a beautiful lanai with delicious food and tea while a soft rain is falling around us....a cooling breeze is blowing...and no mosquitoes....It can't get any better than that!
