Green Jasmine truffles

The highlight of this month’s Tea and Chocolate Workshop at Lahloo Pantry will be the preparation of these chocolate truffles, infused with the delicate flavour of Green Jasmine. A fabulous homemade gift or a luxurious treat to enjoy when you fancy something sweet, satisfying and uplifting. Here’s our recipe!

Green Jasmine truffles

Ingredients (for about 40 truffles)

• 250g dark chocolate
• 280ml heavy cream
• 50g butter
• 2-3 tbsp Lahloo Green Jasmine
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder (for the coating)

Heat the cream in a pan and bring to the boil. Remove from heat, add the tea and let it infuse for 15 minutes. Strain.

Melt the chocolate and the butter in a bain-Marie and strain the cream into the mixture. Whisk well until combined. Pour into a stainless still bowl and refrigerate for two hours.

Place 1 teaspoon of the truffle mixture into the palm of your hand, rolling it into a ball. Place each truffle on a lined baking tray and repeat the process. Chill the truffles until firm.

Once the truffles are firm, coat them with the cocoa powder (if you like them sweeter, add some brown sugar to the cocoa powder and mix well) and leave them to harden.

Our tip: Bring truffles to room temperature just before serving.

Green Jasmine and matcha chocolate tart

Ever since Laura and Chantal made this amazing Green Jasmine chocolate tart we’ve been slightly obsessed… It’s officially chocolate month at Lahloo, so we have the perfect excuse to indulge. We’ll never stop marvelling at the perfect marriage between chocolate and Green Jasmine, and Chantal’s idea of adding matcha was a stroke of genius!

Ingredients:

• A standard sweet pastry case (cook for 25 minutes while you prepare the filling)
• 500ml double cream
• 5tbsp Lahloo Green Jasmine
• 300g 70% dark chocolate
• 200g white chocolate
• a large pinch of Lahloo Matcha

Bring the 300ml double cream to the boil, with 3tbsps Green Jasmine. Place it in a bowl, cover with cling film and set aside.

Bring the 200ml double cream to the boil, mixed with 2tbsp Green Jasmine and the matcha powder. Place it in a different bowl, cover with cling film and set aside.

Let them infuse for an hour.

In the meantime, chop the two types of chocolate and place them into two different bowls.

Bring both creams to the boil again, keeping them separate. Strain the plain one over the dark chocolate, and the one with matcha over the white chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is melted.

Pour the dark chocolate mixture over the pastry. Pour the white chocolate mixture on top and swirl until it looks pretty.

Allow to set for at least two hours somewhere cool… and enjoy!

Green Jasmine Panna Cotta

It might come as a surprise to begin with, but milky, creamy flavours work really well with our hero of the month, Green Jasmine. So we came up with the idea of using this delicately floral, crisp tea in a well-known Italian classic: Panna Cotta (which literally means “cooked cream” and it’s as easy to make as it sounds!). Pantry chef Laura’s recipe has exactly the right consistency and perfect wobble, and the soothing flavour of Jasmine gives it a delicately floral twist that is simply stunning!

Ingredients

- 500ml full fat milk

- 250ml double cream

- 2 tbsp Lahloo Green Jasmine

- 90g sugar

- 7g leaf gelatine

Place the milk and double cream in a pan. Add the loose tea to it and bring to a simmering boil. Remove from the heat. Cover with cling film and let it cool overnight. Strain in the morning.

Place the gelatine in a different pan, cover with cold water and leave to the side for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, add sugar to the milk and cream and bring to the boil.

Take the gelatine out and squeeze off any excess water. Place it in a separate bowl.

Pour the hot liquid over the gelatine, whisking constantly.

Strain into a jug. Set to one side until cool at room temperature, whisking now and then. Pour it into ramekins or molds.

Leave overnight or at least six hours until set.

To serve, dip the base of the ramekin briefly in boiling water and turn onto a plate. Enjoy!

Win the perfect tea treat for Mother’s Day

Me and my Mum are like two peas in a pod! She is a very special lady but we don’t live very close to each other. I often tell her how much I love her but as an extra treat she, along with every Mum, has a very special day every year dedicated to them. This year Mothering Sunday is on 3rd April.

Every year I like to treat my Mum to a little something to say ‘Thank you” for being an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, a hug at the end of a phone, a real giggle and generally for being brilliant! Don’t forget to treat your Mum. We have a real range of lovely treats perfect for Mother’s Day from £5.00. Take a look >

To celebrate the arrival of spring sunshine, blooming buds and new life, we are giving away a very special edition of our Blissful gift worth £60, perfect for Mother’s Day:

♡ Glass infuser tea-cup
♡ Green Jasmine tea
♡ True Grace Candle

To be in with a chance, simply tell us why your Mum deserves this treat.
Enter here before 25th March 2011  ➤

Relax, unwind and indulge your senses in style at Cowley Manor in the heart of the English countryside!

Over the past 2 weeks I’ve been taking Vicky, our new ‘tea apprentice’, on a tour around some of our customers. It’s been great fun but also really wonderful to take stock of some of the amazing people and places we supply with Lahloo Tea. One of these very special places is Cowley Manor in the heart of the Cotswolds near Cheltenham.

A few months ago we started working with the team at the incredible luxury hotel spa. Cowley Manor is a contemporary chic country house hotel set in the idyllic British countryside. With an emphasis on comfort, service and very few rules, Cowley Manor is the perfect place to relax, unwind and indulge your senses. The hotel oozes simple luxury and everywhere you look there is a another special place to daydream.

Not only do they now serve a fabulous cup of tea in the hotel, but they do so in style. You wouldn’t expect anything else from the team at Cowley Manor though; they use the Lahloo Tovolo Tea infuser. A unique, simple yet stylish way to enjoy loose leaf tea-cup by cup, at work or on holiday.

Then there is their fabulous C.side Spa! The C.side Spa uses only the most natural of products during each experience and their own in-house Green & Spring product range. Its such a stunning setting with a beautiful range of products it was a pleasure to be invited to create three specific blends. Each had to be in keeping with Cowley Manor’s ethos of relax, unwind and indulge the senses with natural ingredients taken from the British countryside used throughout the Green & Spring range.

The 3 teas Kate created – Bliss (a blissful, indulgent blend of Green Jasmine and Rosebuds), Revive (a reviving blend of Japanese green tea, fennel and peppermint) and Unwind (an utterly relaxing blend of Chamomile Flowers and Lavender) – are delicious as well as therapeutic. Whatever your mood or feeling, these teas complete the Cowley Manor experience. And they have been hugely successful with guests at the hotel, spa and village shop.

This place is the perfect place to getaway from it all. They even have wellies you can borrow!

To discover a very special place nestling in the Cotswold countryside and to book a luxury getaway, visit http://www.cowleymanor.com or to visit their Paris ad Amsterdam hotels visit http://www.curioushotels.com

To buy Green & Spring products visit http://www.greenandspring.com or to follow them on twitter hunt our @greenandspring

To find countryside seasonal inspired recipes like Lemon & Thyme Shortbread click here

Tea with a twist!

Last July at the Bristol Wine & Food festival we served up Long Island Iced Earl Grey Tea and Amber Mojitos and they went down like a storm in a teacup (sorry)! So we’ve been working on new recipes for this years’ events – including Bristol Wine & Food 2010, Clinger Farm’s Harvest festival and Dartmouth Food Festival – with  our friends at The Rummer Hotel.  Fabulous bar tenders and mixologists and last night I invited a very select twitter crowd (@cowshedbristol, @pearcafe and @essexeating) to give me their verdicts.

It’s a tough job but someone has to do it! We tried these delicious creations:

‘Caviar’ Marteani – Didi’s clever and unique molecular competition entry. Dry gin martini with fabulous little black salty pearls of our cinnamon Smokey tea ‘caviar’ to give you a burst of flavour. Crazy but a little tricky for us to replicate!

Smokey Margarita – Martin’s amazing twist on a classic margarita using tequila infused with our smokey tea (they all loved the smokey tea)! Sensational and definitely coming to a festival near you soon! Here’s Elly sipping away…

Dragon Pearl Vespa - Joe’s chose the stunning fragrant jasmine Dragon Pearl tea to infuse vodka and created a jasmine and apricot Vespa with a burnt orange twist. I could’ve sipped it all evening! Dan and I loved this one and it will also be making an appearance…

Tea tasting at Arch House Deli, Bristol

Lovely food emporium

We will be tea tasting on Saturday 6th February at the lovely Bristol deli, Arch House Deli.

The deli has been a long time fan of Lahloo tea, in fact they’ve been stocking them from the outset. Anyone entering the Deli recently can’t miss the beautiful dedicated stand of Lahloo Tea. They have recently extended the range of tea and now also stock the fantastic Forlife Stump teapots (the name really doesn’t do them justice) that they use in the café.

Drop in on Saturday 6th and try some of the range – delicious black tea, rare oolong tea, uplifting rose and jasmine tea, rare Korean green tea, special Chinese white tea and digestive infusions – and find out more about Lahloo fantastic teas.

See you there!

The perfect stocking fillers!

It’s even chillier than last time I wrote! I hope you’re keeping warm and that your Christmas plans are coming together. I am so looking forward to a fabulous feast on Christmas Day and a long walk in the woods on Boxing Day. But, I’ve still got so much to do it seems a million miles away! If you have too, don’t panic! Click here to see our little collection of some of our favourite stocking fillers. I hope you find some inspiration!

Happy Christmas from Lahloo

And don’t forget:
♥ order 3 or more pouches and we’ll deliver them free
♥ just email us and we can wrap them for you!
♥ order until 1pm Monday 22nd December by 1st Class or 1pm on Thursday 23rd December by Special Delivery in time for those stockings.

Enjoy your Christmas and here’s to a fabulous 2010!

Lahloo Tea at The Seahorse, Dartmouth

Inspired by travels in the Mediterranean, The Seahorse offers an experience with great food served in relaxed but informal surroundings.

In the same spot that once housed Fishworks in Bristol, Kate’s beedy eye spotted that something new was in the making! With her ear to the ground she discovered that award winning restaurateur and 21st century fishmonger, Mitch Tonks was actually opening an exciting new seafood market and grill – Rockfish.

Kate was invited to take Lahloo Tea and taste it with the new team at a very rushed tasting just days before Rockfish opened. Here she met Mitch and wowed him with a cup of Lahloo Green Jasmine tea. He loved it! Mitch then invited us to sample Lahloo Tea at his other seafood restaurant in Dartmouth, The Seahorse. Here, he tasted and found his favourite cup of tea – Guricha japanese green tea! Lahloo have been supplying Mitch Tonks’ new Rockfish Seafood Market and Grill with Lahloo Tea since their opening in the Summer and recently we sent the first order to a very excited team at The Seahorse.

Read Giles Corens’ fabulous review here. Thank you for serving Lahloo loose-leaf tea Mitch and your team! To book The Seahorse click here, or for Rockfish click here. Enjoy your meal (and your tea – Guricha green tea goes perfectly with fish)!

Tea and chocolate – a girls’ favourite things!

I can’t wait! The ultimate treat is soon to be launched – Damain Allsop’s Tea Chocolate Collection with our very own Lahloo loose leaf tea. Me, Neil and a couple of friends have been the very few lucky ones to have had the pleasure of Damian Allsop’s tea chocolate ‘wow’ factor experience.

Damian has re-invented the chocolate by not using cream or butter in his centres, instead he uses water. His unique water-based ganache is a gastronomic revolution that, with out the cream clouding your taste buds, creates a purer, more intense flavour with a lighter texture. None of us can stop raving about the amazing chocolatier and his truly sensational chocolate creations.

I’d been thinking of trying to find a chocolatier to work with ever since my tea chocolate truffles went down a storm last Christmas at the farmers’ markets. I hadn’t found anyone who’s chocolate wowed me until I tried one of Damian’s amazing chocolates at my favourite Abergavenny Sunday lunch spot (Stephen Terry‘s the Hardwick). It was a revelation and me being me, I scribbled down the name of the creator in my notebook to look up (my notebook is bulging with bits and bobs of inspiration from all over the world).

The rest is history as they say and Lahloo and Damian Allsop are in collaboration on the most amazing chocolate ganaches I have ever tried. We have worked on 3 tea based chocolates and we present to you citrusy Earl Grey, smokey Lapsang and fragrant Jasmine encased in the finest dark chocolate. As one friend of mine said, “This Green Jasmine tea chocolate is amazing; it tastes like I’m drinking a cup of the loose-leaf tea! It’s so good!” We have already given the go-ahead on tea chocolate collection and will be soon working on some other exciting chocolate creations. So watch this space.