​Room Forty Autumn Newsletter
 
It’s certainly been a challenging time for Room Forty, but we’re safe and well, and we hope that you and your families are too.
 
I don’t think we’re out of the woods with new issues arising this week around gas supply and food deliveries but our relationship with our local suppliers and butcher (Rowles) are good and we’ll always find a solution to a problem!
 
 During the first lockdown we had to quickly diversify to keep our little boat afloat and in doing so we found a lot of new customers with our boxed afternoon teas.  In fact the good news is that the boxed teas are here to STAY, alongside our full service afternoon teas, our crockery hire and our baking school, which is back up and running – more of that to come later!  (Next boxes are on 8 October and I just need to add more dates to the website this weekend!)
 
 Of course, we couldn’t have done that without your support which has been phenomenal and has kept me from taking up a nice normal job!
 
New team-mates
 
Our little team has expanded, we’re delighted to have the lovely Paula on board (literally when we did a wedding on a boat!) There’s also been amazing support from our delivery drivers, Steve, Darren and Natalie who made the lockdown tea in a box get to you still fresh on the day.
 
DIARY DATES  - LADIES DAY 12 December 2021
Join us for a Christmas themed afternoon tea with shopping from lots of lovely stalls!
We’ll be there with the full tea room from 12-4 at Padgate Community Day. Afternoon teas can be booked in advance to enjoy the full experience or you can order an afternoon tea in a box to pick up and take home that day!  Book on our website, Eventbrite or our facebook page for a sitting at 12.30 or 2.30. We’d love to see you x
 
BAKING CLASSES
New classes for autumn/Christmas 2021. All priced at £65pp and are fully inclusive and accessible regardless of age, experience and skill!
Baking class vouchers can be purchased as a gift and private parties can be booked at your home or we’ll find a venue – eg for a corporate baking class.
 
Italian Bread
We make Focaccia and a Cheese and Walnut Bread as well as enjoying a demo (and eating)  my delicious scones.
 
Room Forty HQ Wednesday 29 September 2021
 
Pain au chocolat / Croissants
Lymm Village Hall 9am -12  Sat 23 October 2021
Stollen and other festive treats
Lymm Village Hall 9am-12 Sun 21 November
Liverpool at Mossley Hill 6-9pm Wed 15 December
 
Crafternoon tea
More details to follow, but I have had preliminary discussions with a jeweller who would like to do some crafternoon teas with us.  Could it be a Christmas gift voucher idea for someone you love?
 
How many for a tea party?
Because it takes around 8 hours to make every single afternoon tea (more if there are special diets in the party) we do ask for a minimum number of 10 for a full-service afternoon tea.  We’re happy to deliver just the food, or the food and crockery too, but we do like to help you enjoy the occasion more by serving it to you.
 
Cake Craft Kits are back
Great for kids and perfect for fun loving adults (or party events) cake craft kits are available on request and will be a big feature once again in the 12 day lead up to Christmas.
They contain everything you need to have some extraordinary cake decorating fun.
 
 
The Sherston Overnight Loaf
Being the sort of chap that Mitch is, ‘interesting’ you could say, or ‘a bit special’, he likes to check out local bakeries when he is out and about (and often volunteer to work there for a morning?). He was recently down in the Cotswolds and here is his report 
‘Chipping Sodbury is the HQ of the Hobbs House Bakery and top bakers they are. You may remember them being featured as The Fabulous Baker Brothers on TV some years ago.
There are branches of Hobbs House dotted around the Cotswolds and their bread is worth seeking out if you haven’t time to rustle up a White Delight. They also post out their croissant and pain au chocolate frozen to bake at home – check them out, they are an excellent treat.
Their Sherston overnight loaf is really something special. It is an old family recipe developed by their great grandfather Thomas Herbert at a time when it was difficult to get hold of yeast in the 1920’s.
What sets it apart is the length of prove which is said to improve flavour. It does make a lovely loaf of bread and we think it makes the best toast. Ever.
Through the reach and power of Room Forty’s persuasion here is the recipe. It takes a bit longer than normal to make, in fact it takes much the same time as it does to make a sourdough, but the results are worth it. Give it a go
RECIPE
Ingredients:

• 560g Strong White Flour
• 10g salt
• 10g sugar
• 2g yeast
• 20g fat (butter/lard/shortening or a combination)
• 100ml milk (they recommend full fat)
• 200g cool water

Instructions:
Mix all the ingredients together and knead into a smooth, stiff dough.
Cover and leave in a cool place for two hours
Shape the dough and place in a large (2lb) bread tin, cover and leave overnight to rise in the fridge (or for about 8 hours)
Remove from the fridge (the loaf will have risen slightly) and place somewhere warm  to carry on rising (which could take any time from 1 to 3 hours)
Heat the oven up to 240 degrees (or as hot as you can get it)
Dust with flour and slash the bread then bake.
After it has been in for ten minutes turn the oven down a notch to 210 degrees and continue baking. Total baking time will be 30 – 35 minutes
Remove when baked, allow to cool and voila!  

 And this one definitely made us all delighted as it was a challenging venue (on vintage 1930's tugboat 'The Danny' at Acton Bridge!)

"We hired the service of Room 40 Vintage Tea for our wedding reception recently. We were not disappointed! Jen & her team were extremely professional but with a very personable edge. The food that we ordered was excellent, and the cake and cream tea were to die for!

​All of our guests were extremely complementary and thought the experience was amazing. We could not recommend Jen/Room 40 highly enough, the perfect recipe for success for any party/celebration!!!"

Jan and Wayne

​

​

Autumn is here and so is my newsletter - at very long last! 

Grab a cuppa and have a read. I do hope to see you soon, whatever the event make sure there is cake at it!

Let me know what you think! 

You might still like to grab a latte on your commute, but with the average UK resident drinking 876 cups of tea every year – enough to fill two bath tubs, it remains the nations favourite drink.
 
And that’s what is at the heart of what is seemingly the nations favourite pastime during lockdown, ordering afternoon tea deliveries.
 
It is no surprise then, that Room Forty have been inundated with orders for our 5 Star rated, award winning afternoon teas, and we're celebrating National Afternoon Tea week with a super special edition on 15 August, after a couple of weeks off with the family.

 Covid has has a huge impact on our business, some good and some bad. For the first month we couldn't have worked if we had wanted to as there were no ingredients and of course we couldn't do all the weddings and events we were booked in to do. 

What did happen though was an opportunity to do things differently and after I took a little time and found suppliers of ingredients and sustainable packaging I was able to restart in a different way, delivering afternoon tea in a box. Lots of people ordered them as gifts for people who were isolating or to celebrate their birthdays, anniversaries and even funerals, and many have already returned again and again - and for that we are delighted.   

However, since the restaurants have reopened we have seen a significant drop in the number of box orders, but that balances with the fact that we’re able to hire our crockery again and we’re taking bookings to serve our afternoon teas again in people's gardens.

We are also looking forward to getting back into the community centre to restart our bread making workshops this autumn! 

Afternoon  tea week is the perfect excuse to book for your afternoon tea at home, with or without the crockery, it is a real tasty treat. Book on our website - use the tab across the top that says order, and we'll deliver Wednesdays and Saturdays.  

​ 
Bake – along Tuesday 9 June  Vegan friendly meringues that are gluten free too!
Nothing says summer than a light fluffy cloud of meringue with strawberries and cream, preferably smashed up and served as a pile of Eton mess.
 
Traditionally made with whipped egg white and caster sugar, a vegan friendly version definitely didn’t seem possible so I was dubious to say the least.  
 
But, amazingly it worked as well as ‘normal’ meringue AND it tastes delicious too, quite toffee- ish!
 
What’s the secret? Well, this is where it gets a bit weird. It is actually the water from a can of chickpeas. I told you it was weird, but don’t dismiss it because of that, you really will be wowed to try it!
 
I’ll be baking this week at the fabulous JD Kitchens showroom using their Neff slide and hide ovens, so do join me live at 12.00 noon via the Warrington Guardian Coronavirus Facebook page.
 
Ingredients
1 can of chickpeas (use the chickpeas to make hummus or throw in a chicken casserole or roast them for a snack!)
Caster sugar 300 g
Cream of tartar (not essential if you can’t get it)
Vanilla extract
 
You definitely need an electric whisk for this, some baking paper and a piping bag is useful, but you can do dollops with a spoon if you don’t want to pipe it. 

 
This week in our Room Forty FREE Live Bake-along we’re making the nations favourite lockdown treat, banana bread, and it will be vegan friendly too.
 
 It is an easy peasy recipe and a great store cupboard make, brilliant if you have some bananas that have seen better days!   (I actually have had to hide my bananas from my family for 3 days or I wouldn’t have any to bake with!)   

You can add nuts or fruit to it for additional texture, and it keeps beautifully, actually improving the next day.

If you would like to bake a long live we’re on the Warrington Guardian Coronavirus news Facebook page at 12 noon on Tuesday 2 June, and I will be live from JD Kitchens in Warrington for a nice change of scenery using their fabulous Neff slide and hide ovens!

Ingredients
3 large black bananas
75ml vegetable oil or sunflower oil, plus extra for the tin
100g brown sugar
225g plain flour (or use self-raising flour and reduce the baking powder to 2 heaped tsp)
3 heaped tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice
50g dried fruit or nuts (optional)

Method
1.      Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. 
2.      Mash 3 large black peeled bananas with a fork, then mix well with 75g vegetable or sunflower oil and 100g brown sugar.
3.      Add 225g plain flour, 3 heaped tsp baking powder and 3 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice, and combine well. Add 50g dried fruit or nuts, if using.
4.      Bake in an oiled, lined 2lb loaf tin for 20 minutes. Check and cover with foil if the cake is browning.
5.      Bake for another 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
6.       Allow to cool a little before slicing. 

For our next bakealong on Tuesday 26 May I thought we might give these a whirl.
Light, crumbly, buttery and utterly delicious, these are surprisingly easy to make. For added indulgence they can be sandwiched to make ‘kisses’ with a smear of jam and blob of buttercream, or you could half dip them in chocolate – or both!
Ingredients:
For the biscuits you’ll need:

• 200g salted butter, softened
• 50g icing sugar
• 2 x tsp vanilla extract
• 200g plain flour
• 2 x tsp cornflour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 2 x tbsp milk (you may not need this but have it on hand)

 For the filling:

• 100g softened butter
• 170g icing sugar
• 1 x tsp vanilla extract
• About 50g jam, I prefer raspberry or strawberry, but you can choose whatever you prefer

Instructions

1. Heat your oven to 180C/160C fan and line two baking sheets baking paper.
2. Put your butter and icing sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk for about 5 mins until pale and fluffy. You might want to sift the icing sugar to break down any lumps. Remember to scrape the bowl down with a spatula to make sure everything is mixed in. Add the vanilla extract and beat again until fully incorporated.
3. Sift in the flour, cornflour and baking powder, and fold into the mixture using a spatula until fully combined. The dough should have a sticky consistency but be soft enough to pipe. If it feels too heavy, add a tbsp of milk (you may even need two – careful though not to make it too thin). Spoon the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star-shaped nozzle. Do it in two batches if all the mixture won’t fit in.
4. Pipe swirly circles 5cm diameter onto the two baking sheets making sure there are 3cm spaces between each swirl (as the mixture will spread and the biscuits might conjoin).
5. Bake for 10-12 mins, swapping the trays over halfway through the cooking time so the biscuits are evenly baked, until pale golden and cooked through. Leave to cool on the baking sheets for a few mins, then transfer to wire racks to cool.
6. While the biscuits cool, make the filling. Put the softened butter in a large mixing bowl and add the icing sugar. Again, you may want to sift the icing sugar to remove any lumps. Stir together initially with a wooden spoon then switch to electric beaters or a whish attachment to get the buttercream fluffy and smooth. Add the vanilla extract and beat once more to combine. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag and snip off the end.
7. When they are fully cool, turn the biscuits over so their flat side is facing up then pipe buttercream over half of the biscuits and spread a little jam on the rest. Sandwich a jam covered biscuit together with a buttercream one and repeat until all the biscuits are used up.

Now, at this stage you could make a brew and scoff the lot, or you could melt some chocolate and half dip them.
Alternatively you could half dip them before you sandwich them. Or just dip the flat bottomed side in melted chocolate and let them dry top side down. You could just eat them like that OR sandwich them as above. Choice is yours! Decisions, decisions! 
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