Autumn is here...

And I've had baking urges which go very well with my newest tea acquisition from Madame Flavour, an Organic Mints Tisane – a pungent blend of organic Victorian Peppermint, Egyptian Spearmint, Australian Native Rivermint from Gippsland; and a touch of purple cornflower, which is amazingly refreshing and Rainier loves it too!!

To locate your nearest shop which stocks Madame Flavour teas, please click on this Store Finder, or check out her online boutique to order teas through.


Image of mint tea glasses we had in Paris in La Mosquee in 2008...drained of their delicious contents!
So, if you happen have quinces at your disposal at the moment then this is a great cake recipe that goes really well with the tea:


PEAR (or QUINCE) CAKE

Ingredients:

1 ripe large pear (or quince), peeled, quartered and sliced
250 grams (8 ounces) plain flour
220 grams (7 ounces) sugar (I used raw sugar which makes the cake get a yummy crust)
2 level teaspoons of baking powder
pinch of salt
2 eggs
250ml (8 fluid ounces) milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F)

In a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder & salt.

In another bowl, beat the eggs and milk until well blended. Gradually add to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Pour the batter into a greased loaf tin (I made mine in a square cake tin). Add the pear (or quince) to the batter, pushing some of the pieces in with a toothpick.

Bake in the oven for about an hour or until the cake is light brown on top (and a skewer test of the cake comes out clean).

Remove from the oven and let the cake stand in the tin for 15 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

Serve with plenty of whipped cream (or ice cream as a dessert!)

Special call for help!

Taking a break each afternoon from work sees me downstairs in my kitchen making pots of tea....this was yesterday with a pot of Madame Flavour Earl Grey tea with Australian Lemon Myrtle....and some Green & Blacks organic milk chocolate and locally-made shortbread that I buy from the small grocers down the street...supporting local businesses!

I also received an email 'call to tea-drinking arms' so I'm posting this on behalf of Corinne Noyes, the fabulous woman behind Australia's Madame Flavour Teas, a personal favourite of mine, in an effort to spread the word to support local/Australian (fair trade) business, please pass this message on to anyone you think is interested too, and help a great tea merchant stay alive and grow, and all before the 19th of April, eeeek!!!

Many thanks in advance...and this is what Corinne says:

"This morning I make my way to Fujian province to spend a week with our green and white tea growers discovering firsthand the tradition and wonderful variety of Chinese tea.

I am troubled though and writing to ask for your support.

You may have heard that the Woolworths/Safeway tea buyer recently left. Their entire range will now be reviewed with a view to deleting teas not selling enough according to their corporate requirements.

We have grown over 100%, but as a small business, Madame is vulnerable.

On the 19th of April, I have a meeting with the new buyers to present our wonderful teas and the difference they make.

Between now and then, I ask that you show your love of Madame Flavour by; no other way to put it: buying and spreading the word as you never have before.

To thank you for your continued support, I am excited to invite 10 Kindred Spirits to High Tea at The Hotel Windsor in Melbourne. To join me, I ask that you mail me your Madame Flavour buying and spreading the word story of 25 words or less. I will chose the winners May 30th and publish them and the High Tea date in my next newsletter.

This could make all the difference in the wonderful story we have to tell when we look back 20 years from now at these early days.

Thank-you for your passion and generosity in our shared adventure. I will let you know how I go.

Kindest Regards
Corinne - owner and founder"
FACEBOOK PAGE, CLICK HERE!

So I raced to my local Woolworths, the only place in Deloraine where I can get Madame Flavour teas, and stocked up...here are some of my favourites, and the white tea with rose I bought directly from Madame Flavour and its THE most DIVINE tea (perfectly perfect with a light sponge cake!!)