Royal Icing: The Queens Tea (No Apostrophe Needed)

Who doesn't love a wedding? In the style of the Queen, my office chums and I decided to celebrate the Royal Wedding with a proper afternoon tea. Queens of a different stripe, my buddy Don and I directed the effort to put on the semi-glamorous theme party. I think it came together gloriously.

(This is Stevi, not Don. He was feeling a little camera shy. Stevi, however, was not.)

I had wanted to serve fruit cake (another great pun ha!). To my chagrin, no grocers in all of Columbus sell fruit cakes this time of year. Nor do they sell the candied fruits needed to bake a scratch version correctly.

In all, we served cucumber sandwiches, toasted crumpets with vanilla curd and strawberry jam, pecorino romano crusted biscuits (not shown), mini cinnamon coffee cakes, coco-raspberry tea biscuits, and, of course, tea.

Herbed Cream Cheese and Cucumber Sandwiches with Dill

Did I mention we threw this whole affair together in about an hour? No? Well we did - hence the paper plates and plastic serving spoons.

This is my best attempt at a "foodie" style close-up. Pure food porn!

Please do not confuse the crumpet with the Americanized "English muffin". While they are similar in flavor, the crumpet came first and defines its particular baked-goods category. This is how a crumpet looks; the holes and crannies are not hidden within a roll that requires splitting. The crannies form on the top of the crumpet while it bakes. Imagine a pancake allowed to bake without flipping - the ridges of batter formed by escaping CO2 bubbles set into a great texture that toasts really well.

One would broil or toast one's crumpets if following closely with tradition. We had neither a broiler nor a toaster in our office. Enter the Presto Pizza Pizzazz - our favorite office equipment. Who knew it would make the perfect crumpet toaster?