Afternoon Tea at Ruby Violet

[kaberett]

On Wednesday we visited London Zoo with friends and their toddler, had afternoon tea, and tripped and fell into the Queer Britain museum.

At The Zoo: highlights included the toddler discovering the underwater viewing area for the Humboldt penguins, the toddler meeting The Goats (including our fave Potticus, who this time deigned to nibble my fingers very gently), the gently pink-tinged pelican, and a very obliging Emerald Swallowtail:

(... huh, that photo looks significantly more vibrant on my phone than on my laptop.)

Which leaves the afternoon tea! Per the website listing (which also has Professional Photographs that are extremely similar to what we got):

Wookey Hole cheddar twists

Mushroom vol-au-vents

Mini spinach and parmesan quiché

Mini Strawberry and Genovese sponge ice cream sandwiches, with chocolate garnish

Pistachio & Genovese sponge triangular ice cream sandwiches

Belgian chocolate shells around a Genovese sponge infused with Chambord, a layer of raspberry jam topped with ice cream swirls and chocolate decoration

Raspberry Rosewater & Prosecco lollipops

Three-tiered ice cream cake with Chocolate, Raspberry and Maxi Moo Moo layers of organic milk ice cream adorned with frozen raspberries and edible flowers

A selection of ice cream chocolates

Accompanied by a glass of Prosecco, wine, Newby tea or coffee

Some notes:

• The Prosecco was served, as can be seen in the photograph at least once you know what you're looking at, with pomegranate seeds (... arils). This was delightful: the arils are at the exact sweet spot in terms of density and surface texture that they'd sit at the bottom of the glass acting as a nucleation site and gradually acquiring bubbles until they hit the right buoyancy to float, whereupon they'd rise to the top of the glass and the bubbles would gradually burst or otherwise escape and then the seeds would sink again. The end result was reminiscent of a lava lamp or a Galileo thermometer, and for bonus points was extra tasty.
• The topmost layer of the cake stand was the three tiny savoury snacks, served warm. They were entirely pleasant and a nice contrast to Everything Else, including the way the crispness of the pastry contrasted with the crispness of the various ice cream and chocolate confections, but were -- obviously -- not actually what we were there for.
• We dithered a bit about order, and wound up eating the ice cream sandwiches followed by the Belgian Chocolate Shells Around... followed by the ice lollies followed by the three-tier ice cream cakes followed, finally, by the chocolates (which were as I recall raspberry in a dark chocolate shell, and pistachio nonsense in white chocolate). We swapped the order of the Belgian Chocolate Shells & the three-tier cakes relative to how they were presented, and I think I'd have preferred them the other way around.
• It was about 17°C outside which was probably just about the perfect temperature: any colder and we'd have been uncomfortable, but any warmer and the ice cream would have melted even more quickly. I do understand the decision to present Everything At Once (and it's very pretty and extremely striking!), and we did manage to spend just under an hour on the experience, but some of our decisions about what to eat when were definitely affected by what was melting fastest.
• I was more into the strawberry ice cream in the sponge sandwiches than I'd expected; I was less into the sponge itself, largely because the temperature it was necessarily served at had An Impact on the texture. (The decorative chocolate piping -- milk/dark for the strawberry; white for the pistachio -- was very pretty and also provided textural contrast/interest!) On the basis that I'd not Particularly enjoyed the sponge in the sandwiches, I decided to go for the Belgian Chocolate Shells next in the hope that I'd prefer the three-tier ice cream cake to them and thereby end on a high, and this... was a mistake. Partly because the raspberry ice cream, present in both, was spectacular -- whereas I'm a bit dubious about chocolate ice cream under most circumstances; partly because I think having had slightly longer to warm up made the texture of the sponge less objectionable, which in turn implies that I might have enjoyed the sandwiches more if I'd left them til later on in proceedings. Raspberry jam also spectacular.
• Raspberry Rosewater & Prosecco lollipops excellent, and did a remarkably good job as a sympathetic palate cleanser. Adam got Very Big Eyes when I pointed out that it's a recipe they usually churn as a sorbet but had in this case apparently decided to freeze in a block, and as and when our raspberries are ready to harvest I suspect I'll be experimenting with making these at home.
• The ice cream cakes were topped with a frozen raspberry and a crystallised violet, both of which were very pretty and both of which went extremely well with the Maxi Moo Moo. The raspberry ice cream, as mentioned, was excellent -- I much prefer it to their raspberry ripple (mostly, ripples just don't do it for me) and am a bit miffed they don't sell it neat. Having relatively recently read both Stuff Matters (including a chapter on How Chocolate Crystal Structure Affects Flavour) and La Grotta Ices (which has a section on How To Optimally Prep Chocolate To Avoid Chalkiness) I am wanting to cross-reference the Ruby Violet recipe with La Grotta Ices, not least because Ruby Violet's chocolate sorbet doesn't have the same Issue and is one I actually like (though not usually enough to order it given the other offerings). (I wound up giving a chunk of my chocolate ice cream to Adam to finish, is how indifferent to it I am.) I think this is the thing that suffered most from the Difficulties With Temperature (well, after the sandwiches, which as discussed I might have liked more if they'd had slightly longer to thaw): the outsides were getting decidedly melty by the time we got to them, while the insides -- which were best insulated -- were still pretty solid, and I think they'd probably have been easier and tidier to eat had we got to them when they were a more consistent temperature!
• The white chocolate shell around Pistachio Misc was too sweet and too [white chocolate] for my tastes, though it did its best; the dark chocolate was very pleasant; they both did a good job of Continuing The Theme though both were, alas, Really Rather Melted by the time we got to them.

Overall: delightful experience, am possibly half-way to talking myself into Doing It Again now I have a better idea of what order to eat things in for (probable) maximum enjoyment, Excellent Contribution To Extended Birthday Celebrations.

Comments

[hairyears]

A year or two ago, ewt and I subscribed to a six-month Ruby Violet delivery service: highly recommended!

[lunabee34]

What a gorgeous butterfly! (Moth?)

[silveradept]

A very striking friend, and that tea service sounds entirely delightful and makes me miss the tea service locally to myself, which could not be safely enjoyed in the current times, as it is in a lovely house with tables far too close together and inadequate ventilation. Perhaps if they expanded to tent services.

[hunningham]

Thought you might like to know ... I was in the right area of London yesterday evening and went to Rubyviolet. I've been wanting to try it since you made this post. And I had damson ice-cream and yes, wonderful. Thank-you for rec.

[kaberett]

Aaaah! Yes I am delighted to know, thank you for saying, and the damson is one of my favourites :-)