Having tea with a bosom friend is something that not only our beloved Anne could long for! Below are seven recipes inspired by Anne of Green Gables' characters, to prepare and enjoy by yourself or with a kindred spirit!
All recipes featured in the video are vegan. If you want to keep them vegan too, make sure to use plant-based milk, raw (non-refined) sugar, vegan icing sugar, vegan butter/margarine, etc.
Chapter 16, Diana Is Invited to Tea with Tragic Results.
Do you remember when Diana was invited to tea and Anne confused the raspberry cordial with Marilla's currant wine?
Let's remember together some excerpts from this chapter, "Diana Is Invited to Tea with Tragic Results".
“Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."
"And—I don’t really know if I’m doing right—it may make you more addlepated than ever—but you can ask Diana to come over and spend the afternoon with you and have tea here.”
“Oh, Marilla!” Anne clasped her hands. “How perfectly lovely! You ARE able to imagine things after all or else you’d never have understood how I’ve longed for that very thing. It will seem so nice and grown-uppish. No fear of my forgetting to put the tea to draw when I have company. Oh, Marilla, can I use the rosebud spray tea set?”
“I can just imagine myself sitting down at the head of the table and pouring out the tea,” said Anne, shutting her eyes ecstatically. “And asking Diana if she takes sugar! I know she doesn’t but of course I’ll ask her just as if I didn’t know. And then pressing her to take another piece of fruit cake and another helping of preserves. Oh, Marilla, it’s a wonderful sensation just to think of it. Can I take her into the spare room to lay off her hat when she comes? And then into the parlor to sit?”
"But it isn’t good manners to tell your company what you are going to give them to eat, so I won’t tell you what she said we could have to drink. Only it begins with an R and a C and it’s bright red color. I love bright red drinks, don’t you? They taste twice as good as any other color.”
Don't forget to watch the video and leave a comment! I'd love to know which is your favourite recipe and character!
Recipes
Marilla Cuthbert’s Raspberry Cordial (non-alcoholic)
Ingredients
350gr raspberries
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup water
Instructions
Add the raspberries to a pot or saucepan. You can use fresh or frozen raspberries.
Add the sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and water.
Mix well and cook them until they begin to break down and release their juice.
Let them cool down and sieve them to separate the juice from the solids.
Add the juice concentrate to a bottle and dilute it with water until you get the desired flavour!
You can add a handmade label to your bottle for an extra touch of charm!
Rachel Lynde’s Raspberry Apple Tarts
Ingredients
For 12 tarts
Puff pastry or pie crust
Raspberry puree (left over from Raspberry cordial recipe)
2 apples
2 tbsp lemon juice
For these little tarts, I used a muffin baking pan and a biscuit cutter.
Instructions
Peel and chop 2 apples. Add them to a pot and add the lemon juice. Mix and cook until the apples are slightly soft.
Let the apples cool down and add the raspberry puree. Mix until well combined.
Cut round pieces from the pastry and press them into the muffin baking pan.
Cut the border with a biscuit cutter. Make sure the cutter is big enough since the crust could shrink in the oven.
Fill each pastry case with a spoonful of the raspberry and apple mix.
Bake at 180°C for 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden.
Diana Barry’s Blueberry Scones
Ingredients
150gr blueberries
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon raw sugar
1 pinch of salt
1/3 cup vegetable margarine or oil
100 ml plant-based milk
Instructions
Blueberry Glaze
Add the blueberries to a pot or saucepan. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries.
Cook them until they begin to break down and release their juice.
Let them cool down and sieve them to separate the thick juice from the solids.
Add the blueberry juice to the powdered sugar and whisk.
Add water or milk to create the desired consistency.
Scones
Add all the dry ingredients to a big bowl and mix them together.
Add the vegetable margarine or oil and work with your hands until well combined.
Add the milk and work the mixture to make a dough. Add a bit of flour if the dough is still sticky.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface (thickness around 2cm) and cut out the scones. You can use a biscuit cutter.
Place on a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes or until slightly golden in a preheated oven to 160°C.
Let them cool down.
Spoon the glaze over the scones. Ta-da! Almost done!
Garnish with any edible flowers or leaves of your choice.
Anne Shirley’s Carrot Cake
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1,5 tbsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 pinch of salt
3 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup plant-based milk
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cups carrots finely grated
1/2 cup walnuts
Instructions
Add all the dry ingredients to a big bowl and whisk well.
Add the milk and the oil and stir softly until combined.
Add the grated carrots (use the smallest side of the grater) and the walnuts and stir softly.
Pour the batter into a cake pan previously lined with baking paper.
Bake for 1 hour at 170°C (or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean).
Gilbert Blythe’s Chocolate Biscuits
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp cacao powder
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup vegan butter (softened)
pistachios
Instructions
Add the flour, cacao powder and sugar to a large bowl. Whisk until well combined.
Add the softened butter and work the mix with your hands until a dough forms.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut out the biscuits with a biscuit cutter.
Place them on a baking tray previously lined with baking paper.
Press down one pistachio into the centre of each biscuit.
Bake them for 12-15 minutes at 180°C.
Matthew Cuthbert’s Farm Sandwiches
Ingredients
Below are the ingredients I used in the video, but you can use any other greens, spread and herbs.
Wholemeal bread slices
Natural hummus
Lamb's lettuce (cornsalad)
Chives
Red radish cress
Instructions
Cut off the crusts of the bread.
Spread hummus onto the bread and add a layer of leafy greens.
Slice into rectangles.
Spread a thin layer of hummus on the top bread rectangle.
Garnish with chopped chives and red cress.
Ruby Gillis’ Tea Sandwiches
Ingredients
Below are the ingredients I used in the video, but you can use any other greens, spread and herbs.
White bread slices
Beetroot hummus
Red cabbage
Instructions
Cut two slices of bread with a large biscuit cutter.
Cut a tiny shape out of the centre of one of the slices.
Spread hummus onto the bread slices and add a layer of red cabbage between them.