Almond Friands Recipe

It's the only dish I will miss after dinner. As my 'families' (overseas friends) love it, as we discovered this recipe together whilst trying to make it one weekend. You have to love it especially when it's your own creation!

Ingredients:

 1 1/2 cups sugar

 1 cup plain flour

 1 cup almond meal

 5 eggwhites

 melted butter

 1 tsp vanilla extract

 flaked almonds

Method:

STEP 1	Preheat oven to 180 . Grease eight 1/2-cup (125ml) capacity friand or muffin pans and place on an oven tray.
STEP 2	Combine icing sugar, flour and almond meal in a medium bowl. Add eggwhites, butter and vanilla; stir until just combined. Spoon among pans. Sprinkle with almonds.
STEP 3	Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centres comes out clean. Set aside for 5 minutes; turn onto a wire rack.
STEP 4	To make syrup, use a small, sharp knife to scrape seeds from vanilla bean and place in a medium saucepan. Add bean and sugar; stir to combine and break up seeds. Add water and place over lowheat. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Cook, without stirring, for 3-5 minutes or until syrup thickens slightly. Remove from heat. Pour hot syrup over friands. Set aside to cool.

WOW~That's it! We finished! As I am most definitely not the best chef, my friends helped me finish it and they provided the script for the recipe (as I am hopeless at this stuff also!).


Hope everyones enjoy it and checks it out for themselves!!!

Tea for Two at T2

A sunny spring day. A cup of tea. And a chat with your mates. That makes a perfect day. Plus a fact that tea is healthy! *I'm just trying to be fun*

T2 has been one of my favourite outing place, especially when I want to slow down, sit back and relax with some special friends. Its unique design, unique menu and friendly staff are the reasons why I keep coming back times after times. 

T2 Tea House has two stores, one in Macquarie Shopping Center and another one in Hornsby which I have never been at. 

The look from outside, through the glass walls

The very first thing that attracted my attention when I first came into the Macquarie Tea House store was the Japanese looking lady on the wall decoration. It gave me the feeling that I'll be served with tea in Japanese style - which is not true...kinda confusing...but anw, now I get used to it, after the 3rd time visiting the store. 

The warm color, stylish and cushiony chairs will surely make you feel like home. 

Different chair and table settings (btw, they're having High tea)

An interesting thing at Tea House is that it looks like a shop where the waiter/waitress will come to your table and take your order, but in fact, it's not! At my first time, I was sitting at my table, waiting for like 10 minutes, hoping that someone would come to me and ask to take the order. Until I saw a lady at the next table came to the counter and ordered her tea.

Another cool thing is that you will receive an empty teapot from the cashier after paying. Then, you'll bring this empty teapot back to your table and wait until the teapot is replaced with your tea. This usually takes about 5-10 minutes. In the meantime, it's a good idea to go through the menu to decide on what to try at your next visit! They have a set drink menu written on a blackboard above the counter, with a variety of new teas everyday. 

Sweets, salad, scones, cakes, etc 

Their delights include a range of cakes, pastries, sandwiches, salads, sweets and of course, tea. The tea is served in a Victorian-styled teapot or polka dotted ones, with unique traditional and contemporary tea cup. 

This time I get myself Crème Brulée tea and one caramel macaroon. 

And it tastes like Crème Brulée which is awesome! I can smell the caramelized aroma and feel the sweetness when slowly sipping the tea. This makes a perfect combination with the macaroon and gives me so much joy.

However, I must say I'm not a true tea drinker. So I'm quite happy with what I get here. If you expect some real, authentic, English tea experience, I suggest you might want to try somewhere else...

T2 Tea House
Address: Level 4, Shop 440 - Macquarie Shopping Center
Tel: 9888 3665