Bedford Lodge Hotel & Spa’s luxurious new afternoon tea experience is only available from April 19 to 22, with the kitchen team pulling out all the stops to put a smile on customers’ faces. To begin, there are delicate finger sandwiches of local smoked salmon on horseradish and wholewheat bread, cucumber and cream cheese on white bread, poached Norfolk chicken and grain mustard mayonnaise on tarragon bread, and egg mayonnaise and sakura cress on tomato bread. That’s followed by freshly made warm fruit and plain scones with clotted cream, jam and homemade lemon curd.
But the pieces de resistance is set to be the feast of chocolate creations from Bedford Lodge’s pastry chef Jenny Beamish-Young, who has combined decadence with playfulness to craft cakes and sweet treats she hopes will stir up a bit of nostalgia in diners. Her selection includes shortbread chicks, chocolate nests with mini eggs, chocolate ganache delice layered with salted caramel cream, banana and chocolate macaron, spiced Newmarket Cake with mascarpone cream, triple chocolate layered brownie, and white chocolate and strawberry eclairs. If you still have room, there’s a glass of Moet & Chandon Champagne on the side too.
And if that’s not quite enough chocolate for you, the hotel has created a Chocolate Lover’s Easter Escape. The deal (£205 based on two sharing) includes the afternoon tea above, an overnight stay for two in a King bedroom, a Hotel Chocolat Easter egg filled with truffles in your room, and a full English breakfast in the award-winning Squires restaurant. Bookings are being taken for dates from April 6 to 22.
The chocolate afternoon tea is priced at just under £30 per person and must be booked in advance by calling the hotel.