High Tea in Santa Cruz, finally !!

For Mother's Day and a belated birthday treat, a friend took me to the Buttercup Bakery in downtown Santa Cruz for high tea.

I love high tea and I love the cupcakes I have had from this bakery. I was so excited when I saw they were offering high tea on the weekends.

First off the table was set with a beautiful fresh flower bouquet which nicely matched my hair. There were beautiful depression glass looking goblets, sweet china tea cups, silver and, of course, a crisp white table cloth.

 High tea is served on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 to 3:30, there are two options: the cream tea, which includes scones, lemon curd, jam, whipped cream and a pot of tea or the savory tea, which has a lot to choose from, including tea sandwiches, quiche, a daily soup and dessert !
Note: They offered several vegan and gluten free options.

We chose the savory tea which started with this delicate and tasty fruit salad of berries and whipped cream.

We each chose three sandwiches not quite understanding that the quiche and soup were also options ( next time.)

This photo does not do the sandwiches justice. I had the cucumber, cream cheese and mint, the BLT with candied bacon and one called Pretty in Pink: smoked salmon, herb cream cheese, pickled watermelon radish and lemon zest on sweet french bread. They were all exquisite, just the right texture of bread, the right amount of filling and the right size to make room for the rest of our meal.

These lavender lemon scones were to die for. I am a scone snob, no doughy, heavy scones for me. These were crisp and flaky, and the lavender which can taste soapy was only a pleasant hint on top.
The lemon curd and jam were great compliments to the scones.

If that wasn't enough along came dessert: a lavender vanilla cupcake, a petite four, a tiny fruit tart and a chocolate hibiscus cupcake. Luckily they were all mini size, wow !!

We left very sated and excited to come back for another tea time treat.

I was so inspired this evening I made two different kinds scones for a high tea luncheon this coming weekend with family. I'll post those recipes soon.