On a surprisingly cold Sunday afternoon on the 28th of April 2019, our fearless guests enjoyed Darjeeling and finest pâtisserie under apple trees in full bloom.

Mille Feuilles with honey vanilla cream and fresh fruit

Chocolate banana bites

Rhubarb tarte with almond cream

Chocolate mousse swiss roll with sour cherries

Spinach and Parmesan roll with cream cheese

Brown bread with goat cheese, parsley and capers

Marinated carrot sticks

Darjeeling (Autumnal Namring)

This year on 15th November, even the room’s decoration was partly edible. Excess donations were given to Udayan Care e.V., an NGO running orphanages in India.

• Besan Laddu (fudge made of chick pea flour)
• Carrot Halwa
• Swiss roll of coconut and mango
• Shrikhand (creamy curds with saffron)

• Upma (semolina wit green peas)
• Potato Chaat on Cucumber

• Masala Chai (spicy tea with milk)

Even though nearly all our events are inspired by the English High Tea, this was the first time we actually had it properly, with all the trimmings. We also collected donations for the NGO “Relief and Reconciliation for Syria”.

• Scones with strawberry preserve and clotted cream
• Fruit cake
• Carrot Cake with cream cheese icing
• Apple Pie
• Treacle Tart
• Cucumber Sandwiches
• Egg Sandwiches

Earl Grey

In late summer, we enjoyed nature’s abundance in fruit and simultaneously collected donations for the initiave “Neue Nachbarschaft Moabit”.

• Hazelnut and Rose-hip Swiss Roll with Marzipan
• Apple Turnovers with Puff Pastry
• Plums on Brioche with whipped cream
• Blueberry and Sour Cream Tart
• Smoked Cheese and Pears on Pumpernickel
• Sandwiches with green Peas and Dill
• Hibiscus Iced Tea
• Rushka (similar to Earl Grey, by Mariage Frères)

In April, we had tea in Andrea Wallgren’s and Eva Sörensen’s studio, surrounded by works of art in all stages of development.

• Puff Pastry Tart with Apricots
• Lemon Cheese Cake
• Honey Almond Bites
• Mixed Berry Morsels
• Quiche of Wild Herbs and Onions
• Sandwiches with Cheddar Cheese and Avocado
• Darjeeling

Berlin was full of love and – exceptionally – of pink cake icing.

Heart-shaped almond and rose flower cakes
Heart-shaped poppy seed and lemon cakes
Heart-shaped choux pastry with vanilla curds and cherries
Heart-shaped meringue
Mixed berry tarte with chestnut cream

Sandwiches with beetroot and sheep’s cheese
Pumpernickel with omelette and fine herbs

Earl Grey
Darjeeling with rose flowers

For Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, Sophiencafé again had tea and sweets by candle-light. Ina von Jeinsen’s rangoli fascinated us throughout the evening.

• Besan Laddu (chickpea flour made into something sweet and addictive)
• Halwa with carrots and beetroot
• Halwa of mung beans
• Sandhesh with lychees

• Dahi Chawal (Rice with yoghurt and appetizing spices)
• Salad of cucumbers, peanuts and coriander with black salt
• Bombay Mixture
• Different pickles

• Masala Chai (spicy tea with milk)

After her three-months stay in Morocco, Astrid Sohie naturally came back with a few recipes – a new way of making tea not being the least of them.

•  Ghribas with sesame and aniseed
• Kaab Ghazal (Gazelle’s horns) with six-year-old butter
• Almond baskets with orange flower water
• Almond paste in brick dough and honey
• Fakkas with frozen oranges
• Dates and fresh fruit

• Harira (soup)
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Olives
• Harcha (semolina pancakes) with olive oil and cumin

• Moroccan mint tea

Yet again, we enjoyed benign weather. Let us make this a tradition.

• Rhubarb tarte with almond cream
• Little choux with coffee filling and a caramel crust
• Fresh fruit salad with violets
• Marble cake with poppy seeds and pistachios
• Pain d’épices (French honey loaf cake)

• Quiche with sheep cheese and fine herbs
• Sandwiches with avocado and Cheddar Cheese

• Homemade iced tea
• Darjeeling FTGOP

We celebrated the tea club’s first anniversary with all that was due.

• Swiss roll with mango, blackberries and almond crumble

• Carrot cake with cream cheese and oranges
• Hazelnut dacquoise with lemon curd and caramel mousse
• Quatre-quarts with and without cranberries

• Chocolate bites with Griottines

• Quiche with goat cheese and dill

• Chickpea spread on Pumpernickel

• beet root sandwiches
 


• Lady Grey

• Assam Frisian style

• Genmaicha

Rie Miki of Rie PâtisseRie succeeds in making delicious cakes that consist up to 30% of vegetables. A perfect partner for good resolutions and the new year’s first tea party.

Süßes von Rie PâtisseRie
• Käsekuchen mit karamellisiertem Blumenkohl
• Schokoladenweißkohltorte
• Mandelküchlein mit Zucchini
• Moussetörtchen mit Roter Bete

• Lupinenblinis mit Avocadofüllung
• Hirsesalat mit Granatapfel auf Gurke
• Kräuterquark auf Roggenvollkornbrot
• Tatar von Tomaten und Blutorangen auf Dinkelvollkornbrot

• Genmaicha
• Frischer Ingwertee

Ina von Jeinsen, the artist who let me use the oven in her Paris Studio when a trainee, exhibited some of her finest works.

• Financiers mit Earl Grey
• Cannelés
• Tartelettes mit Orangen und Granatapfel
• Käseküchlein mit Brombeeren
• Klassische Spekulatius

• Kräuteromelette auf Pumpernickel
• Avocadosandwiches mit Harzer Käse
• Quiche

• Ostfriesentee mit Kluntje und Wulkje
• Grüner Jasmintee

The Indian festival of lights, sweets and new clothes was just right to make us forget dreary November afternoons.

• Gulab Sandhesh (Frischkäsebällchen mit Rosenwasser)
• Mysore Pak (Kichererbsenfudge mit viel geklärter Butter)
• Kaju Anjeer Barfi (Pralinen von Cashewnüssen und Feigen mit Kardamom)
• Sevian Payasam (Fadennudeln in Milch auf südindische Art)
• Apple Halwa (Apfelspeise mit geklärter Butter, Kardamom und Rosinen)

• Masala Kheera (würzige Gurken)
• Sandwich Pakora (ausgebackene Sandwiches mit Gemüsefüllung)
• Zweierlei Chutneys (Tamarinde und Koriander-Minze)

• Masala Chai

Indians are more food-focussed even than the French, and seem to enjoy explaining their local tastes. 

• Shrikhand
• Ghajar Halwa
• Besan Laddu
• Soan Papdi
• Jalebi

• Masala Muri
• Pani Puri
• Alu Tikki
• Chutneys

• Masala Chai

With the help of a jungle of wild herbs from the balcony, there was a re-interpretation of classical French cuisine in a vegetarian five-course dinner.

• Wildkräuter und Kohlrabi vom Balkon mit Ziegenmilchschaum und Zitronenverbene

• La Vie en Rose (Suppe von Roter Bete, Limette und Dill)

• Senfeier nach Art des Hauses (Spiegeleier an Purée mit Senfparfait und –blüten)

• Basilikumwölkchen an Erdbeeren
• Mille Feuilles zum Selberbauen mit Schokoladensorbet und –sabayon

• Schätzel ReinStoff Riesling 2011

We met to picnic in one of Berlin’s least known picnic spots.
• Karamellisierte Windbeutel mit Kaffee- und Schokoladenfüllung
• Rhabarbertarte
• Mandeltarte mit Rumkorinthen
• Gélée „Berliner Weiße“ mit Bier, Waldmeister und frischen Himbeeren an Schlagsahne
• Schokoladenrosmarinküchlein mit gesalzener Karamellsauce
• Schokoladenhaferkekse
• Frische Erdbeeren

• Sandwiches mit rohem Spargel
• Ziegenkäsequiche

• Eistee
• Yorkshire Gold Kenya

Sophiencafé I.
On Maundy Thursday, 28th March 2013, Berlin’s first Secret Tea Club opened under the name “Sophiencafé”.

• Klassische Apfeltarte
• Mohnbrioche
• Cannelés
• Financiers
• Mille-feuilles mit Pflaumen, Orangen und Vanille
• Vollkornspekualtius belgischer Art

• Wachtelei auf Pumpernickel mit Petersilienkapernbutter
• Gurkensandwiches mit Dancaveo

• Selbstgepflückter Assam FTGOP
• Sencha
• Frischer Minztee
• Earl Grey