Afternoon Tea & Cheer at the Duke Mansion

On Sunday gathered with afternoon tea lovers from around the Charlotte area for the Duke Mansion’s 9th Annual Afternoon Tea & Cheer event. This was the first time that we attended an afternoon tea event at the Duke Mansion and our third visit to the Duke Mansion this year.

While it was too humid (despite being the 2nd day of December) to walk the gardens for most of us, we walked through around the lobby area for the Holiday market featuring artisans from around the Charlotte area.

We loved seeing the two large trees in the lobby

I can never visit the Duke Mansion without taking pictures of the chandeliers…

A piece by local artist Andy Braitman over the mantle

Tea Menu

Canapés

Smoked Chicken Salad with basil mayo and basil brioche

Heirloom Tomato and Andouille with creole spiced mayo on onion bread

Gravlax Finger Sandwich with dill creme fraiche on multigrain toast

Pimento Cheese and Ham Biscuit

Tea-Tartlets

Orange Meringue Tart with Brûlée Meringue

Breads

Five Spiced Walnut Scone

Blueberry & Brown Butter Muffins

Dessert

Winter Fruit Parfait

Sweet Potato Cupcake with Italian meringue frosting

The Winter Fruit Parfait was absolutely delicious. It was light, not to sweet and with just the right about of citrus.

Chamomile Tea is always my tea of choice… It makes the afternoon tea experience more relaxing, and you don’t have to run the risk of overdoing caffeine.

5 Spice Walnut Scone

The Smoked Chicken Salad with basil mayo and basil brioche our tea sandwich of choice. For those of you who have attended the events before, you’ll already know that the tea tray is shared between everyone at your table which includes 10 guests. So everyone is advise to be on their best ‘sharing’ behavior.

Orange Meringue Tart with Brûlée Meringue & Sweet Potato Cupcake with Italian meringue frosting

Since both of us have dairy issues, we opted to just stick with the chicken salad sandwiches, scones, parfait (armed with lactaid pills), and our tea.

Guests were also offered this delicious iced raspberry tea…

Afternoon Tea is the perfect mother/daughter event, especially around the holiday season, so be sure to keep an eye on upcoming events at the Duke Mansion.