Food & tea pairings for picnics & parties

We put our heads together and came up with some scrummy Small & Wild tea & food pairings to inspire you as we head into party & picnic season. We’ve kept to lovely, fun & simple recipes that are perfect for picnics, parties and treats! 


Jolly Croc

Pair our Jolly Croc Tea iced with some fun cheesy biscuits from David Atherton’s First Green Cook Book. We adapted his recipe slightly and used all different shapes of biscuit cutters - including a crocodile! Create an easy picnic snack plate with these cheesy crackers, some fresh crudités and some of your favourite dips.


Ingredients
60g butter
120g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
20g wholemeal flour
80g Cheddar cheese
20g chia seeds

Method

  1. Cut the butter into cubes then rub into the flours until it resembles breadcrumbs.
  2. Grate in the cheese.
  3. Add the chia seeds.
  4. Mix everything together until it forms a dough. You might need to sprinkle in a little water if the mixture is very dry, but be careful not to add too much. 
  5. Wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  6. Preheat the oven to 180C (fan-assisted)
  7. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to at least 0.5cm thick.
  8. Cut out the biscuits with your biscuit cutters.
  9. Bake for 12-15 minutes, then allow to cool and serve with your favourite dips!


Happy Toucan

Try our lightly spiced Happy Toucan Tea with a splash of milk and a slice of the Hemsley & Hemsley Banana bread. It’s less sweet than your classic banana bread recipe (though you can always add some extra maple syrup if you want to) and we love to spread it with butter. This banana bread is super nutritious & filling - it uses ground almonds in place of flour and added flax seed also. 



Ingredients
300g ripe bananas
30g butter at room temperature
2tbsp maple syrup - or more if you want to make it sweeter
1tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp lemon juice
30g ground flaxseed (optional)
1 tbsp seeds for sprinkling
Sea salt
Optional: dark chocolate chips or cacao nibs

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 170C and line a loaf tin with baking parchment.
  2. Mash the bananas and butter in a mixing bowl to a pulp with a fork (this is always good fun for the little people). Add the maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, eggs, bicarbonate of soda, lemon juice and a small pinch of salt. Mix well with a whisk.
  3. Add the ground almonds and flaxseed (if you are including) and mix well. If you would prefer, you can put the whole lot in a blender and blitz together. 
  4. Stir in chocolate chunks or cacao nibs if you are adding. 
  5. Pour the mixture into the lined tin, sprinkle with seeds and back for 60-75 minutes or until a skewer comes out dry. If your bread starts to look quite brown after the first half an hour, cover it with baking parchment for the rest of the cooking time. 
  6. Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little. Serve with butter & a cup of tea!
  7. Store the bread, covered, in the fridge for up to one week. 

Merry Tiger

For something a little different to add to your picnic spread, try David Atherton’s Strawberry Pink Scones with our Merry Tiger Tea. These deliciously light bakes have subtle beetroot flavour. Enjoy them with some cream or Greek yoghurt and some strawberry jam. Yum!

 

This recipe makes 12 scones. 

Ingredients
2 cooked beetroot (about 120g)
80ml milk
350g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
1tsp baking powder
50g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
80g butter

Method

  1. Finely grate the beetroot into a bowl and add the milk.
  2. Put the flour, baking powder, sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and then, with your fingers, rub into the mix until it resembles breadcrumbs. 
  3. Pour in the milk and beetroot mixture.
  4. Mix until it forms a dough and let it sit for 10 minutes.
  5. Preheat oven to 180C (fan-assisted).
  6. On a floured surface, roll the dough until it is 2cm thick.
  7. Cut out the scones using a large biscuit cutter.
  8. Transfer to a lined baking tray and bake for 12-15 minutes.
  9. Leave to cool on a cooling rack.

(Recipe from My First Green Cook Book by David Atherton and beautifully illustrated by Alice Bowsher)

We served our scones with cream and jam. But thick greek yogurt would be a lovely option also!


Snoozy Fox

Snoozy Fox is a calming & refreshing combination of camomile, spearmint & lavender. Enjoy a mug of it with slices of crisp apple, dunked in some of our favourite Pip & Nut Cashew butter (any nut butter will do!) and how about some finger sandwiches. 

We opted for a classic cool cucumber filling, mashed avocado with lemon & baby spinach and pesto with red pepper. 

  


If the weather is warm, we do love an iced tea lolly to help us cool down, so we were very excited to see @siyas_mummys_kitchen post a recipe for Snoozy Fox & Strawberry Unicorn lollies! She combined brewed & cooled Snoozy fox tea with small chunks of fresh strawberry and a little Sweet Freedom vanilla syrup, poured the mixture into unicorn moulds and popped them in the freezer. We’re sure to you can come up with some fun recipes too!