A tale of two tea sets (and a recipe)
As an undergrad reading Swann’s Way, I mostly found it boring. The only thing Proust really did for young me was provide a master class in food writing. Have you read it? He does make a madeleine and a cup of tea sound terribly good. This led me to Google for both a madeleine recipe and the needed mold pan. Both of these appeared on the Williams-Sonoma website, a far more enjoyable reading experience for college-aged me (and let’s face it, adult me) than In Search of Lost Time.
I grew up around some fabulous cooks - my dad once owned a small B&B inn in Vermont - and once I had my own apartment, I started to experiment. The fancy cooking tools only fanned the flames. This will come as no surprise, but I still have almost everything I bought during this era, including the madeleine pan. One of my favorite finds was a tea set that bears a strong resemblance to an heirloom toy tea set from my great-grandmother.
Which leads me to anecdote #2, which is that my great-grandmother was an avid collector of all the ceramic things. Quite a few of her pieces have ended up with me and are now quite old - a small pitcher I have was passed on to her by her own great-grandmother! I also have her ironware plates, which were used by her household when she was growing up. We, too, use these every day. One of the items she gave me is the vintage (or possibly now antique, it’s hard to tell) doll tea set mentioned above. I think I was about nine when I ended up with it.
Of course, I had to stretch my undergraduate budget and buy the full adult version of the set. I even bought the egg coddlers, which I’ve used three times in 16 years. The W-S tea set is honestly amazing - it even has lids for the teacups to keep the tea warm. This is the handiest thing for people who make tea and start taking Instagram pictures of the tea setup instead of drinking it right away. Unfortunately, there is nothing remotely similar on their website right now, and I couldn't find anything comparable when searching other sites.
I love having a new(er) item that also reminds me of someone who passed on. The doll tea set lives in the basement for now, but I use the W-S version several times per week. Generally, I just enjoy some Fortnum & Mason Afternoon Blend while Margaret has her after school snack. Very occasionally, I'll add shortbread or a scone. I remember my daily scone habit from lockdown fondly, but my work trousers do not. When I do make scones, this is my gold standard recipe. It’s actually adapted from one created by my great-great aunt, who was the sister of my ceramics-collecting great-grandmother.
Scones 2 c. all-purpose flour 1 Tbsp. baking powder ½ tsp. salt ¼ c. of sugar (or to taste) 8 Tbsp. (1 stick) cold butter cut into 1-inch pieces 1 egg ½ c. whole milk (You can also use half and half or cream. The milk version tastes better to me.) Add-ins of your choice - Zest of an orange or lemon works nicely or ⅓ c. chocolate chips or currants, ½ tsp. Vanilla, basically whatever you prefer)
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender. Stir in any add-ins. In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together egg and milk. Stir egg mixture into dry ingredients with a fork until dough comes together. Turn out dough onto wax paper, knead, and press into a 10-inch circle about 3/4 inch thick. Use a sharp knife to slice into eight wedges. Place scones on baking sheet at least 1 inch apart. Brush the tops with additional milk and/or sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden. Transfer to wire rack. We don’t let them cool very long before eating as we love the fresh-baked taste and are impatient. Assuming you have leftovers, revive day-old scones in the microwave for 20 seconds.