Afternoon tea has taken a turn for the nostalgic at the Feversham Arms, reports MATT CLARK, as he discovers humbugs of which even Scrooge would approve

ONE of summer’s finest pleasures has to be afternoon tea on the lawn. But despite the winter weather and the dank, dark evenings you can still indulge – if you look carefully.

And at the Feversham Arms, in Helmsley, a bit of clever thinking has made winter teas in front of a roaring fire arguably better than one in flaming June.

It all came about when head chef Simon Kelly decided he would make something to represent bonfire toffee.

But those plans were put on hold after a day trip to Whitby, where he stumbled across a traditional sweet shop. Intrigued, Simon headed inside. There filling the shelves were glass jars, dozens of them, and all filled with forgotten sweets from his boyhood.

That was it, the bonfire toffee could wait.

“It brought back memories of going to school or buying sweets at the weekend with my mum,” says Simon. “So I thought can we theme an afternoon tea and make it taste like the sweets of childhood memories?”

Indeed he can and you can enjoy them too with the Fev’s Old Fashioned Sweet Shop Afternoon Tea.

It’s a brilliant take on those flavours of yesteryear. How about a mint humbug macaroon? Or maybe Parma violet liqueur jelly with lemon posset?

And if that’s not enough, you can even eat the menu.

Of course afternoon tea at a country house hotel wouldn’t be complete without salmon, ham and crab sandwiches, nor scones with jam and clotted cream but it’s the old-fashioned treats that make this menu such a triumph.

“The chocolate limes have a chocolate torte which is rich and flaky covered in a lime jelly and sprinkled with lime kali,” says Simon. “We’ve also gone for a layer cake based on blackcurrant and liquorice, which was always a favourite of mine.”

Being head chef Simon naturally got to choose more favourites than the others. Such as liquorice allsort mousse, based on those little bobbly jellies. Fennel gives it a light but persistent aniseed flavour and that is backed up with liquorice essence.

“Some took a lot of work but this one just came to me and it tastes exactly as we wanted it to. The ones that work straight away are always a bit special.”

Some of the ingredients, such as kali, were found by scouring the internet for traditional sweet suppliers. Simon admits he spent hours rekindling bygone memories as he discovered more and more ‘I remember those’ moments.

“People are telling me it’s fun and when they eat the chocolate limes or Parma violet they sit down and start telling stories about their childhood. That is one of the reasons for doing this.”

Not only do these confections taste great, they also produce a focal point for conversation. Because there is something about a forgotten flavour from the past that transports you straight back to a fond moment in time.

Now when I were a lad……

• Feversham Arms Hotel & Verbena Spa, Helmsley, North Yorkshire, YO62 5AG 01439 770 766 fevershamarmshotel.com

• Simon Kelly joined The Feversham Arms in September 2006 having spent years working in high end restaurants & hotels, including Michel Roux’s Waterside Inn and Nico Ladenis’s Nico at Ninety Park Lane, London.