Savory Petit Fours & More, Afternoon Tea Part Two

It's true, petit fours aren't just cute bites of little layered cakes. They can be savory too! They don't even have to be layered, but my mind always defaults to a delectable layered bite. Our recent Afternoon Tea was missing savory items. We had beautiful sandwiches, but nothing as dainty as a chocolate or cookie. Enter my savoury Petit Fours. For the recipe, click here.

Layers of a thin omelet, herbs, greens, cheese, and salmon.

What does it mean? Petit Four refers to an oven that is lower in temperature. When French bakers fueled their ovens (Four) with wood, a Grand Four was a hot oven, or big oven, referring to the high temperature required to bake bigger items like bread. As the fire died down and the temperature was deemed to be slow or that the oven was small, Petit, that's when the smaller items were baked. Hence the name, Petit Four.

Salmon & Cream Cheese Bagel...without the bagel! The other savory item that we served at the Afternoon Tea was delicate phyllo cups filled with what typically goes on a bagel with smoked salmon: cream cheese, dill, red onion, capers and a few other things. Then a generous slice of the smoked salmon on top. Delicate, delicious, and yet another easy make-ahead finger food for a Tea or for a cocktail party. For my Smoked Salmon Tarts recipe, click here.

Tea or Infusion? Infusion? Yes. We served rose petal tea at our event. This was the decafeinated option. 

Tea is made using the leaves of certain camelia plants (some green, some smoked, some fermented, most dried, and some with flavor added). We take a small amount of the dried leaves and steep them in hot water to rehydrate them, to extract nutritionally beneficial qualities, and open their unique aromas.

Oolong is so delicate, I always savor it without adding anything,
but a stout breakfast blend is wonderful with sugar and a touch of cream.

With an infusion, we can use either fresh or dried leaves, flowers, and stems. Typically, we get parts of the entire plant. Our rose petal tea was organically grown and sourced from Egypt. (Purchased on Amazon.com) An infusion can offer many healing or medicinal properties, like the Greek Mountain Tea that I grew up with. It's always taken to help with a cold. Apparantly, it has potent anti-infllamatory properties. We always steep (or boil then steep) for at least five minutes. You'll want to try an infusion on its own to enjoy the delicate aroma and flavors. After the initial tasting, adding a sweetener is okay, but never cream or milk. For me, this rose petal tea was like bathing in a tub full of fresh roses.