Time Tarts and Chrono-Teas: Dirigible Devourments forthe Intrepid Steampunk

By Cordelia MoonTea

Tea is an attitude. Time Tarts and Chrono-Teas offers history, definitions, and recipes for ensuring your Steampunk Tea is a success.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xoco Publishing
• Release date: Sep 21, 2011

Cordelia MoonTea

Cordelia MoonTea is a Monstrumologist, Apothecary, and Tea Mistress, currently residing in Tribal Lands and writing about Tea and her adventures.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Parts, Accessories, and Equipment

The Tea Case

The All Important Center of Tea: The Tea Itself

All the Tea in the World

British Style Teas

Asian Teas

Other Styles of Tea

Coffee

Cocoa

The Recipes

Sweet Recipes

Savory Recipes

Coffee and Cocoa Treat Recipes

Tea Formulas

Coffee Formulas

Cocoa Formulas

Tea as an Ingredient

Coffee as an Ingredient

Cocoa as an Ingredient

Indices

Sample Tea Menus

Bibliography

Internet Resources

Time Tarts and Chrono-Teas

Dirigible Devourments for the Intrepid

By Cordelia MoonTea

Published by (xxx) at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 Noddy Brothers as Cordelia MoonTea

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Acknowledgements

No book is written in total isolation, least of all cookbooks. Perhaps too many cooks do spoil a broth, but one can never have too many teachers, cheerleaders, and guinea pi taste testers. I have enjoyed a plethora of all of the above, and if I’ve inadvertently left your name off, please know you still have my sincerest and deepest thanks, for named or not, you have contributed mightily to the creation of Time Tarts and Chrono-Teas.

First thanks go to those who taught me the wonders and delights of tea, coffee, cocoa, and cookery: Oma and Opa Matthias, Herr Mueller, Frau Pfeiffer, Frau Nagel, Linda Tottenheim, Mrs. Beckworthy, Nina Robin Wilson, Steve Jackson, Patti Goldberg, Terry Pratchett, and One Eyed Wong (since you won’t let me use your real name…).

Many thanks to the delightful dirigibilists of Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and Arkansas, as well as attendees at FenCon and SoonerCon who risked health and life by sampling the recipes contained herein: Elisenth and Artemus Drake, Epiphanie, Tyburn Blossom, Glen Adam Garcia, John DeLaughter, Bev Hale, Barbara and Randy Farran, Lynn and Steve Yates, Annette Asprin, Becky Demonja, The Secret Cabal of the OVB, Mel White, as well as those whose names I didn't get in the enthusiastic tea-sharing moments in parks and hotels and libraries. Thank you for drinking my teas and eating my food!

Thank you!

Introduction

The civilizing influence of tea must never be underestimated. It transcends time and place and brings with it a moment of quiet reflection and considered action. It calms and soothes, restores and invigorates. It is, perhaps, the defining beverage of the Steampunk Aesthetic.

Perhaps I should define what Steampunk is for those few left who don’t know of it. There are those who would define it narrowly and other who would define it broadly. I suppose I shall define it sideways. Steampunk is rooted in the Victorian Era of steam technology and manners. It is filled with awe and wonder and possibility. H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine captures the potential of the era well – anything could happen to anyone at any time, and they could conceivably travel to anywhen. As long as they had tea, the world in all its dimensions and times belonged to them. To me, steampunk is all that with wings, wings of the mind, of the heart, and of the tongue. It is adventure and experimentation, a little crazy and a whole lot wonderful, with manners and polish.

The roots of tea time are in the Victorian era, the Gilded Age, and extend back a bit into the Regency and forward through the Edwardian Era and up to WWII, but the stem and branch and leaf and blossom could be from anywhen. It is mostly British, but there’s also a strong Colonial/Western presence (think Wild, Wild West). Fashion mixes the more formal Victorian style with the grunge of the back streets of the future (think KISS meets Charles Dickens – or Lady Gaga meets Jane Austen). Tea could be brewed via Rube Goldberg-style tea kettles and portable steam engines or heated up in a microwave or via USB water boiler.

Ingenuity abounds from the simple to the complex. Artificers of Steampunk use the detritus of society to create beauty and functionality. The creations tend to be ornamented with scrolls and floral patterns, with rivets and gears and bits of machinery. Brass goggles, worn by gentlemen scientists and aviators of blimps, dirigibles, and balloons, as well as makers and adventurers of all sorts, acknowledge this sense of exploration and create a bond between all classes. Gears are worked into clothing, jewelry, and even cakes as more than an aesthetic, it’s a symbol of working together, of belonging, and of purpose, for even the smallest cog will keep things moving no matter how elaborate and complex the machine. Gears and goggles are the defining symbols of steampunk. Tea is the lubrication.

Steampunk is predominantly British in feel, but there is also a strong Middle Eastern and Asian influence as well. Germany went to combustion engines very early, so they tend towards gear punk more than steampunk – they preferred coffee over tea. Because I am myself of German extraction and grew up with grandparents who were born in the Victorian Era and adhered to the manners of their youth, I have a wealth of information on their coffee habits and will include a small chapter on that for those steampunkers who want to lubricate their efforts with coffee rather than tea. We mustn’t forget the Spanish and French, who preferred cocoa over tea and coffee.

It is therefore not so much what is served at a Steampunk Tea as that the time and ritual of tea is served. Tea is a frame of mind far more than it is a beverage brewed of Camellia sinensis. Beer or cocoa, tea or wine, coffee or juice, milk or water – it’s the ritual pause and the company and conversation that makes it Tea.

Whether one is indulging in dirigible devourments while coasting through the aether, sipping nectar with fairies in hidden grottoes, or fueling an all night engineering project, tea is always an appropriate, civilized pause in one’s pursuits. It refreshes, restores, and rejuvenates.

The recipes in this book encompass many eras and but one aesthetic: tea time.

One may skip the first half of this book if one already knows about the parts, accessories, and equipment one needs for tea and go straight to the second half, where the recipes are. Slip one’s brass goggles onto the brim of one’s top hat and take out one’s tea cup – it’s always time for tea!

Parts, Accessories, and Equipment

Tea requires some basic equipment to prepare. One may naturally go as simple as it is possible to go – a cup filled with water with a handful of tea leaves dropped in to steep in the sun, then drunk carefully so as not to ingest the tea leaves. One may also prepare a complex and lengthy Rube Goldberg machine that will eventually result in the perfect cup of tea.

Most of us, however, reside somewhere between these two extremes.

The chapters in this section address the various parts, accessories, accoutrements, and teas one would use for preparing tea.

Not everything listed is essential. Please do use one’s naturally endowed discretion to select those which are appropriate for one, the time in which one resides (or the time which one wishes to portray), and the circumstances under which one is preparing the tea.

Equipping for Tea

Before one has tea, one must consider what goes into making it tea – the acquisition of the tea itself, the storage of tea, the foods accompanying tea, the serving dishes, the tea pot, the cups and saucers, spoons, and other accessories. The tea that appears upon one’s table is the elegant end result of many different processes, all of which will be discussed here.

The pyramid of parts, equipment, supplies, and ingredients that exist beneath that perfect pinnacle contain their own innate grace. Assembling these parts into its exquisite result is a noble pursuit of itself.

The first thing one needs to examine is equipment. No doubt at some point you will have to make tea in the rough, without the benefit of a Cook or help of any sort. Therefore it is essential that one be familiar with the most important element of tea: fire.

In one’s own home, there is, of course, one’s stove or fireplace or electric kettle for the heating of water and an oven for the baking of tea breads and cakes.

Outside of one’s home, things become a bit more challenging. In the aforementioned balloon, one has recourse to the flames that help keep the balloon inflated and aloft, so that is well taken care of. Out in the Wilds, one would need the ability to secure firewood and the skill to build a small, hot fire to heat one’s water. There are sufficient manuals covering this in delightfully excruciating detail that I feel no need to present it here. Do familiarize oneself with at least one such manual – the Boy Scout Outdoor Manual perhaps, or any of Mr. Tom Brown’s outdoor guides. It is possible for one to travel with a Tea Case which contains a spirit lamp for the heat one needs, along with the tea kettle, tea pot, and other accessories. A Tea Case is ideally suited for hotels, ships, automobiles, flying crafts of all sorts, and visiting among the less civilized peoples of the world (ie, those who don’t partake of tea). There will be entire chapter dedicated to the outfitting of one’s Tea Case.

With one’s heat source well in hand, let us proceed to the equipment one will need to use with that heat source. For the baking of cookies, cakes, breads, pies, tarts, and pastries, not to mention roasts and puddings, one will need tools and equipment. While it is possible to bake nearly everything one must bake with a few simple tools and basic equipment, one can, of course, go quite overboard in the acquisition of charming cookie cutters and clever bundt pans and cunning little tools.

Tea Treat Equipment List

At the very least, one will need

a set of measuring cups and spoons, for the precise measurement of ingredients

a mixing bowl, in which to mix said ingredients

a batter spoon, for the mixing of those ingredients

a whisk, the preferred tool for beating egg whites and cream

a cookie spatula, for removing hot cookies from the baking sheet

a powered mixer (stand, hand held, even a manual will work), this may replace the batter spoon and whisk when one has power available to operate it

a rolling pin (I prefer marble, but really, any will do), for the rolling out of pastries and cookies

either a pastry cloth or a silpat baking sheet, to make rolling out pastries and cookies easier

2 cookie baking sheets, for baking pastries, cookies, shaped breads, and more

2 jelly roll pans (a baking sheet with low sides), for baking rolled cakes, tarts, and yeast cakes

a square baking pan, for baking brownies and bar cookies

2 rectangular loaf pans, for baking breads and tea breads

2 round cake pans, for baking cakes, of course

2 pie tins, for baking pies, tarts, and some tea breads

a cup cake or muffin pan, for baking fairy cakes and muffins and popovers - one may want different sizes for the fairy cakes a miniscule and coffee muffins can be hefty.

a bundt pan of any design (the turk’s head pattern is most popular), for baking decorative cakes. I have over a dozen different designs of Nordicware Bundt pans.

an assortment of cookie cutters, for whimsical cookies

parchment paper, a low-fat alternative to greasing cookie sheets

waxed paper, for cooling and assisting in decorating cakes and cookies

quick release foil, well suited for baking sticky, juicy dishes such as roasts and ice pies

paper baking cups, for lining the cup cake pan to quickly release and serve fairy cakes and muffins. They come in assorted sizes and patterns.

a cooling rack, for cooling cakes and cookies

1 or 2 oven mitts, for handling hot pans from the oven,

and

an apron to keep one tidy – use one with pockets in which to carry one’s tools.

One might want several more of each of the above items if one bakes tea treats often, and may also want such things as scales, baking molds, zesters, juicers, pastry brushes, cookie presses, proofing cloches, pastry bags and tips, assorted towels, a greater variety of cookie cutters and molds, food coloring pastes, decorating stencils and combs, tart tampers and tins, and a variety of the cute and lovely bundt pans, cake pans, and cup cake pans now available.

High Tea Equipment List

Moving right along to the equipment one will need for any of the more filling Teas, one will need a cutting board and one good kitchen knife. A variety of knives and peelers would be quite handy, but if necessary, one all-purpose kitchen knife will suffice. One will also need, depending upon the menu, such things as

a frying pan,

a casserole dish,

a saucepan,

a dutch oven,

a stock pot,

a frying spatula,

a ladle,

stirring spoons,

a strainer,

a colander, and

a can opener.

One may, as usual, far exceed this modest list of equipment. One may indulge in toasters, crockpots, blenders, mandolines, electric tea kettles, coffee pots, specialty spoons, salad spinners, juicers, shakers, utensil stands and racks, and more. Oh yes, so much more!

Ahem! Well, yes.

All of this, and we haven’t even discussed the tea service! One can, of course, dispense entirely with all of the above and patronize the local patisserie, baker, or delicatessen, or order take out instead for any of the Teas.

Steampunk Tea is not only about making Tea yourself from scratch, but about scavenging a decent Tea from available sources. It does one good to occasionally forage for a Tea, particularly if one is attending an Event where proper cooling and cooking apparati are unavailable – although I have successfully prepared deviled eggs in a hotel room using only an electric tea kettle.

At last, we get to the all-essential Tea Service. One does not need everything on this list unless one is a completist and requires full and complete sets of things. One may do quite well with merely a teapot and cup and spoon, relying upon packets and dispensers and the kindness of others for such other things as one may find oneself needing at the moment of tea.

For tea, one needs

a tea kettle in which one heats the water,

a tea pot in which one steeps the tea and

another tea pot from which one serves the tea,

a creamer pot,

a sugar bowl,

a sugar spoon or tongs, if one uses rock sugar or sugar cubes,

a lemon plate to hold the slices of lemon for those who prefer lemon in their tea,

lemon tongs, for serving the lemon slices,

a tray to keep these on,

and tea cups, saucers, and plates,

along with tea spoons, for stirring in one’s cream, sugar, or lemon,

mote spoons, for extracting floating tea leaves – unless one wants to read the tea leaves,

caddy spoons, for scooping out the proper amount of tea leaves to steep in one’s tea pot

tea tins or caddies, for storing one’s teas in order to preserve their freshness, and

A tea table for holding the tea kettle – a separate table for the tea service and a third table for the tea treats are pleasant to have, but one may make do with one table for all of them.

At the very minimum, one will need a tea kettle, a tea spoon, a tea tin with tea bags, and a tea cup , saucer, and plate. The creamer, sugar bowl, and lemon plate are only needed if one takes these with their tea.

For serving the tea treats, one will want to have a variety of paper doilies, serving trays, serving bowls, cake stands, pie stands, serving utensils, table cloths, bud and flower vases, and serviettes.

One may also purchase furniture for storing one’s tea service and teas. The purchase of a basket or box to hold one’s tea service is essential for those who travel frequently or enjoy tea al fresco. We will discuss this in detail in the next chapter.

The Tea Case

Steampunk people travel. Some travel a lot – through time as well as space, and some only travel a little. As a monstrumologist, my duties call me all over the when and where of the world, wherever there are monsters to study and capture and dissect and experiment upon. Recently, most of the activity has been taking place relatively locally, so I have remained in one time and place for quite an unusually long period. Even so, I keep my Tea Case packed and ready for any trip, local, temporal, or both. To keep it fresh between trips, I often use it for picnics and when visiting friends who aren’t well-versed in tea.

The first thing one must do is decide what tea things one will pack into their Tea Case. This