High Tea at Steigenberger Grand Hotel Petersberg

Tea time addicts celebrating a day off.

After researching so many venues in other countries, I started to check out our local afternoon tea facilities. Some I already knew because I found them by accident, so I decided to check out a new place: High Tea at Steigenberger Grand Hotel Petersberg in Königswinter (near Bonn).

They started offering high tea just in spring 2016. It takes place every Sunday between three and six in the afternoon and costs 28 Euro per person. On the pictures below you see the portion for two persons. We were not charged for our second pot of tea.

If you want to drive the way up by car, make sure to say so upon making your reservation as it usually costs a fee of 6 Euro for the whole day.

A wide range of Ronnefeldt tea blends are offered and served with a tea timer for optimal taste. Classic black teas like darjeeling or english breakfast, a fine selection of green teas and even some fruit teas should make it easy for anyone to find a cup to enjoy.

Service is friendly but a bit slow. Whilst the quality of the food is nice, it really isn't outstanding. If you are looking for something special, this is not the place to go to.

Macaron, chocolate cake & chocolate mouse.

Salmon, turkey & cheese sandwiches.

Scones & clotted cream

High Tea is served at a separate compartment of the restaurant where only tea time guests are welcomed. This makes for a calm and private atmosphere. You can enjoy the view from the window and during winter the visitor is rewarded with a beautiful sunset scenery.

The hotel itself has an interesting history. It used to be the official guest house of the german gouvernment. With the capital moving from Bonn to Berlin it lost a lot of it's significance. Tours are being offered to experience the well-hidden secrets of this hotel which I am sure is worth-while!

This blog entry is based on my personal visit on January 15th 2017.

"Rotunde" one of the amazing
rooms for rent.

Address:
Steigenberger Grandhotel Petersberg
Petersberg
53639 Königswinter/Bonn
Germany

Reservations: +49 2223 74-0

Google Maps

Price: € 28 per person

Shades of Wonderland

Me at Leipzig book fair 2014
Picture: Mittelbayerische

Due to my work for the german lolita fashion community Dunkelsüß (founding member & admin since 2007) I was contacted by a publisher who was interested in doing a book about 'quirky' japanese fashion. I won't go into details about how it's like to work professionally on something that you are extremely passionate about with an investor who has a different view of the matter. But the book actually got published and I had the opportunity to introduce it on the biggest german book fair in Leipzig 2014. I guess that was also one of the main reasons why they did a german version first. An english version was planned but never got realised.


Shades of Wonderland is a very heavy and huge coffee table book filled with beautiful pictures by japanese designers, who shape the fashion, and western followers of japanese fashion. Next to an introduction into the different styles that derived from Japan, all of the designers and fashionista's share their personal story. The texts are surely a big plus, but even if you don't understand german it's a feast for the eyes. 


I am going to be shamelessly honest though: 2 different people worked on the layout and printing was rushed for the book fair. A few pictures turned out very dark (due to wrong colour profile) and a handfull are slightly pixeled. Never the less, it's an awesome deal for under 15 Euro! Only 3.000 copies were made of this book. I fought really hard for this cover picture, the title and drawings. It was extremely stressful but I wouldn't have wanted to miss the opportunity for any price and all the hardships were also rewarded. I am proud of the finished product and forever thankful to my partner in crime Miriam Loetz.

If you click the picture it will automatically send you to Amazon.de. Any purchase you make after following the link sponsors the german lolita community Dunkelsüß. Here's a peek at the inside:

Vierge Vampur in Shades of Wonderland

Collaborating designers:

With Ashizawa Yuko
(Atelier Pierrot) in London 2014

Alice Auaa
Angelic Pretty (RinRin Doll)
h.Naoto
Baby, the stars shine bright/Alice and the Pirates
Gloomth
Atelier Pierrot
Vierge Vampur
Takuya Angel
Innocent World
Juliette et Justine
Millefleurs
Linda Friessen
Ergi by Piratessan
Atelier P-i-n-k-y

Fashionista's:
Scarlet Sedusa

Miriam and me at work

Flokati
Red Tonic
Kari van der Voort
Fahr Sindram
Monologue de Chi
Deerstalker
Gina Wetzel
Quini
Katou Noir & Hide V
Kia Rose
Ina Doll
Joey Rottenmeier

Clotted Cream

There is nothing like freshly made clotted cream. However it does take a while. If you are looking for alternatives in your local super market I recommend visiting an oriental one that sells "kaymak". It's more accessible than ready-made clotted cream outside the United Kingdom and has a wonderful taste. 

List of ingredients:
500 ml fatty cream (at least 32% fat)
a big flat casserole dish (the thinner the layer of cream, the faster it's done!)

Patience acquired: a lot
Skill level: beginner
Baking time: 4-5 hours
Oven temperature: 100 °C (210 °F)

Put the cream in the casserole dish. Shove it in the middle of the oven and turn on the heat to 100°C. Make sure it doesn't boil! Check every once in a while and slowly skim off the skin (turns to a light golden caramelized texture). Repeat until there's nothing left except for a little fluid. You might have to repeat it 4-5 times. Let the skimmed skin cool down at room temperature before serving. You can store it in the fridge for about 5 days or just put it in the freezer so you can serve it a bit more spontaneously.

Scones

This is my favourite scones recipe! Depending on your cutter, you'll get 12 scones out of it.

List of ingredients:

250 g flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
90 g butter
150 ml milk

Patience acquired: 30 minutes

Skill level: beginner

Baking time: 10 minutes

Oven temperature: 240-250 °C (470-480 °F)

Mix flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and soda into a bowl. Add butter by squeezing it with your fingers so you get small flocks of dough. Slowly add milk (approx. 150 ml) to it and kneed well until smooth.

Now put the dough away in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Roll it out until it's about a finger high. Use a glass or any other round cutter to stamp the scones out. Do not twist! You won't get that beautiful brim otherwise! Should get you about 12 scones.

Now pre-heat the oven.

Put the scones on a baking tray (please use a baking sheet) and leave them for about 5 minutes wgile the oven heats up. You may coat them with a little milk to add some colour to them. Shove the tray into the middle rack of the oven and let the magic happen! They are done after 10 minutes.

Serve while they're still warm. Enjoy ♥