Afternoon tea delight with Chalk Hills Bakery for a lockdown Mother’s Day – review

Arriving with a smile and a beautiful red bow and note, Chalk Hills Bakery’s sumptuous Mother’s Day afternoon tea is a hamper full of freshly baked sandwiches, scones, tarts and cakes – it’s the perfect treat to celebrate Mothering Sunday 2021 even when you can't be together.

Having originally made their name reminding the people of Surrey and further afield about the true taste of real bread (long before sourdough making became a national pastime!), Chalk Hills Bakery have been perfecting their craft since 2010, coincidentally the same year The Great British Bake Off first launched.   

Local Food Britain cannot resist a first taste of this year’s Mother’s Day afternoon tea offering and we are only too delighted to indulge in a relaxing hour or two of tasting the savoury and sweet bakes that will be rolling out of Chalk Hills' ovens to mums in east Surrey later this week.

Time for tea

With a pot of Barry’s tea on the go (you can order that from Chalk Hills online store too – or a bottle of English sparkling wine from Greyfriars Vineyard, for that matter…), we set about unpacking the freshly baked goodies.

There are brioche sliders, scones with jam and cream, chocolate and almond cake slices, mini sweet tarts, Victoria sponge cake and more. It is a veritable feast and there is enough for four people in the afternoon tea hamper (or two restful sittings across Mother’s Day weekend).

The fluffy brioche sliders (half with smoked salmon and cream cheese and half with tomato, mozzarella and basil) may not look as dainty as traditional finger sandwiches in a five-star hotel, but they are packed full of flavour and set the scene splendidly.

Then comes the fun part – layering up the moreishly light scones with jam and cream from the neatly provided pots. Cream on jam or jam on cream? You decide. It has been a tough year, why not try them both ways to see what the fuss is about in Cornwall and Devon?! Be an afternoon tea rebel.

But that is just the start! There are jam tarts that the Queen of Hearts would be proud of; devilish chocolate and almond slices inscribed with “Mum”; zesty lemon posset pots with delicate edible flowers and lavender biscuits; and to top it all off, standing tall in the middle of our scene, a mini-Victoria sponge cake just waiting to be sliced.

Sharing joy

It is quite the spread, whether laid out on your finest china or enjoyed as an indoor picnic. This is one treat that is sure to put a smile on mum’s face – as well as dad’s or any other sweet-toothed members of the house, as it happens…   

While Chalk Hills Bakery’s Reigate coffee shop and Horley bakery kiosk are currently open for takeaway and click and collect, they also launched an app, online ordering system and delivery service to Reigate, Redhill and Horley areas during this long year of lockdowns. This means that it is simple and hassle-free to get freshly baked goods delivered to your door from a creative and entrepreneurial family business.   

Last orders for Chalk Hills Bakery’s special Mother’s Day afternoon tea are on Wednesday March 10 (for delivery on Friday March 12 or Saturday March 13), but their afternoon tea hamper is available all year long alongside Chalk Hills cream teas, breakfasts in bed, freshly baked bread and much more. Local Food Britain will certainly be back for more. Now, who's finishing that last slice of sponge cake? More tea?

• If you live in the Reigate, Redhill or Horley areas of Surrey and would like to try Chalk Hills Bakery's delivery service for yourself, you can find their online store here. Enjoy!