We’re absolutley delighted to announce our Valentine’s Special Campus Celebrity, Hayley Liddle! Hayley kindly agreed to speak to us here at Exeter-Cornwall, and even let us into some secrets about the wonderful High Tea Society! After all, what says Valentine’s Day better than a big slice of cake?
High Tea Society Deets: Everything You Knead To Know
1. What inspired you run the High Tea Scoiety?
The society was set up about 4 years ago by a group of lovely girlies who all shared an obsession with tea and cake. Over the past couple of years the society has gone from strength to strength, increasing in numbers and hosting more exciting events and tea-tastic trips than ever before. We’re a pretty informal, chatty and incredibly friendly society who all have an unhealthy love of all things cake-y- I’ve found that there really is nothing better to bring people together than a cuppa and a piece of carrot cake!
2. A society based on drinking tea and consuming cake, now that sounds like fun! But is it all fun and games? What problems have you faced since starting the society?
The biggest problem is normally deciding where to host! There are so many quirky independent cafes in and around Falmouth that deciding which one would be best suited to a specific event or theme is normally really tricky! That, and not being able to count fruit cake as one of your five-a-day- if you could we would undoubtedly be the healthiest society out there!
3. How many team members are involved in the society, and how much do you have to prepare for events?
There are 5 of us on the committee who all share a mutual love of baking. We all come from different courses and backgrounds to represent the diverse tastes of cake lovers! The prep we do for events normally consists of the 5 of us getting together to talk about where we’ve recently been and what we’ve tried and rated- from there ideas quickly evolve into events which we then proudly host for our members.
4. What kind of events have you held in the past?
We’ve done GBBO showings, charity fundraisers, tea tastings, cupcake and biscuit decorating sessions, “How much dough you know?” pub quiz, High Tea Horror movie nights, Christmas High Teas, The Mad Hatters Tea Party, trips to Truro and recently we held a really successful café crawl around Falmouth named “High Tea on Tour”, which as it was so great we intend to repeat again in the near future with Penryn as our focus.
5. Are there any Cornish hotspots you would recommend for Exeter-Cornwall cake lovers?
There are so many wonderful forgotten gems in Falmouth alone that I’d just recommend people to try as many local and independent artisan cafes as they can. Falmouth caters for such an eclectic palate that it provides something for everyone- be that a traditional cream tea in De Wynns, an amazing selection of teas in Good Vibes or a slab of carrot cake at Miss Peapods.
6. What is your favourite type of cake?
Birthday cake. Definitely birthday cake. It has some sort of magical “you can only eat me one day a year” property which makes it more exciting!
7. What is your best memory of the High Tea Society so far?
I have so many wonderful memories of High Tea that it’d be hard to pick just one, but last year we were invited, due to our fundraising efforts, to the Party for Pudsey at the Maritime Museum. It was an honor to be there with the rest of the committee to celebrate the amazing work that Children In Need does around the UK. I was so proud of the society’s hard work, and so pleased that it received recognition for all it did.
8. How are you planning to celebrate this Valentine’s Day?
I’m planning on spending this Valentine’s Day at work! No rest for the wicked, eh?
Would You Rather: Dessert Edition
Victoria Sponge OR Chocolate Sponge? – “Nothing beats a good Victorian sandwhich with fresh buttercream and jam”
Buttercream OR Fondant?
Bakewell Tart OR Mince Pie? – “Mince Pies are for life, not just for Christmas”
Chocolate Drops or Rainbow Sprinkles?
PG Tips OR Tetleys OR Twinings?
Red Velvet Cake OR New York Cheesecake? – “Red Velvet Cake – the sexiest of all the cakes!”
Tea OR Coffee OR Hot Chocolate? – “Tea, no question”
Angel Cake or Battenberg Cake?
Cookies and Cream Fudge Brownies OR Oreo stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies? – “Either. Both. Whichever I could get to first”
Ace of Cakes OR The Great British Bake Off? – “The Great British Bake Off – it’s a national treasure!”
Be stuck on a dessert island with…Mary Berry OR Paul Hollywood? – “Paul, definitely. Have you seen the man’s buns!”
Have an unlimited free supply of tea & cake OR spend a year in the Bahamas with Ryan Gosling? – “I’d like to say the tea and cake – but who in their right mind could turn down Ryan Gosling?!?
For Goodness Cakes, Join the High Tea Society!
Do you enjoy tea? Do you enjoy cake? Of course you do! The High Tea Society offers all this, plus lots of laughs and exciting events! If you’re interested in joining, or just want to find out more about the society, follow their updates on Facebook and Twitter to keep on top of the latest gossip! Or you can email them directly at fxuhightea@gmail.com.
And now a little word, directly from the High Tea Society to YOU!…
“Our next event will be “High Tea on Tour Take Two: Hitting up Penryn” – Following the success of our Falmouth Café Crawl, we decided to branch out into Penryn to explore some of the smallest and quirkiest cafes that the area has to offer. We literally roam from one café to the next drinking tea, eating way too much cake and having a good ole chinwag. Its so lovely and relaxed, and anyone and everyone is more than welcome to join us. There’s also a cake-olympics in the pipeline- to raise as much money as we can for Comic Relief, which is happening on Friday 13th March this year. The challenges and competitions will be open to everyone, involve copious amounts of cake and hopefully raise a substantial amount of money for this worthy cause!
On top of that they’re also hosting a Comic Relief Bake Off! Marathoning the Great British Bake Off episodes whilst devouring all manner of sweet treats…now that sounds like a piece of cake!
Say It With Cake
Still looking for cake inspiration? Look no futher! We’ve scoped out the best Buzzfeed baking articles to keep you going…
- Looking to vent your anger? 8 Perfect Cakes For That Special Someone You Hate
- Aww! 15 Of The Cutest Cakes You’ll Ever See
- Feeling adventurous? 15 Unusual Cakes You Need To Make Right Now
- In and around London soon? 15 Places For Afternoon Tea You Must Visit Before You Die