Perfect Valentine: Alice's Tea Cup filled to rafters with recipe love

By April MacIntyre Jan 18, 2011, 22:00 GMT

There's a magical place in New York City where handmade scones, cakes, sandwiches of every stripe are made with love and served up with a wide variety of teas by sisters Haley Fox and Lauren Fox.

Lucky for those of us outside the area we now can recreate the best recipes they turn out in "Alice's Tea Cup" the cookbook, loaded with anecdotes, celebrity shout outs  and beautiful artwork and photos to make mundane meals into gastronomical delights.

William Morrow Cookbooks released this tome October 26, 2010, in 240 pages of nearly one hundred recipes from the sisters' charming and wildly popular Manhattan restaurants. The gift book is available at www.alicesteacup.com for $24.99.

Alice’s Tea Cup in New York City is a hot spot for afternoon tea without the pinkie in the air business, for foodies who prefer the calmer caffeine delivery of tea versus coffee, as Haley and Lauren both mastered tea as an ingredient, beverage and social event.

The sisters added their own twists to traditional tea menus, including new scone recipes, savories, sweet treats, tea selections, specialty drinks and more.

The book also reveals how to throw a “Curiouser and Curiouser” tea party with props found around the home.

The recipe sections are divided as follows:

Afternoon Tea, Before and After Noon: Scones (and a Cream ..)
Breakfast and Brunch
Soups and Salads
Sandwiches
Cookies
Cakes and Cupcakes
Other Sweets and Treats for the Alice in All of Us
Mar-tea-nis

The sisters also share The Basics of Brewing Tea; The Art of the Tea Party; Menu Pairings and Tea-Dyeing Linens (and Clothes).

The strength of this book is the quality and variety of the recipes on pages filled with gorgeous photography, featuring unusual new recipes for burgers to Ginger Molasses Chews, Croque Monsieur's to French Toast Bread Pudding, it's fun to read and meal plan with.

There is also a handy full appendix of resources too.

This is a fabulous Valentine's Day gift for anyone who loves to cook, loves tea, and loves to create memorable baked goods.