High Tea Treats baking class

First, the difference between "high" and "low" tea, which are often confused. Technically, our class should have been called "low tea treats." Of course, that doesn't sound nearly as elegant!

Sweet, dainty finger foods eaten around 4 pm were meant to tide the lazy upper class over until dinner at 8 pm. Afternoon tea was enjoyed at leisure on low tables with comfortable chairs, hence the name "low tea."

High tea on the other hand was a working class family supper with hearty dishes like potatoes, beans and meat. High tea time was around 5 pm, when people came home from work.  Sound familiar? High tea was named for the high dining table where supper was eaten.

OK, now that's out of the way.  Here's the ambitious menu for our "High-Low Tea" baking class on Saturday, the recipes all containing copious amounts of butter and heavy cream.
Now that's high class.

Dark Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake
Flaky Scones
Lemon Curd
Cultured Butter
Fruit Compote
Whipped Cream

Our instructor works for Fran's Chocolates so she knew her stuff when it came to chocolate cake.

The apprentice melts the chocolate.

And painstakingly prepares the baking pans.

Very nice, very rich.

It seems every class has an expert (on something.)

On to the scones. 

I'm a slap dash cook, so doing things precisely is always a novel experience. 

Other people are much better at following exact instructions.

Ready to bake...they look flat, but puff up nicely.

And ready to eat. Yum.

Whipping 2 quarts of heavy cultured cream eventually and magically transforms into homemade butter. 

Finally, quite a delicious (and tricky) lemon curd made from scratch, with 10 lemons and yet another cup of butter.

And for us lower classes who eat our supper at 5pm, this was the 4 pm appetite-spoiling low tea treat when class was finished. It was fun!