Royal Wedding Afternoon Tea at the Omni King Edward Hotel

In celebration of the upcoming nuptials of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Omni King Edward Hotel is offering a Royal Wedding Afternoon Tea from May 18-20, 2018. Torontonicity was invited to a preview of the tea in the hotel’s Sovereign Ballroom.

The Royal Wedding Afternoon Tea features the Tiers of Joy menu. The King Eddy’s reigning Executive Sous Chef Elaine Wong incorporates many of the details of the Royal couple’s story into the menu. The theme of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding is the bright colours of spring and that was also seen in the afternoon tea.

Bouquets of peonies and myrtle decorated the tables in the Sovereign Ballroom. Peonies are said to be Markle’s favourite flower and myrtle, which represents love, was selected by Queen Victoria to be included in her wedding bouquet. Queen Elizabeth, the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Cambridge also included myrtle in their bouquets.

The Savories (finger sandwiches) component of the menu included Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme Roast Chicken on a bread pudding base. Sous Chef Wong explained that the choice of roast chicken was due to the fact that this was the meal the couple enjoyed when Prince Harry proposed to Markle. The Sunday Roast Rare Sirloin with Peppered Stilton Cream was chosen because roast beef is a staple in the British diet. The California Veggie with Avocado, Sprouts & Goat Cheese finger sandwich was clearly a nod to Markle’s California roots.

The Royal Couple has chosen a Lemon & Elderflower Cordial Wedding Cake and Sous Chef Wong strove to replicate it for the Royal Wedding Afternoon Tea. When the choice of cake was announced in the media, Wong notes that there was a run on Elderflower Cordial at the LCBO. We had a taste of the wedding cake and appreciated its subtle flavours. The cake is almost as light as a mousse and has a hint of lemon and floral essences.

Prince Harry reportedly loves desserts made with banana, thus Wong added HRH’s Banana and Caramel Yoghurt Slice. The Apple Pie inspired Macaron with White Peony steeped Buttercream is clearly an homage to all things American with the iconic symbol of apple pie and again we see Meghan’s favourite flower. We loved the Apple Pie Macaron – it was crispy and light and not too sweet.

The Citrus Posset with Blushing Spring Rubarb features the Royal couple’s bright colours of spring wedding theme.

Scones on the Royal Wedding Afternoon Tea menu include the Classic Cream Scone, as well as the Maple Oat Scone served with Devonshire Cream. Wong added a maple scone to represent Markle’s time spent in Canada and paired it with Cinnamon Banana Butter – there’s Prince Harry’s favourite banana flavour again!

Hoda Paripoush, owner of Sloane Tea , was on hand to pour some of her best teas. The selection of Sloane Tea on the Royal Wedding Afternoon Tea menu includes: Darjeeling 2^nd Flush Estate Reserve Black; Heavenly Cream Ceylon and Assam Black Tea with Italian Bergamot and vanilla; Queen of the Hill Estate Black; and Rouge Provence South African Red Rooibos with berries and French florals.

Hoda Paripoush, owner of Sloane Tea was on hand to pour some of her best teas. The selection of Sloane Tea on the Royal Wedding Afternoon Tea menu include: Darjeeling 2^nd Flush Estate Reserve Black; Heavenly Cream Ceylon and Assam Black Tea with Italian Bergamot and vanilla; Queen of the Hill Estate Black; and Rouge Provence South African Red Rooibos with berries and French florals.

The Royal Afternoon Tea with Tiers of Joy menu will be available May 18, 2018 to May 20, 2018 for $54 with $5 from each Royal Tear donated to World Vision Canada, for which Markle was a World Vision Global Ambassador.