Why we are sweet on tea

“If you’re feeling a bit downtrodden and a bit skint from watching the pennies, having a cup of tea and a nice cake gives you a lift.”

Gloominess is not the only reason why people indulge, but there is no doubt that heartache, colds and bad moods are instantly sweetened by a dollop of cream, soft sponge or syrupy sauce.

Sophie, who owns Tea Hee, has a long-standing love of afternoon tea.

“My parents owned a hotel in Nunnington and I used to help my mum by making gingerbread men out of pastry, which probably wasn’t particularly nice for the poor people I forced them on,” she says.

“I used to make big scones with my sister and walk up to the top of the driveway with a huge sign saying ‘afternoon tea’ trying to entice people. I’ve always been a fan.”

Now working in catering, she is a champion of the cheering power of sugar. She has even signed up to a new “Tea and Sympathy” initiative with almost 30 other North Yorkshire cafés and the Yorkshire Moors and Coast Tourism Partnership.

“The idea is to bring the whole of North Yorkshire together and show people how you can make the most of the county in a couple of days,” she says.

“There is so much to offer and it is all close by and it supports the ethos of Tea Hee as a really fun, jovial place to be.”

The cafés have even devised cheerful tabletop cards to bring smiles to people’s faces, with wise words from Oscar Wilde, among others.

Meanwhile, the AA has published a guide to the most perfect places to enjoy a good cuppa.

There is a full chapter dedicated to Yorkshire, with the six Bettys establishments winning The Tea Guild’s Award of Excellence and Duncombe Park, near Helmsely, and Bullivant of York winning praise, too.

Sophie believes standards have gone up. “There’s really high demand for good quality homemade fair. People have had enough of mass produced rubbish,” she says.

“It’s something that is quintessentially English. We’ve got to the point where we’ve stopped pretending to be American and we’re celebrating our own traditions.”

Even the health conscious tuck into the sweet stuff. At Verbena Spa, in Helmsley, there is a spa-tisserie menu to pamper the sweet toothed.

“Some people come to a spa to detox, but most of them come for a treat,” says owner Simon Rhatigan.

“Being in a spa is a day off and an escape from normal life. Very often that’s not about eating lettuce and tomato and pushing it around the plate and feeling hungry, it’s about having a nice treat.”

Chocolate chip cookies, fruit scones with crème fraiche and sugarless jam, pink bubbly and full afternoon teas with sandwiches, scones and patisseries are served to hungry customers in robes, by the pool or the relaxation room.

“We have our own take on it, such as serving jam with no added sugar and crème fraiche instead of clotted cream, but it’s really lovely and very popular,” adds Simon.

So what makes the perfect afternoon tea?

According to The Tea Guild, Darjeeling is the more “delicate partner” to afternoon tea, while porcelain and bone china make the best tea cups, keeping the tea hot and being more elegant to lift and use.

Ambience and proper china are important to Graeme Robertson, who writes The Press’s popular Quick Eats column.

“Tea made with tea leaves and not tea bags, sandwiches with the crusts cut off, delicate scones and cakes of acceptable sizes, not things that you would feed to hungry schoolboys, and table cloths,” he says.

D’Oyly’s at Bolton Percy; The Corner Cupboard, in Birdforth; Harlequin in King’s Square and Bullivant in Blake Street are Graeme’s favourite spots – not forgetting Bettys and Little Bettys, of course.

“It’s important to have the time to enjoy it,” adds Sophie. “It’s no good just having it in five minutes and having to shove it down.

“It should also be about endless cups of tea. You have to go somewhere you’re not embarrassed to ask for more hot water. You should be able to enjoy it for as long as you want.”