High Tea at the Hydro Majestic Hotel

I recently had the pleasure of experiencing high tea at the aptly named Hydro Majestic in Medlow Bath - a small township nestled in New South Wales' Blue Mountains. The hotel has a very long and rich history, having opened its doors as Australia's first health retreat back in 1904 and even serving as US military hospital in 1942.

It is not surprising that this icon of the hospitality industry is heritage listed, because even without its historical tales, it is architecturally stunning. The hotel's most recent refurbishment cost $30 million as its new owners (who paid $11 million for the property) sought to restore it to its former glory. It is absolutely stunning as the photos below indicate and had us in awe as soon as we stepped through the doors. You truly feel like you're stepping back in time to a Great Gatsby-esque era.


 The Casino Lobby must be seen in person to be appreciated. Source

The elegantly fitted out Wintergarden Restaurant that hosts High Tea every day.
Photo credit: Ramona/Charlize.

Panoramic views of Megalong Valley, accessed by large windows along the length of the
Wintergarden Restaurant are just stunning.
Coupled with the gentle background music of the resident piano player, it proved a very relaxing afternoon.

There is nothing more delectable than high tea with wonderful friends, and the Hydro does not disappoint. You literally step off a busy highway and escape into a peaceful and enchanting world that harks back to old fashioned gatherings. Whilst these days high teas take many forms, and can even include extensive buffets, the Hydro's sweet and savoury treats are served at tables on tiered trays with pots of tea or other beverage choices.

 

 

 

High Tea is served daily from 11am to 5pm and starts at $55 per person on weekdays and $65 per person on weekends. Reservations are essential.

 

It includes a selection of finger sandwiches, with traditional fillings like chicken or cucumber as well as delicious savoury pikelets and tarts.

 

 

The scones, topped with homemade jam and clotted cream, just melt in the mouth...

 

And of course, no high tea would be complete without sweet treats and I'm pleased to say that nothing on this top tier was sickly sweet...which meant we could fit more in! I find that macaroons often fall into the too-sweet category but these lavender coloured, passion fruit-filled and chocolate dipped ones were just perfect!

 

Special dietary requirements can also be accommodated. One of our party was served a gluten free 3-tier selection of delicious food which looked just as wonderful as ours.

 

Not to be left out, the children who were with us were served from the children's high tea menu. At $35 per person for ages 3-12 years, it included a selection of sandwich soldiers, sweet treats and pikelets with jam and cream.

 

I must give a special shout out to the staff that served us as well, for no request was too much hassle. We even had them move us from a large table to a smaller one so we could gossip more effectively :)

 

We loved our afternoon at the Hydro Majestic so much that we plan to return for a stay, perhaps sometime in Winter. What would be nicer than sitting by a large open fire, looking across at that beautiful view?

 





Nutella Brioche

After seeing various versions of this recipe floating around on social media, I decided I would give it a go myself. The first time I attempted to make it, I was in a rush and could tell that my dough wasn't right so I binned it without even trying it. But today I had plenty of time, and so in a relaxed and happy state, using a combination of recipes (including the brioche recipe from the Everyday Thermomix Cookbook), I made my Nutella Brioche.

 

This a great looking dessert and quite simple to make. The bonus came when I found out that today is World Nutella Day! What better occasion than this to share this recipe? It was a winner with all the Nutella addicts at our weekly family night dinner! It's the perfect tear apart bread for those with a bit of a sweet tooth. Warning though - it is very filling and once you start, you just can't seem to stop tearing off pieces and devouring them.

 

As always, the recipe can easily be adapted if you don't own a Thermomix. You just have to add a bit more time to knead the dough by hand. I've also tried to add a few photos showing the process of putting it all together.

 

 

Nutella Brioche

 

55g caster sugar

330g milk

1 sachet of dried instant yeast (7g)

80g softened butter

1 teaspoon sea salt

650g baker's flour

1 egg

 

1 egg white

1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

 

1. Place sugar, milk and yeast into Thermomix and heat for 1 minute at 37 degrees on speed 1.

 

2. Add butter, salt, flour and whole egg and mix for 10 seconds, speed 7 in order to combine ingredients. Then knead for 3 minutes.

 

3. Turn dough out and work into a ball and then set aside in a covered bowl in order to let it prove/rise. This should take about 30 minutes. These days I always set dough aside in a lightly greased bowl over another bowl of boiled water to speed along the process and ensure that my dough does rise if the temperature inside my house isn't playing nice.



 

Seems a bit of a contraption, but now I always use this method!

 

4. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius fan forced and once dough is ready, divide into 4 roughly equal portions.

 

5. Take first portion of dough and on a lightly floured surface, roll it out using a rolling pin until you have a large, pizza-like shape. Place the rolled out, flattened dough on a lightly floured pizza oven tray or on baking paper on a heat proof tray.

 

6. Slather with Nutella!

 

The first layer of the brioche.

7. Roll out another quarter of the dough in the same way and place on top of the Nutella layer. Then slather that layer with Nutella as well. Repeat this step for the third piece of dough. Then roll out the final piece of dough and place on top. Do not add Nutella to very top layer. In essence, what you should have at this stage is a four layered Nutella dough structure.

8. If you haven't mastered perfect dough circles, then like me, you will need to ensure your dough structure is circular. The easiest way to do this is to place a plate upside down on the dough and cut around the outside edge using a sharp knife. You can either throw these scraps out or use them for taste testing purposes - perfectly legit! Just throw them on another tray so they can go into the oven with your brioche when it's ready.



Use a plate to help you get a round shape.

9. Next, grab a glass and press down with the rim in the centre of the dough. Don't cut all the way through to the bottom but make enough of an indent so that you clearly have a centre.



Indent made by glass in centre of dough.

10. Without cutting into that centre circle made by the glass, use a very sharp knife to divide the rest of the dough into 16 equal pieces.



The cut up dough.

11. Now here's the bit that creates the wow factor but is really rather simple! Just grab two pieces next to each other and twist both inwards towards each other - a couple of twists will suffice. This part can get a little messy, and I like to wipe my hands before I twist each pair, but any smudges of Nutella get swept away by the wash in the final step before cooking - and once cooked, you can't see them anyway!


The first two pieces after being twisted.

12. Repeat previous step for the rest of the pairs in the circle - easy and quick!



Twisted and almost ready for baking.
 

13. In a small bowl, whisk together egg white, milk and vanilla essence and brush all over the brioche.

14. Place brioche, uncovered, in preheated oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and enjoy warm or cold.

Happy World Nutella Day!