Bread and baking

Tea is a meal not to be missed. It comes during that dull part of the afternoon, half-way between lunch and supper, and brings zest to what can be a rather dispiriting time of day.

We all, in spite of the fact that it is often in reality no more than a cup of tea, have our own ideas about the perfect tea, whether it is hot buttered toast and fruit cake by the fire or cucumber sandwiches and Devonshire splits, with cream and jam, on the lawn.

And to prove that tea to the British is a serious institution, we have the most enormous and marvellous repertoire in the world of yeast-based tea breads and buns, of splits and scones, shortbreads from Scotland and fairings from Cornwall, with a specially good collection of recipes from bakers in Yorkshire, where buns and biscuits are made in quantity for the children’s tea.