I had been daydreaming about our tea at Blenheim Palace so took the afternoon off to ensure we savoured it in all its glory while taking full advantage of the stunning gardens and grounds.

We were lucky that the day we chose was an absolute corker, clear blue skies and sunny weather, as we arrived and were led into The Indian Room, which isn’t in the palace itself sadly, but located through the Water Terrace Cafe, and made up of Japenese panelling and a large mural depicting tiger hunts in India.

We had the Winston Churchill Premier Tea which is expensive (£30.50 for one, £58 for two) but it was top notch and came complete with a glass of Pol Roger champagne each, Churchill’s favourite apparently, and absolutely delicious.

A display case of Newby teas was then brought to us, which opened like a book, with windows of loose tea to choose from. We could try as many teas as we liked and were told the optimum time each pot needed to brew. We ended up having three each, my favourite being Lavender Dream.

Then our (slightly wobbly ) three tier cake stand was delivered. The smoked salmon and cream cheese blini got the tastebuds going, followed by nine neat sandwiches – egg and cress, salmon and cream cheese, ham and wholegrain mustard, all very tasty.

The rhubarb and custard with fresh fruits served in a glass dish was light and refreshing to eat, but I was really saving myself for the fruit scone, which was glazed and complete with a ball of thick yellow clotted cream and smooth strawberry preserve. It was delicious.

We were getting quite full at this point but I couldn’t resist the cakes, the pistachio macaroon being the best I’ve ever tasted. My friend had the chocolate eclair which was supposed to taste slightly smoky but was still very good.

The Opera cake was as pretty as a picture with perfect layers of chocolate, coffee and caramel rendering it as light and dainty as a feather. And to end our afternoon I chose Rising Flower tea – three marigold flowers handtied and wrapped in green tea leaves, served in a glass tea pot, which unfolded as it hydrated, all very exciting.

We had been told anything we couldn't eat could be boxed up to take home and we were so full we took them up on that offer.

See blenheimpalace.com/shop-and-eat/eat/indian-room.html