Don't be late, don't be late, for a very important date: the opening of the new Alice in Wonderland movie.

Directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp, the film promises to create mad-cap tea drinkers everywhere.

With that in mind, here are tips and suggestions from tea-time and Alice experts at Tetley Canada and Chapters/Indigo, on how to throw a Mad Hatter tea party.

Calgary Herald

Tea tips

Here are a few suggestions on how to brew a perfect pot of tea, from Nicole Schon, owner of tnik, a Calgary-based premium tea and tea accessory company.

1. Pick your tea: green, black, white, you name it.

2. Boil your water -- but not too much. "For white teas and the occasional green tea, you want to keep the temperature a little lower, and the steeping time a little less," she says. Aim for no more than 170 F (72 C).

"White teas are the unopened buds. They haven't been subjected to the harsh elements, so if you just put them into boiling water, it shocks the tea and it will taste burned."

3. Black tea "is a little more hardy, more able to be mistreated," she says with a laugh. "You can put hotter water on it and let it steep for a little longer." Boil your water to approximately 180 F (82 C).

4. A cast-iron pot is ideal for black teas, because it will keep the tea really hot, whereas green tea does best in porcelain. "And with some of the teas that are prettier, flowering teas, you'd obviously want to make it in a glass pot, so you can see it."

Want to try your hand at creating a wild and crazy cake for your Mad Hatter tea party? Then check out The Whimsical Bakehouse: fun-to-make cakes that taste as good as they look, by Kaye Hansen and Liv Hansen (Clarkson Potter, $21).

Mascarpone Swiss Rolls with Pop Rocks and Lemonade Shooters

"Mustard? Don't be silly. Lemon, that's different." -- The Mad Hatter, when the March Hare is offering odd foods for him to use to fix the pocket watch.

You may not be able to fix a pocket watch with one of these desserts, but you will wow your guests -- young and old -- with this fun dessert, created by the Marriott's Kristin Hayashi, Mariah Darlin and Jenna Montgomery, as well as pastry chef Shawna Sturgeon and executive chef Kevin Birch.

The dessert was one of the winning creations at the recent Alberta Theatre Project's Lawson Lundell Celebrity Hors D'Oeuvres competition.

Pink Swiss Roll (Sponge Cake)

Makes 12 servings.

The original recipe calls for 4 ounces (115 grams) of sugar and 3 ounces (85 grams) of flour, but for the ease of home cooks, we've changed the recipe to offer cup/millilitre measurements.

4 eggs

1/2 cup (125 mL) sugar

2/3 cup (150 mL) all-purpose flour

Red food colouring

Whip eggs and sugar to ribbon stage (about three minutes, when some of the mixture forms a "ribbon" on the surface of mixture when dripped from a spoon.) Fold in flour. Add food colouring until desired shade is reached; combine until mixture is evenly pink. Pour onto parchment-lined tray and spread evenly. Bake at 350 F (180 C) for 7 to 10 minutes. Let cool before filling.

Icing/filling

9 ounces (250 grams) mascarpone cheese

Honey, to sweeten

Strawberries, pureed, to taste (a couple of spoonfuls, as much or as little as you like).

Whip mascarpone till soft. Add in strawberry puree. Add in honey until sweet.

To assemble dessert:

Remove sponge cake from tray and flip onto sugared surface. Peel off parchment paper. Sprinkle lightly with more sugar. Spread filling evenly on to sponge. Roll and freeze for 2 hours. Coat outside with thin layer of mascarpone. Cut into 12 pieces and skewer each with a toothpick. Just before serving, roll each slice in Pop Rocks and set on top of shot glass full of lemonade cocktail.

Cook's notes: Don't roll Pop Rocks on the cake too soon or they will react with the cake's moisture prematurely.

Find Pop Rocks online at poprockscandy.com.

Pink Lemonade Cocktail

12 shot glasses

1/2 cup (125 mL) lemon juice

1/2 cup (125 mL) water

2 ounces (60 millilitres) peach schnapps

1 ounce (30 millilitres) apricot brandy

1 ounce (30 millilitres) vodka

1 ounce (30 millilitres) raspberry Sourpuss

Grenadine for colour

Sugar to sweeten as needed

Combine the lemon juice, water, schnapps, brandy, vodka and raspberry Sourpuss. Add Grenadine until desired colour is achieved. Add sugar to sweeten as desired (keeping in mind that the cake is sweet, so the drink should taste slightly sour). Divide mixture between 12 shot glasses.

Cook's note: If you want to make a non-alcoholic version of this dessert, simply replace the lemonade cocktail with a purchased alcohol-free pink lemonade of your choice.