Hina's High Tea Eats

As you may have already guessed from past posts, I am extremely fond of tea. Not just the beverage, but also the entire afternoon tea or high tea experience, complete with petite finger sandwiches, savouries, pastries, jams, creams, and an enormous selection of desserts.

For your gustatory pleasure, I have assembled some of my favorite afternoon tea sandwich recipes. These are some of the tea sandwiches I have enjoyed since childhood. I am also making sure to include some recipes that may please the gentlemen. I think if more men knew that tea time includes a bounty of food, they would be more inclined to attend, and less likely to pass it off as a girly pastime. We recently had a family tea with husbands and fathers, wives and mothers, and children from 5 to 25 months of age. It was an extraordinarily congenial gathering.

Easy Tea Sandwiches
(Note: When making tea sandwiches with a moist filling, make sure you butter both slices of bread generously. This prevents the bread from becoming soggy.)

Cucumber and Mint (Difficulty Rating: Super Easy)
Ingredients: bread, softened unsalted butter, fresh mint sprigs, fresh cucumber - salt and pepper optional

Wash and dry mint thoroughly. Separate the mint leaves from the stems and chiffonade them. You'll want enough mint so that there are pieces in every bite, but not so much that it overwhelms the sandwich. This depends on how many sandwiches you are making. In a bowl, mix the mint with enough butter so that you have enough to spread generously on both slices of bread. Slice cucumber very thinly. Butter both slices of bread with mint butter. If you like, sprinkle some salt and pepper over the butter. Place several thin slices of cucumber on one piece of bread, layering slightly, no more than two to three slices high. Top with second buttered bread slice. Trim crusts and cut the sandwich into quarters (triangles or squares).

Cheddar and Pimiento (Difficulty Rating: Super Easy)
Ingredients: bread, shredded cheddar cheese, softened unsalted butter, 1 jar sliced pimientos - pepper optional

Drain pimientos very well. Chop into small pieces and place into a bowl. Add 1-½ cups of shredded cheddar cheese (more or less according to your taste). If you like, sprinkle some pepper. Mix with enough butter (about 1-½ to 2 sticks) to create a thick spread. Spread thickly on one piece of bread and top with second slice of bread. Trim crusts and cut the sandwich into quarters (triangles or squares).

Pineapple Cream Cheese with Walnuts (Difficulty Rating: Super Easy)
Ingredients: bread, whipped cream cheese, 1 can pineapple in pineapple juice, 1 cup shelled walnut halves

Toast walnuts for a few minutes, until just lightly browned. Allow to cool. Drain pineapple well, removing as much liquid as possible, and chop into small to fine pieces. Chop walnuts into rough small pieces. In a bowl, combine pineapple, walnuts and whipped cream cheese. Generously spread mixture on one slice of bread and top with second slice. Trim crusts and cut the sandwich into quarters (triangles or squares).

Man Sandwiches
(Note: These are designed to be a bit heartier, but don't over do it. Tea sandwiches are supposed to be finger food.)

Turkey Cranberry (Difficulty Rating: Super Easy)
Ingredients: bread, softened unsalted butter, thin sliced turkey (your own or from a deli), cranberry sauce (I feel it tastes better if you use an actual sauce with fruit pieces rather than a jelly) - pepper optional

Generously butter both slices of bread to prevent it from becoming soggy. Spread some cranberry sauce (about ½ to 1 tbsp) on each slice. If you like, sprinkle some pepper over the sauce. Neatly layer turkey slices across one slice of bread, as evenly as possible. Depending on the thickness of the turkey, use about 2 - 5 slices. Top with second slice of bread. Trim crusts and cut the sandwich into quarters (triangles or squares).

Tuna and Water Chestnut (Difficulty Rating: Easy)
Ingredients: bread, softened unsalted butter, two 6oz cans albacore tuna packed in water, red onion, canned water chestnuts, mayonnaise or Vegennaise - pepper optional

Drain tuna very well and place in bowl. Finely chop red onion (about ½ to ¾ cups, more or less to your taste). Drain water chestnuts and rinse with very hot water to remove smell and canned taste. Dry water chestnuts and chop finely. Add onion and water chestnuts to the tuna. If you like, sprinkle some pepper. Add about ¾ cup mayonnaise or Vegennaise and mix, breaking up the tuna as much as possible. The mixture should be thick and chunky, but creamy enough to spread. Add more mayonnaise/Vegennaise if needed. Generously butter both slices of bread to prevent it from becoming soggy. Spread a thick layer of tuna mixture on one slice of bread and top with second slice. Trim crusts and cut the sandwich into quarters (triangles or squares). Note: Since it can be difficult to cut these neatly, you may want to consider using cocktail bread. See my previous post Afternoon Tea - Sit, Chat, and Eat, Eat, Eat for explanations and further info.

Cold Smoked Salmon and Capers (Difficulty Rating: Easy)
Ingredients: bread, softened cream cheese, cold smoked salmon, capers - pepper optional

Generously spread cream cheese on both slices of bread to prevent it from becoming soggy. Drain capers well. Place a few capers, evenly distributed, on one slice of bread on top of the cream cheese. You can push them into the cream cheese slightly so that they don't roll off. (Note: Unless you or your guests really enjoy them, go easy on the capers. They have a very strong flavor.) If you like, sprinkle some pepper. Place 2-4 slices of salmon on top of the cream cheese and capers, layering as evenly as possible. Top with the second slice of bread. Trim crusts and cut the sandwich into quarters (triangles or squares).

I have mentioned bread in each recipe, but I haven't specified what kind. Please experiment with flavors, textures, and colors. I frequently use rye, sourdough, pumpernickel, and whole wheat breads. It adds a wonderful element of color to your table. For instance, I like my cucumber sandwiches on white bread because the green really pops out and looks vibrant. I put the salmon on pumpernickel because the orange color looks so striking against the brown. I find that rye bread adds a little extra flavor that seems to work well with my tuna and egg salad fillings. My little foodie heart swells with pride whenever I find a combination that works well, but the only way to find them is to try things out.


Those are my contributions for today. If anyone else has some easy recipes to share, please do so. I'm always up for trying new recipes. My goal is to share the treat of afternoon tea with everyone, and to show that, although it may be presented in a fancy way, there is nothing intimidating or very difficult involved with hosting a delicious tea party.

"Tea! The panacea for everything from weariness to a cold to a murder. Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea."
Henry Fielding

Afternoon Tea - Sit, Chat, and Eat, Eat, Eat

“There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.” ~Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady

I have a great fondness for afternoon tea. (Even better than that is high tea, but I usually end up skipping that and going straight for dinner.) I love the little sandwiches, I enjoy the hot tea with pretty sugars, cream, or lemon and honey, and I really, really enjoy my scones with thick clotted cream. It’s tasty and decadent, and not diet friendly in the least. I like it that way.

Have you ever held an afternoon tea party at home? If you’d like to try, and I do recommend that everyone try an afternoon tea at some point, I’ve got a few tips on ingredients.

Bread
Certainly, you can buy any bread you like and cut off the crusts, slice the sandwiches into triangles or mini rectangles, and you’ve got a great tea sandwich. But I found some great cocktail bread loaves from Whole Foods Market. Rubschlager Cocktail Breads come in several flavors (I bought the rye, pumpernickel, and sourdough), and they’re about 2 inches wide. They’re already tiny, so no extra trimming, they’re sliced very thin, and they’re adorable! They make perfect mini sandwiches! I love cute food!

Cream, Jam, and Chocolate for Scones
Staying with the great “mini” theme for my tea, I went to Cost Plus World Market. This is one of my favorite stores for food items. I picked up a few packages of my favorite digestive biscuits, McVities Original flavor. They are a great addition to tea, as they are very good plain, and also go well with chocolate or cheese. I also bought three different flavors of Sticky Fingers Bakeries scone mix. These are great scone mixes. All you add is water, mix it up and bake. The scones come out with an almost crisp outside with a very tender inside. I got the Original, Black Currant, and Cocoa-Chocolate Chip flavors, but there are lots of flavors to choose from. I also recommend the Pumpkin Cranberry for a rich flavor with a bit of sweet tartness.

However, the best items I bought here were the 1 oz. mini jams and chocolate spreads I got in the 99 cent bins. If you don’t want to get a huge jar of jam, which you may or may not use after tea time, these little jars are perfect. (And oh so cute!) I bought lemon curd, black currant jam, chocolate spread, and honey for the tea – all in little 1 oz. jars. They even carry clotted cream in these jar sizes, but unfortunately when I went they were out.

Savouries
For the savouries, I like quick and easy. Head to Costco for some frozen spanakopita, quiche, or other puff pastry items. There are several to choose from. You get a lot of food for your bucks, so there’s plenty for your guests. Or stop at Trader Joe’s. In the freezer aisle, they also have spanakopita, quiche, and puff pastries, although in smaller quantities.

Desserts
For the sweet tooth, I still head to Costco and Trader Joe’s. Costco has a great big tub of cream puffs. Take some out about half an hour before serving, place them on a platter or in a nice bowl, and let them soften up. Trader Joe’s has all kinds of cakes, tortes, and decadent desserts in the freezer aisle. Pick up an opera cake or a chocolate torte, let it thaw on a platter, and slice it into individual servings. Presto! Instant dessert!

Tea is a wonderful way to pamper yourself and others, to sit back with friends and family and eat and talk, eat and talk, eat and talk…. If you don’t have the cycles to whip up your own tea, I will be reviewing a few tea houses in the Los Angeles and San Diego areas. Remember: Tea has lots of great health benefits, and good company is good for the soul. So, grab a friend and go have a cup!

"Come and share a pot of tea,
My home is warm and my friendship's free."
~Emilie Barnes