We had afternoon Tea in England, and loved it so much, that we were so excited to do it here at home. There were a few things that are different about Tea in England, compared to the US.
A Tea is actually a meal. Actual tea that you drink, is only part of it. In a traditional English Tea, each person gets their own tea stand, that houses their entire meal. It’s all about the presentation, and sitting with good company, having a memorable time.
The meal is composed of three S’s. Bottom - Savory, Middle - Scones, Top - Sweets.
Savory on the bottom - tea sandwiches. We did cucumber with cream cheese and freshly cut dill. These are always served open face. We also did ham, cheese and butter. Other traditional tea sandwiches are smoked salmon and egg salad sandwiches. Don’t forget to cut off the crust!
Scones in the middle. Every true English tea will have English scones, clotted cream, and strawberry jam. The scones are like biscuits, but better. You can find recipes online. My friend brought these for me from England. You can’t get clotted cream in America, because they don’t sell what you need to make it here. We made this knock off version, which is pretty close. It’s made of 1/2 cup heavy whipped cream, 8oz mascarpone cheese, and a table spoon of powdered sugar, whipped together. It’s slightly sweet, with an amazing texture. It’s like a cross between butter and cream, and slightly sweet and light. Put the clotted cream and jam in their own small containers. Do this the day before.
Sweets on top. The sweets are anything small. This level will always have a macaroon, and mini pastries or tarts. These small cakes are called Petits Fours, pronounced like, “petifours.” My friend brought these straight from England. You can find the exact same thing on Amazon or anything mini in the bakery will do. I also saw on Pinterest that you can cut a cake that is short down, and cover with melted white chocolate or icing.
Afternoon Tea is all about presentation!
When we were in England, they brought each of us our own teapot of water. Here, we used a teapot that we got from Walmart. It heats the water in 4 minutes. Much easier, and less to store. My awesome friend also brought us the teacup sets from England. What would I do without her? If you don’t have a friend who lives in England ;) I have seen beautiful sets at Homegoods. You can find them in many stores, including second hand.
We did strictly herbal tea for this party, no caffeine. We used loose tea and teabags. I got beautiful strainers online.
The favor bag was really sweet. It was a package of a tea bag, a teaspoon, honey sticks and mini honey dipper.
Thanks for stopping by!
Have a Happy & Creative Day!
Risa
