Last updated on January 27th, 2022
Can you get away for a moment? Please join me for Afternoon Tea! The menu includes fragrant tea, yummy petit fours, and three classic sandwiches. The sandwiches are the same cucumber, chicken, and egg-and-cress subjects that I enjoyed at Kensington palace. Their beauty is in their simplicity.
Watch: Afternoon Tea with Kevin
Click the play arrow above to watch your host assemble the sandwiches, brew the tea, and load up the tea tray. Or, just skip to the end of the video where you and I “take tea” in the music room!
Here’s a short recap of the ingredients I used for today’s tea sandwiches:
Cucumber Sandwich
Buttered bread
Hot house cucumber, sliced lengthwise into thin strips
Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Chicken Sandwich
Buttered bread
1 cooked chicken breast, minced in a food processor
Horseradish mayonnaise
Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Egg-and-Cress Sandwich
Buttered bread
2 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped*
Mayonnaise*
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Watercress leaves, torn or roughly chopped
*Egg salad purchased from the deli counter is acceptable here; just mash it with a potato masher if too chunky for dainty sandwiches
Bread for Tea Sandwiches
While I used Pepperidge Farm Sandwich Bread in the video above, you might prefer a different variety of white or brown bread for your own tea sandwiches. Select a loaf that has excellent taste, a moist-but-dense crumb, and no air holes. Too-soft bread will tear as you go about spreading it with butter or cream cheese, while a “rustic”-type loaf will leak because of its many air holes. Pain de Mie and Basic White Bread are two great home-made bread options:
The traditional bread for tea sandwiches is Pain de Mie, the famous French sandwich bread that is baked in a covered (“Pullman”) pan. The pan produces a perfectly rectangular loaf that is easy to slice. (Pain de Mie can be sliced almost paper-thin.) Click the play arrow above to watch your host make this gorgeous bread.
Also magnificent for tea sandwiches is my Basic White Sandwich Bread. When kneaded and shaped properly, the loaf will offer plenty of body and nary an air hole. Click here for the complete video how-to and printable recipe.
Now, about those blueberry-topped petit fours…
I wrote about these tartlets way back in 2013. They are homemade sugar cookie shells filled with homemade lemon curd. Shells and filling can both be made a couple of days in advance. On tea party day, simply spoon or pipe the lemon curd into each shell. Garnish with a blueberry and — if available to you — a mint leaf! Here’s the recipe.
Well. Thank you for the pleasure of your company today. If you’d like to see more Afternoon Tea ideas from me, please speak up the comments field below. Your words are the sunshine of my day. xKevin
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mlaiuppa says
Lovely. I will be sure to bookmark the lemon tartlet recipe as well and the Pain de Mie.
What a great idea using cookie for the tart crust rather than making pastry crust. I will have to try that. I planted blueberries last year and don’t get more than a handful. Not enough to really do anything with but certainly enough to garnish a dozen little tarts. I have a mint plant too.
I actually have one of those loaf pans with the lid that slides over it. Was never quite sure what it was for. Now that I know I am going to try that bread recipe.
I’ve always used cream cheese rather than butter making cucumber sandwiches and sliced them across rather than the long way. I spend the extra money and buy the English cucumbers as they have the fewest seeds and thinner skin. You can make decorative cuts down the length of the skin with a zester so when you slice them across they are very pretty. I’ve even cut the bread with a cookie cutter just one slice wide to make little sandwiches. Lately I’ve been using Lucerne garden vegetable soft cream cheese to give them a bit of extra oomph.
Never done egg and cress but I can’t resist adding a bit of pesto to either deviled eggs or egg salad.
For a variation of the chicken I’d consider substituting turkey and then using a cranberry mayonnaise or even cranberry mustard.
Yeah, my teas are anything but bland.
Cheryl says
I love afternoon tea, it’s such a lovely break in the day. More tea ideas are always welcome! I’ll be trying these recipes soon, thanks for both the recipes and all your work.
Carol Tracy says
I’m going to Kevin’s for tea! Meet you there!
Diane Hinkle says
We are retired since 1996 and no longer travel. Many of the better hotels we stayed in here and in other countries served afternoon tea. Most were lovely. Once, after a couple of weeks all over Turkey, we stopped in Paris and stayed in a small, interesting hotel. The lift, elevator was just big enough for one person and one suitcase. I used the stairs. Our room was on the second floor with big windows that opened out and we could see flower stalls and other local foods being sold. Down in the tiny lobby tea was served each afternoon. I took time to enjoy it. There were more cookies and tarts than sandwiches but it was lovely. I wonder if afternoon tea still happens? Thanks for bringing back a pleasant memory about the tradition and the friends we were with.
Chris says
We have a Saturday afternoon radio show “lunch on the deck” , where the hosts ( the owner) have a guest on the show, and have lunch , requested by the guest, delivered by a restaurant ( owned by the other DJ) . They once had Julie Andrews, and she requested egg salad sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Sounds a lot like your egg salad. so British !!
TS says
Love the post and recipes… thanks for the invite, Kevin! Happy weekend!
Jacki says
Lovely, Kevin, thanks for the invite! Brings back memories from the 50s-60s of my mother making tea sandwiches for card parties with friends or church socials. My sisters and I would wait impatiently for our crust treats! My husband & I still do afternoon tea, in the garden in summer, and friends love to come and share with us.
Lynnie says
What do you think of the sandwiches cut into triangles for a cocktail party? They look amazing!!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Lynnie – Tea sandwiches are definitely welcome at cocktail parties. Enjoy!
Susan says
Thank you, Kevin, for the perfectly delightful, and elegant, afternoon tea party. All the sandwiches looked and sounded tasty. The Music Room looked regal and the host, too. I LOVE your videos and posts. Yes, of course, I’d love to see more tea videos. As a matter of fact, I like ANYTHING you post. Most sincerely, Susan
Linda Hyatt says
Your red room is absolutely to die for. It is perfection, and I am a hard marker.
Kathy says
I’ve only been out once for tea time and that was at the Biltmore Mansion. It was divine! You made me feel like that again. Your food looked yummy. Thanks for the treat. Please do more tea times.
Linda A says
Lovely, Kevin.
I especially want to try those tartlets.
Sort of felt teased by a “2nd tea time in the music room” with
no piano accompaniment by Sir Kevin. ha!
I know, I know, you’ll get around to it.
In the meantime, as always, I’ll continue to enjoy your posts.
Sandra says
Thanks for the invite. I loved the afternoon tea. Great video, Kevin. Made me want to have a tea party too. xo
Frances says
You bring beauty into the world. Thank you for all you share with us.
I learn so much.
Sue says
Lovely traditional tea party. Questioning your brewing Harney’s English Breakfast 5-10 min. Harney’s website says 5 min. I have found any longer than 5 will be bitter, especially if you are going to leave the leaves in the pot for the entire tea party. I prefer to strain tea of leaves and then serve in pretty pot. You can still use the pretty silver strainer at the table for effect. Test brewing times for yourself.
Deborah says
Loved your tea sandwiches. Your video’s make me smile. You give me hope when I am having a bad day. Keep smiling.
DC Clarke says
I’ve just decided — this year — to celebrate life, in each day, enjoying a tea + low & high teas. Was not aware of your book but it’s on my list for next purchase! But did buy the National Trust books of Afternoon Tea, Scones & Puddings as well as the Downington Abbey Tea book.. poured over them trying to decide which tea, scone, sandwich and cakes to try.. I should have just asked you (♡♡♡)hearts aplenty
..o but isn’t this fun! Just an fyi.. you could use a pullman bread pan & a Nisu bread recipe to get that dense slice able bread. The cardamon is a secret touch. Great with fruit butters, savory butters and cream cheese. I use an herbal mango peach tea. I’m too old for dusty old earl grey. I do like a nice bite size curd, make a mango one.. might try guava next. Love your post! Tho I took out all my boxwoods, blight:(. But instead went with blueberry bushes- a two-fer. Hedges & fruit.. and color!! They have beautiful colors in the fall, some have red or yellow limbs, and the fragrance of the flowers in spring. Well it wasn’t difficult to see, a whole new way to look at hedges! Looking forward to trying all these recipes..thank you so much! DC
Christy says
I’m a big fan of Benedictine sandwiches instead of the straight up cucumber variety. But all of these are nice, cool selections for increasingly hot days!
Abbe Eaton says
you need to use Pepperidge Farm extra thin sliced bread !!
Doreen Wallace says
Thanks Kevin, I enjoy all your articles and recipes.
Being an ex-pat Brit, I love afternoon tea and now make it by following the menu I saved from The Ritz in London during the Queen’s Jubilee. One sandwich was made with thin slices of smoked salmon with cream cheese spread on the bread. At the end of the tea, we were served little cups of crème brûlée- so wonderful.
Ellie B says
I just love your teas. I wish I was there to enjoy it with you. I will use these recipes and ideas myself. I think I will invite a friend over to spend some time with me. Thank you so much, Kevin!
JK Collins says
My British mother-in-law taught me a clever trick for making egg salad for tea sandwiches to get the hard boiled eggs chopped fine… she grates the eggs using the large holes side of a box cheese grater. I have a grater set consisting of a bowl with three sizes of grating lids that I use. I put the lid with the largest holes on the bowl and in seconds I have a bowl full of perfectly “chopped” hard boiled egg.
Barbara Jesse Duvall says
Can you bake your tea cookie recipe in a muffin tin and fill with lemon curd for the tartlets? I mix my lemon curd with high quality cream cheese as lemon curd is too strong for my tastes.
susan says
Kevin, I love to make the tea sandwiches, as well as other gourmet finger sandwiches. However, ALWAYS use an electric knife to take off the crusts
and cut the sandwiches. So easy, and PERFECT every time. It is the only
time I use my electric kinife, and could not make these without my
electric knife, although I have the best and sharpest knives same as yours!
Phil Henderson says
Thank you. I loved your presentation. Scrumptious!