English Tea Sandwiches

English tea sandwiches have always been popular as a key component in a traditional afternoon tea.

I'll show you how to make elegant finger sandwiches suitable for royalty, for your family and friends.

Perfect for Mother's Day, Easter or for Sunday tea, these little morsels are quintessentially British, delicious and so easy to make at home.

Bon appétit 

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you will love this dish
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪 Instructions
• ⏲️ Cooking Time
• 💭 Tips
• 🥗 Side Dishes
• 🥙 Substitutions
• 📖 Variations
• 🍣 Storage
• 🍱 Prepare in Advance
• More savoury light bites
• 📋 Recipe
• Brunch & Light Bites
• 💬 Comments

Growing up, Sundays were the only day of the week where we had our main meal at lunchtime, which was a roast. This meant that we had tea time, which is not just a cup of tea.

This is a huge pot of tea served with sandwiches and followed by cake in the early evening. It's very traditional and we still do it now as a family.

Nowadays, there is a trend to go out for afternoon tea or even have it delivered. But, it's so easy to do very British afternoon tea sandwiches at home and I'll show you how.

Essentially the cucumber sandwich was traditionally deemed perfect for teatime. It's light, easily grown at home and not very filling, so perfect if you are leaving room for cake!

Of course, now we can have any combination of sandwich filings, but I'm giving you the recipes for a good old fashioned English tea finger sandwich.

❤️ Why you will love this dish

• Simple to make.
• Plenty of variations to suit all tastes.
• Great for picnics.
• Perfect for a celebration.

🤔FAQs

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🥘 Ingredients

There is a question of etiquette surrounding afternoon tea sandwiches, regarding the bread. Cucumber sandwiches are always served on white bread and smoked salmon on brown.

The bread is also plain, without fancy seeds or flour and the crusts are always cut off.

• Bread - thin to medium sliced white, brown or wholemeal bread from a square loaf.
• Butter - I prefer to use salted butter, but unsalted is fine. The butter needs to be spreadable at room temperature.
• Smoked salmon - prepared in slices.
• Cream cheese - full fat or reduced fat. Keep in mind that full fat cream cheese will give a better flavour and some brands of reduced fat cream cheese can be watery.
• Sliced roast beef - it's easiest to buy cooked and sliced roast beef for English tea sandwiches.
• Horseradish - creamed horseradish from a jar.
• Eggs - free range room temperature eggs.
• Mayonnaise - I prefer the varieties with a little added mustard or you can make your own homemade mayonnaise.
• Cress - fresh mustard cress adds a peppery flavour to the eggs.
• Cucumber - English cucumber.
• Seasoning - flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.

🍽 Equipment

• sharp knife
• chopping board
• sieve
• small saucepan
• kitchen paper

🔪 Instructions

It sounds really simple, but traditionally there is an art to sandwich making.

First peel the cucumber then slice it thinly. Sprinkle with salt and leave it in a sieve. Stir gently, so that the salt touches all the surfaces. Put the sieve over a bowl and leave for 30 minutes.

This will make sure that the excess water is released from the cucumber, so that you don't get soggy sandwiches.

⏲️ Cooking Time

To prepare the hard boiled eggs, place the eggs in a saucepan, cover with boiling water from a kettle and gently bring to the boil.

Simmer for 11 minutes, then drain and cover with cold water. Repeat and let the eggs stand in the water for 5 minutes.

Now remove the shells and return the eggs to the water to remove any remaining shell remnants. Leave to drain on kitchen paper for a couple of minutes.

Chop the egg finely, season with salt and pepper and mix with the mayonnaise. Use a fork to mash the yolks in.

Next, start to assemble the sandwiches.

For the bread, spread softened butter to the edges of the bread. It doesn't have to be thick.

Add a slice of roast beef to one side and spread horseradish sauce on the other.

With the egg sandwiches, pile on the mixture and top with fresh mustard cress.

For the salmon sandwiches spread one side of the bread with cream cheese and top the other with smoked salmon.

Make the cucumber sandwiches just before serving.

Tip the cucumber slices on to kitchen paper and pat them dry. Layer the slices on the bread.

Put the sandwiches together and carefully cut off all the crusts.

Depending on the size of your bread, cut 3 to 4 fingers. Arrange them on a plate, cut side up, so that it's easy for your diners to see the filling.

💭 Tips

• To soften butter, cut into small pieces and heat in the microwave on low power for 10 second increments.
• You can reduce the amount of butter by only spreading one half of the sandwich, except for the cucumber ones which need more of a barrier to stop the bread from becoming wet.
• When buying the bread, choose a square loaf as there will be less wastage when cutting off the crusts.

🥗 Side Dishes

Serve the English tea sandwiches with some of these idea for a traditional afternoon tea.

• Viennese Finger Sandwich Biscuits
• Lincolnshire Plum Bread - Tea Bread with Dried Fruit
• Classic British Scones for a cream tea
• Jamaica Ginger Cake
• Coronation Chicken Sandwiches
• Date Scones
• Fruit Loaf
• Cherry Madeira Cake
• Sultana Scones
• Lincolnshire Plum Bread
• Butterscotch Tart
• Cheese and Bacon Scones

🥙 Substitutions

• Horseradish- use English or Dijon mustard.
• Cress - add finely sliced cucumber instead.

📖 Variations

• Prawns and mayonnaise - use frozen and desfrosted prawns or shrimps well drained on kitchen paper.
• Tuna and mayonnaise - tinned tuna.
• Cheese savoury - this is grated cheese mixed with carrots, spring onions and mayonnaise.
• Ham and mustard
• Chicken and ham
• Poached salmon and watercress - or use tinned salmon.
• Cheddar cheese and pickle - grated cheddar cheese and a tradtional pickle or fruit chutney.

🍣 Storage

• Refrigerator - store any leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. It is not reccommended to store the cucumber sandwiches as they will quickly become soggy.

🍱 Prepare in Advance

• Sandwiches are best made fresh. However, you can make the sandwiches a few hours in advance and keep covered in the refrigerator. The cucumber sandwiches are best made just before serving.

Let me know what you think in the comments or you can post a picture and tag me on Twitter @chezlereve, Instagram @chezlerevefrancais, or Facebook @chezlerevefrancais

More savoury light bites

• Chicken Sausage Rolls
• Lorne Sausage
• Lincolnshire Haslet
• Potted Shrimps
• Derbyshire Oatcakes
• Duck Croquettes
• Pork Rillettes
• Breaded Brie
• Chicken Terrine

📋 Recipe

🍲 Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

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