An American Teen’s Introduction to the English Afternoon Tea

Just last week, my allergic teen received an invitation to partake in “An Afternoon of Tea and Cakes” from one of her friends. A tea party! I love tea parties! Immediately after opening the card, the taste of little cucumber and cream cheese finger sandwiches, along with the smell of warm scones smothered with the most amazing clotted cream popped into my head. I swear I could even hear the clinking sounds of spoons as they stirred cream or sugar into their tea cups and the buzz of polite conversation as it milled around the room. I’d been transported back to an amazing time while I was studying in England many, many years ago.

Of course, I was not the one being invited, my daughter was. Darn! Since she was just as excited as I was, I did not want to put a damper on her enthusiasm by trying to figure out what to bring along for her to eat. So I went to the internet to see what they might be serving.

According to Natalie Hardwick from the BBC GoodFood site, “There aren't any rules when it comes to the food, but a standard afternoon tea comprises a layer of sandwiches, a layer of cakes and a layer of scones or teacakes. However, you could also throw in pastries, petits fours or biscuits.”

Since my teen is not a big sandwich fan, I thought this might be a good time to introduce her to sandwiches that were different than the traditional ham or turkey sandwich. Two traditional tea-type sandwiches stood out as good contenders: the smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich and the cucumber and cream cheese sandwich.  Since not every teen enjoys salmon, we decided to make the cucumber tea-style sandwiches for her to take to the tea party. In spite of my teen’s skeptical look while we were making the sandwiches, she was still game to try them.

After the Tea Party, she came home all excited about seeing all her friends and she loved her new cucumber sandwiches. In fact, she loved them so much that she now eats them two to three times a week packed in her school lunch. Her one friend, who is a vegetarian, loves them too!

Here is the very simple recipe which uses Tofutti dairy-free cream cheese instead of the traditional cream cheese, which also makes this recipe vegan.

Dairy-Free (Vegan) English Tea Sandwich

Serves 4

 8 slices white bread (dairy and egg free)

1 8 oz. Spreadable Tofutti Cream cheese

1 cucumber; thinly sliced

Dill to garnish (optional)

Place bread slices on cutting board and cut off crusts on all four sides. Spread a layer of Tofutti cream cheese on each slice of bread. Garnish with fresh dill if you would like. Peel cucumber and slice cucumber into thin slices and place on top of bread. Put the remaining slice of bread on top and cut sandwiches into three thin vertical slices. Serve immediately.

Easy Peasy! You can use the same recipe for Salmon Tea Sandwiches; just use the smoked salmon instead of cucumber. Other tea sandwich ideas include: ham salad and chicken salad. Just remember to use your vegan or allergy-friendly mayonnaise instead of the traditional one.