Menu And Recipes For High Tea
Usually when people imagine charcuterie, they imagine it on a board or spread out on a table. Certainly most people don’t think of their charcuterie stacking up
But that’s just what the English have done, however. Afternoon tea is somewhat of a ritual meal served in the mid-to-late afternoon, between lunch and dinner. First popularized in the 1840s by the seventh Dutchess of Bedford, afternoon tea was meant to satiate a hungry duke’s wife because he liked to have dinner fashionably late – around 8pm.
She soon made a routine of having this mid-afternoon meal and eventually started inviting her friends to join here; and from there it evolved into a somewhat formal affair for upper class individuals in the 1880s.
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The first high tea trays would have included bits of biscuits, butters, jams and dainty fruits. Finger sandwiches and eventually desserts like cranachan also joined the spread.
There is a formal order in which to dine upon afternoon tea. While there are many recommendations on how to eat your afternoon tea, this spread is a cross between charcuterie and afternoon tea, meaning it is a less formal affair.
The first layer of your board should have several different bite sized sandwiches available. You can make this easy on yourself by buying premade chicken salad, tuna salad and/or egg salad and then assembling the sandwiches from there.
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I fancied up the sandwiches by adding some greens like fresh dill to the egg salad croissant and microgreens on top of the chicken salad.
Each of the bites with meat start with the same base: buttered, toasted croustini. From there I made 3-4 of each different option: lox & cream cheese; prosciutto & brie; and proscuitto & whole grain mustard. Feel free to mix and match flavor combinations to your preferences!
For the middle layer, traditionally scones are served with clotted cream and various jams. I bought some premade cranberry orange scones and served them alongside a few spare slices of the breads I used for the sandwiches.
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Scones are usually notoriously dry and crumbly, so it’s best to serve them with fresh fruits like strawberries to counteract the dryness. They also aren’t overly sweet, meaning you can slather on the clotted cream to your heart’s desire.
Because we are fusing the concept of charcuterie with afternoon tea, I had sweet jams but also included a spicy pepper jam and a peach bourbon jelly option – which are great to combine on a slice of bread with a swipe of clotted cream.
The top layer of afternoon tea is reserved for all things sweet! Traditional English desserts include sfogliatine and pecan tassies but I also tossed on a few mini cranachan (inspired by Harry Potter!) and a mini strawberry cheesecake to split!
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Each sweet should be able to be eaten in just a few bites. I found the pecan tassies and sgfogliatine premade at my grocery store – and the mini cheesecake was found at a local bakery!
The only dessert element that I actually spent time assembling was the cranachan and raspberry coulis – but DIY is totally optional. Cranachans are pretty similar to what Americans would recognize as parfait, so it’s just as easy to serve that as a replacement without getting the stove hot.
Of course, you can’t have afternoon tea without serving actual tea too! To keep it simple – and give everyone a range of teas to taste – I simply provided a teapot with hot water along with some teabags in various flavors of tea!High tea is all about enjoying an afternoon break with a warm cup of tea and a fair amount of snacks, both sweet and savory! So, the holidays are the perfect time to share a seasonal high tea menu with friends and family.
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I’ve gone out for high tea a couple of times and even with sometimes limited vegan options, it still is such a fun, low-key experience. If you’re not familiar with the concept of high tea, it started out as an afternoon meal to hold you over until a late dinner. So, instead of the traditional tea time where you would have maybe some biscuits as a light snack, this tea venture is more involved AKA more delicious.
Now, in my experience, high tea features both savory and sweet foods, and many bread-type things. What’s not to like? For my menu I wanted to have a good variety of seasonal flavors, but also not be super overwhelming. So, yes, there are some cookies and baked goods, but there are also finger foods that take literally 5 or so minutes to make. Hooray!
This is another recipe that already resides on my site but definitely needed a refresh, so this worked out swimmingly! I updated the measurements with metric equivalents and put everything in a recipe plug-in. The whole recipe makes 30 cookies, so I recommend making a 1/3 recipe which I’ve outlined below so you don’t have to do the math! But, follow the link above for the full directions/recipe.
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This is a recipe I already have on the blog in full-size form, but if you 1/2 the ingredients, cut the scones into 2-inch triangles, and bake for 13-15 minutes, you will have 12 perfect lil’ scones for tea time.
This recipe is new, and made just for this! Though I was inspired by some similar vegan turkey rollups that I posted last year.
In an effort to substitute the quintessential cucumber tea sandwich with a more seasonal, and vegan-friendly version, I came up with these tea sandwiches that have thinly sliced, roasted winter squash, fresh arugula, and a chickpea salad seasoned with rosemary and lemon. YUM! And while cutting the crust off of these isn’t for the faint of heart, it makes for a polished main.
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I LOOOOOVE this recipe, and actually developed it as a New Year’s appetizer a couple years back. I’ve made it a few times since then, and maybe just had 6 of them as part of my lunch today. They’re so incredibly easy to make, and you only need a 1/2 recipe for this High Tea menu. If you aren’t a fan of vegan cream cheese, sub it out with vegan ricotta and it will still be great.
I recommend making these pretty dang close to when you’re going to put the spread together as they only take a few minutes, and you don’t want the toasted crostini to get stale. And these can easily be made gluten-free if you use GF bread or crackers in place of the baguette.
Where there is an actual recipe. But, because I want this to be fun, easy, and seasonal, please use whatever veggies suit your fancy!
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In this case, I used chard stems (in lieu of celery sticks), quartered radishes, sugar snap peas, carrot sticks, and baby greens. All you have to do is place them standing up in a ramekin or shot glass, but first fill it with a couple tablespoons of vegan ranch, or other desired dressing. Et voilà! You have a cute lil’ veggie snack that can double as a palate cleanser of sorts between the other bites. And really, I think you only need one per person.
Now, if you’re super unfamiliar with high tea, you may need tea suggestions. It really is personal preference, but I do suggest avoiding lattes or heavy tea drinks. Here are a few tea options that would pair well with this menu: peppermint, chamomile, English breakfast, Earl Grey, black tea, Rooibos, anything citrusy, and I wouldn’t dabble in anything too herbal/rooty or super-spiced, in this case.
Of course, it’s nice to have a little soy or oatmilk milk on hand for some milky tea, plus some agave in place of honey. Now go, enjoy your wonderful High Tea, and let me know how it goes!
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All of your selections look wonderful . I especially like the marmalade thumb cookies drizzled with chocolate. I've only had high tea on a cruise and it was quite the fancy ordeal. They even had a few options for vegans and gluten-free.
@Judee@glutenfreeA-Z Blog, Oooh I can imagine it being super fancy on a cruise! Glad to hear they had some allergy-friendly options, too!
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