All about Tea Sandwiches
Tea sandwiches are small finger sandwiches with a variety of fillings. Your sandwiches can be traditional cucmber and cress, or go the more “punk” route and put virtually anything between those dainty slices.
Tea sandwiches generally have a fatty layer included. For instance, the classic cucumber sandwich starts with buttered slices of bread. Butter is typical and is often flavored with herbs or lemon, but cream cheese or mayonaise work just fine too. If you’re using a “salad” type filling, that fatty ingredient is usually included in the filling and no additional butter is needed. Unless you like it.
For a pretty and tasty table, try to vary the breads used. White sandwich bread is traditional for vegetable sandwiches, but you may want whole wheat or rye for more hearty flavors. Try small picnic rolls, a cocktail loaf, or sandwich thins. Mini-bagels, petite toast, or crostini work great for open-faced sandwiches. Loaf bread can be cut into rounds with cookie cutters.
Using a serrated knife, cut the crusts off your loaf breads to make them look neater and easier to bite into. You may also freeze bread to make it easier to cut after the sandwiches are assembled.
Yes, you can assemle tea sandwiches the night before. Keep them whole in the fridge, and cover loosely with wax paper and then a damp paper towel. (Don’t let the damp paper towel touch the bread, because it will make it soggy.) Cut crusts off and into smaller bite-sizes the morning before the tea; tea sandwiches should be served at room temperature.
DVSS Teas are generally pretty hearty affairs. While many Tea organizers plan for 3 or 4 tea sandwiches per person, we generally expect Tea-takers to enjoy about 6 tea sandwiches each.
Here are some simple, beginning ideas for tea sandwiches. Assemble a variety of:
Breads - white, seeded, whole wheat, cocktail loaf, mini bagels, sandwich rounds, petit toasts
Cheeses - soft like Boursin, hard like cheddar or parmesan
Vegetables - cucumbers, sprouts, peppers, diced onions
Fruits - ripe pears, pineapple, tomatoes, berries, apples
Eggs
Meats - ham, roast beef, turkey
Fig paste or other preserves
Some classic (and punk!) combinations
Rare roast beed and bleu cheese salad dressing on rye or wheat bread
Mascarpone cheese and sliced pears on raisin bread
Fig paste and gorgonzola on petit toasts
Cream cheese and jalapeno jelly on seeded bread
Ham and herbed cream cheese on wheat bread
Alouette or Boursin cheese and red pepper strips
Smoked salmon cream cheese with garnish of capers, diced red onions, and dill
Guacamole and tomatoes on wheat
Gouda or mozzarella slices, basil leaves, and sliced cocktail tomatoes on white bread
Curried egg salad on white bread
Chicken salad, tuna salad, avacado salad, shrimp salad, tarragon turkey salad, ham salad with pineapple - you can go wild here
Mint and cucumbers on buttered white bread
Ham and smoked cheddar cheese on mayo’d bread
BLT
Peanut butter and jelly between three slices of white bread - cut the bread before applying the filling.
Roast beef, horseradish mayo, and watercress
It’s hard to refrain from making them all!
Melanie