Tea Foods for the Tea Novice

Looking at a photo of one of our lavish Afternoon Teas, you would be justified in wondering just where to start contributing to the pot-luck. What is a Tea Food anyway?

We’d like to provide you with answers to all your questions, and some resources for acquiring Tea Foods even if you’re a compete novice, and you can’t boil water.

We will specifically address Afternoon Tea in this essay, since it’s the “fancy” one, the sort that requires the widest variety of generally unusual foods.

For Afternoon teas, “Tea Foods” are items that are small, one- to two-bite sized, and are a variety of sweet and savory foods. The point being that Tea Takers usually have two hands, and using a fork and plate generally leaves one with no hand to carry one’s teacup.

Conveniently, Tea Foods generally fit into several “standard” categories.

• Scones and spreads

• Tea Cookies

• Cake, plain and fancy

• Sweet Bites

• Tea Sandwiches

• Savory bites

Scones and Spreads

If you can bake your own, more power to you! However, there are a couple of alternatives to starting from scratch. Sticky Fingers has great mixes; they’re available at World Market and from the “healthy foods” grocers. (Make them with cream, for moist scones.) The popularity of scones means that they’re also available ready-made in the bakeries of most supermarkets. Scones from King Soopers and Whole Foods are the best.

Clotted Cream is available at Whole Foods.

Citrus curds are a classic topping for scones but kind of a pain to make. World Market carries both Mackays and Mrs. Darlington’s curds. Try the orange and lime curds!

The other classic scone topping is preserves; orange marmalade is traditional with fruit scones, but raspberry and strawberry are both beautiful and tasty on plain scones. Bonne Maman is the choice of our house cooks.

Tea Cookies

Brits call them “biscuits”, firm simple cookies with or without fillings. Pepperidge Farm cookies are perfect; anything from Milano to Verona, shortbread or other “cookie” with fillings. Trader Joe’s bakery supplies Raspberry Stars and Lemon Flowers, and Whole Foods carries a variety of tea cookies.

Fancy cakes

This could be petit fours or a larger, decorated cake. Again, both are available at local specialty grocers, but if you want to make your own petit fours, Sheila has a recipe for that in the reci-blog. Mini cupcakes, too.

Plain cake or quick breads

Slices of pound cake, spice cake, or even brownies would qualify and can be picked up at the supermarket. Tea cakes or loafs are traditional. You mom’s banana bread, orange cranberry bread, or lemon blueberry bread would make a great contribution. Just rememeber to cut them into half or quarter slices for serving.

Sweet Bites

Fruit in bite-sized pieces or dipped in chocolate; fancy candies or Turkish Delight; mousse - we once did chocolate mousse in mini chocolate shells. Costco once had two-bite pudding/mousse cups that were perfect for Tea.

Tea Sandwiches

They’re really not that arcane, unless you want to go for very traditional watercress or cucumber sandwiches; mostly, they need to be small and easy to eat. A wide variety of fillings can go between slices of bread and have the crusts cut off. Trader Joe’s has two different chicken salads that are great for tea sandwiches, or make your own chicken, egg, or ham salad fillings. Our Reci-Blog has many ideas for what to put on bread.

Savory Bites

Think party appetizers. Cream cheese and veggie or meat pinwheels, bruschetta, potted crab with baguette toasts, fig paste and gorgonzola cheese on petit toasts, cheese straws, mozzarella wrapped in ham or prosciutto, mini quiches, brie in puff pastry, cheese cubes, etc. Some of the above are available at the supermarket. Deviled eggs, nuts, sausage rolls, and caprese bites too. Safeway has chicken and pesto bites, and mini quiches in the frozen foods aisle. Pastry bites with caramelized onions and feta cheese are available from Trader Joes.

Things best left for other parties

We only say it because we need to - please leave the popcorn and chips and dip for the Big Game. Meat and cheese trays require guests to <gasp> make their own sandwiches. Bacon-wrapped sausages may not serve well cold.

A word about various foodways

Be aware that every Tea will have folx with a variety of foodways. DVSS includes gluten-free members, people who can’t consume dairy, low-carb/diabetic eaters, and vegan folx. If you’re making sandwiches, pick up some GF bread for a few of them; consider filling cucumbers with sandwich salads, or bring simple fruits to accommodate all diets.

The recipes and essays on our Reci-Blog include modifications to make accommodations so everyone feels welcome.

Questions still?

Ask your questions in the Comments Section below!