Classic Tea Party Menu
on Dec 17, 2024
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Planning a tea party at home? I’ve got recipes for all three courses of an afternoon tea and tea selection recommendations all here!
Table of Contents
Tea Time at Home
To plan out a tea party at home, you’ll need to figure out the tea sandwiches, the scones, sweets, and of course, the tea. For a traditional afternoon tea, you can use a 3-tiered tray, but you can also serve each course on a platter for the table to share.
The tea comes out first, before the food. After tea is served to each guest, bring out the food. The order afternoon tea should be eaten is the tea sandwiches first, then the scones, then the sweets.
RELATED: 21 Afternoon Tea Etiquette Rules
Tea
Serve 1-4 different teas.
If you’re having a tea party for 2, you can provide a teapot with tea for each person. But serving each guest their own teapot is not feasible for a tea party of 4 or more, so offer guests a tea sachet or tea bag from a selection. You can provide a teapot or 2 with hot water for the table. You, as the host will need to make sure that the hot water is ready and available throughout tea time.
I would recommend getting an electric kettle so the water can boil quickly and safely. You can pour the hot water into a pretty teapot instead of placing the electric kettle on the table.
Recommended tea selection:
- Earl Grey tea
- English Breakfast tea
- Jasmine green tea
- Genmaicha
- Chamomile (herbal tea)
- Mint Verbena (herbal tea)
If you want to make an impressive presentation, you can offer a selection of teas from a tea box.
Tea Sandwiches
Serve 3-4 tea sandwiches per person.
It’s completely up to you how many different types of tea sandwiches you want to serve depending the number of guests. If it’s just you and a friend, I would make 1 or 2 kinds of sandwiches, but if you’re serving 4 or more people, go with 2-4 different ones.
Tea sandwiches should be sized so that they can be eaten in 2-3 bites.
Cucumber and Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches
These dainty and delicate tea sandwiches are a quintessential part of afternoon tea.
A simple and tasty egg salad tea sandwich recipe that’s easy to make.
Tiffany & Co. Corned Beef and Cheese Tea Sandwiches
Sliced corned beef adds heartiness and plenty of savory flavor to the delicate tea sandwiches.
Blue Cheese and Pear Tea Sandwiches
Sweet and salty, blue cheese and pear tea sandwiches are perfect for tea time
Recreate Queen Elizabeth’s favorite jam penny tea sandwiches using this easy no-cook 3-ingredient recipe!
The recipe is simple, tasty, and takes just 6 minutes to prepare.
RELATED: 24 Best Tea Sandwich Recipes
Scones
Serve 1-2 scones per person. They should not be too big since you don’t want the guests to fill up on the scones.
Scones should be round and served with clotted cream (sold in jars in the refrigerated section of a supermarket, if they carry it) and at least 1 jam, but it’s best to offer 2 jams.
Light and delicious English scones can be made at home with this simple 6-ingredient recipe.
If you don’t want to make scones from scratch, they sell packaged scone mixes.
RELATED: How to Eat a Scone Properly
Sweets
Serve 3-4 sweets per person.
Have at least 2 different bite-sized sweets, which can be mini cakes, chocolates, or pastries. Like the tea sandwiches, they should be eaten with hands so make sure it’s not too messy to eat.
This easy, no-bake recipe is inspired by classic Victoria Sponge Cakes.
These tender, flavorful mini banana cakes with cream cheese frosting are perfect for tea time.
