Whilst Britain may not always have topped the charts of haute cuisine, there is one culinary tradition we’ve long held dear – and rightly so. High tea is our national treasure and, given it’s Afternoon Tea Week (11–17 August), it’s the perfect excuse – not that we need one – to polish the teapot, lay the linen napkins, and indulge in a spread that would make even Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess crack a smile.
We’ve rounded up six delightful recipes to help you channel your inner Mary Berry. So don your apron, dust down the cake stand, fill the sugar bowl, and let the clotted cream flow freely. More tea, anyone?
Afternoon Tea Sandwiches
BBC Good Food
Few of us truly need a recipe for sandwiches. Inspiration, however, is always handy, and we love this deliciously light trio as suggested by the clever folk at BBC Good Food: goat's cheese, walnut and roasted pepper; lemony cucumber and prawn; and creamy egg and cress. The ideal way to commence proceedings. Get the recipe.
Cheese & Walnut Scones
Olive Magazine
You can’t beat a classic scone and the ensuing debate around whether cream then jam or jam then cream is the correct choice (it’s cream then jam, obviously). But we also love the cheesy version, made here with crunchy walnuts and then served up with a good slick of butter. Ideal with a pot of piping hot tea in proper cups. Get the recipe.
Lucy’s Strawberry Slices
BBC
It’s British summertime! It’s also teatime! What better thing to serve than strawberry slices, an alternative finger-sandwich style twist on the classic Victoria sponge? Achingly pretty on the plate and ideal as a teatime treat to delight the troops. Get the recipe.
Yuzu Madeleines
Delicious
The clam shell-like madeleine could scarcely be prettier – and, deliciousness aside, that’s the name of the game when it comes to a really good high tea. These ones are made with aromatic yuzu, which gives them an added je ne sais quoi. Get the recipe.
Orange Butterfly Fairy Cakes
BBC
Before they morphed into the ubiquitous cupcake, they used to be known as the rather sweeter fairy cake – a tradition upheld beautifully in Mary Berry’s gorgeous yet easy orange examples. Fun to make with children, do note you’ll need orange curd (everything else you’re likely to already have in the cupboard). Get the recipe.
Custard Cream Hearts
Nigella
A good afternoon tea is all about balance, and we’d argue that your cake stand needs a good biscuit as well as sandwiches, scones and cake. And these are as adorable as they come. As Nigella writes, ‘I have what I like to think of as a Wildean thing about reproducing artifice by more natural means. Thus, in How To Eat, I gave a recipe for digestive biscuits, and now I find myself propelled towards the homely accomplishment of the custard cream, hitherto – at least in my lifetime – only known in its packet form. It's probably a brand heresy to say it, but these are so much better homemade.’ We concur; now you try them. Get the recipe.
