Afternoon Tea
This post isn't strictly according to my #VeganMoFo theme ("Vegan on the Go"), but instead follows the official prompt: "What would you serve up for a classic British afternoon tea to impress Mary Berry?" I could not resist this prompt. I am hopelessly in love with tea sandwiches.
Mary Berry as a guest sounds like a terrifying proposition. Martha Stewart would probably be a safer bet. Based on what I know of Mary Berry, nothing impresses her, and most things displease her. But I did have a friend over for tea a while ago, primarily for the excuse of getting to make tea sandwiches, so whether or not the infamous Mary Berry would approve, I figure it is worth sharing, because we liked it.
It also gave me the opportunity to break out my little tea pot, fancy teacups with saucers, demitasse spoons, and tiny pitcher for the non-dairy creamer.
With our tea, we had:
Cucumber sandwiches (always a favorite, and so simple--margarine, cucumbers, salt, and pepper on crustless white bread),
Eggless salad sandwiches (my go-to recipe is the one from Hot for Food; omnivores can't believe it's not eggs),
And apple-chocolate-hazelnut sandwiches (sliced apples and Justin's chocolate hazelnut spread).
Mary Berry would point out the imperfection of my hazelnut spread dirtying up my white bread a little, I'm guessing, but we enjoyed it.
Here are four more tea sandwich filling ideas, from previous posts:
Vegan ham salad (a glorious mixture of tofu and smoked almonds that must be had to be believed) (recipe from the Booming Platter),
sunflower seed spread with spinach (can be pinwheels like this or on bread) (my own recipe),
and (obviously to most vegans) chickpea salad (my own recipe).
Meanwhile, I know this is really supposed to be a baking theme for the week, but baking isn't something I tend to do this time of year (too hot for the oven). However, I would love to have my vegan sour cream coffee cake at a tea sometime:
Mary Berry as a guest sounds like a terrifying proposition. Martha Stewart would probably be a safer bet. Based on what I know of Mary Berry, nothing impresses her, and most things displease her. But I did have a friend over for tea a while ago, primarily for the excuse of getting to make tea sandwiches, so whether or not the infamous Mary Berry would approve, I figure it is worth sharing, because we liked it.
With our tea, we had:
Mary Berry would point out the imperfection of my hazelnut spread dirtying up my white bread a little, I'm guessing, but we enjoyed it.
Here are four more tea sandwich filling ideas, from previous posts:
mushroom-walnut pate (my own recipe) with cornichons and dijon mustard (one my favorite sandwiches of all time),
Meanwhile, I know this is really supposed to be a baking theme for the week, but baking isn't something I tend to do this time of year (too hot for the oven). However, I would love to have my vegan sour cream coffee cake at a tea sometime:
If you make all this for afternoon tea, I hope I get an invitation! I'm much less critical than Mary Berry, so I think I'd make for a more fun guest.
Your afternoon tea looks so good. I love little sandwiches. I haven't watched GBBO (I know, I know...), so I don't know anything about Mary Berry. But honestly I don't give a fig about her opinion. I'd eat any of those sandwiches any day.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch it either, but she's actually on a lot of British shows I've seen. She's quite picky! Meanwhile, Martha Stewart, though not having the same level of charisma, tends to take Julia Child's approach--if you and your guests enjoy it, it's good enough. And never think more about the food than your guests and why you are having them over in the first place.
DeleteI have to agree, it must be terrifying to bake for Mary!! I can't imagine how much stress those bakers must have! I love that you enjoy afternoon tea and the adorable tea sandwiches! They look great and sound so yummy. I'm especially drawn to the sweet sandwich. I love the Justin's chocolate hazelnut spread so that sounds delicious! I have been thinking about how I want to start making sandwiches for lunch and your bentos are such great inspiration! Also, I need that coffee cake in my life!
ReplyDeleteI hope that you are doing and feeling well <3
It's kind of funny because I don't pack sandwiches often, but now that I'm vegan I feel like I can be more creative with my sandwiches so I enjoy them more. If you like sweet sandwiches, there are so many possibilities! Strawberries, pears, and bananas are also great for sandwiches.
DeleteYour tea with a friend looks absolutely lovely; all the cute little sandwiches sound perfect! And yum, coffee cake!
ReplyDeleteI love a good tea spread, and this is a marvelous one. I would not criticize it! Thanks for the link on that ham salad; it sounds intriguing!
ReplyDeleteI feel like tea sandwiches are 95% presentation. Though your sandwiches sounded super yummy
ReplyDeleteAw, Mary always finds something positive to say to every contestant, and I don't think she'd struggle with this spread, everything looks delicious! Last week I went for afternoon tea and our cucumber sandwiches had a little bit of mint puree spread in them - it really elevated them and I'm keen to recreate it!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds interesting! I'm not that keen on mint but I'd happily try something like that. I made some with avocado spread in them once that were a real crowd-pleaser.
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