Yesterday, I hosted a late summer afternoon tea for a couple of long-time friends.  We’ve been meet annually for tea ever since we met chaperoning high school band together ten+ years ago.

Historically we’ve tried a variety of tearooms throughout the Boston area, but this time, with tight schedules making that impossible, I offered to host.

I love tea and I love hosting, so this was not exactly a hardship!  And it was delightful to catch up with my friends again.

Tea is a nice entertainment option as most things can be prepared at least a bit in advance and the table setting is always pretty!

So here, I’ll outline the various elements and hopefully inspire you to host an afternoon tea party!

The table setting

Linens

For our tea I covered the table in an off-duty cream matelasse coverlet from the linen closet.  This gave a soft backdrop to the table setting and provided some background texture for the composition.

Green cotton napkins with a white crocheted edge added another pretty element.

Centerpiece

While there are many options from plants to candles to themed accessories, you can never go wrong with a floral arrangement as a centerpiece.  Just be sure it is low enough to see over so it doesn’t block easy access to conversation.  

Our flowers are a mix of grocery store blooms and stems cut from the yard. I used a mix of purples, whites, yellows, and greens picking up some of the floral colors in some of the tableware.

An oval ceramic planter was used as the vase (anything can be a vase as long as it contains a way to hold water!).  Pro Tip:  I always create a grid atop the vase with strips of packing tape to make flower arranging easier - the grid help hold the flowers in the places you want them.

Dishes

I used some china luncheon sets at the place settings - a scalloped plate with a depression for a matching teacup.  These were set off atop green scalloped charger plates.

Silver cake forks, teacup-embellished stirring spoons, and pineapple handled spreaders at each place accommodate all the needs of the guests.

Champagne flutes , of course, are needed if you are adding celebratory champagne to the tea!

Many serving pieces were collected on trays.  

A small silver and gold rectangular tray held the scone condiments in teacups and ramekins.  And a larger paper mache oval tray held the teapot and all the tea accompaniments including a  bowl of lemon slices and a demitasse cup holding honey.

A two tier reticulated china server held miniature scones and tea sandwiches.

A cake stand displayed a glazed lemon tea cake, and a silver compote offered an assortment of fresh fruit.

Menu

Afternoon tea menus can be as simple as tea and pastry or as classic as a high tea.

High tea food generally involves 3 elements: tea sandwiches, scones and/or tea breads, and pastry desserts.

We opted for a high tea with champagne for this reunion.  

The menu included:

Beverages

Champagne/Cava

A pot of Yorkshire Gold tea

Lemon slices, honey, milk, and sugar

Nibbles

Fresh fruit

Figs, green grapes, strawberries, raspberries

Lemon Tea Cake with lemon glaze, decorated with thin lemon slices, raspberries, and mint leave

Scones

Miniature square cream scones

Miniature round apricot cream scones

Scone condiments; Kerrygold Irish butter, raspberry jam, clotted cream

Tea sandwiches

Peach chicken salad on whole wheat

Ham salad on whole wheat

Cucumber and garlic herbed cream cheese on white bread

Nectarine, prosciutto, and mascarpone on white bread

Recipes

This Lemon tea cake recipe was made in a round cake pan and then topped with a glaze made from powdered sugar to which I added lemon juice a teaspoon at a time until it reached the desired pourable consistency

I used the basic cream scone ingredients from my lemon ginger scone recipe for the scones and added diced dried apricots to half of the dough. Both types were brushed with heavy cream and sprinkled with sparkling sugar prior to baking.

For the tea sandwiches I used purchased thin slices whole wheat, and ultra thin sliced white bread with the crusts cut off.

Prepared white meat chicken salad was zhushed with the addition of peach jam stirred into it.

Ham salad was purchased.

For the cucumber sandwiches, Alouette cheese was spread on each slice and thinly sliced English cucumbers were sandwiched between them.

For the prosciutto sandwiches, mascarpone was spread on each bread slice and prosciutto and thin slices of nectarine were layered between them.  A drizzle of balsamic glaze could be added between the peach and prosciutto layers as well, and thinly sliced fresh figs could be a substitute for the nectarines.

Tea sandwich bread is thin and dries out very quickly, so making these way in advance is not possible.  I prepped the ingredients ahead, but assembled the sandwiches only about an hour before serving. 

Pro tip: Store tea sandwiches on a tray covered with a piece of parchment and topped with a damp tea towel to keep them from drying out before adding them to the serving platter at the last minute.

Afternoon tea is a fun tradition and high tea is a great way to celebrate and connect over a delicious spread.  

Tea anyone?

Other posts you might enjoy:

Mix and match dishes for table setting

Casual elegant entertaining

Lemon tea cake recipe 

Lemon ginger scone recipe

Spring table setting ideas