Afternoon Tea Ideas
From the perfect scone to easy bake cakes. Dainty sandwiches all served on the cutest fine china with a steaming hot cup of tea!
I love afternoon tea and hosting your own for friends and family is such a lovely way to spend the weekend.
It’s not as fiddly or as time consuming as you might think and i’ve got loads of cute afternoon tea ideas right here in this bumper post!
With my super simple cake recipes (suitable for all levels of bakers!) and sandwiches with stuff you’ve already got in your fridge, there’s never been a better excuse to dust off that teapot and get your favourite people round for a giant scone and a few finger sandwiches!
– Some links in this article are affiliate links. While we earn a small commission for products purchased through these links, it doesn’t change the price for you in any way. Affiliate links help keep xameliax.com running so we can continue to bring you delicious free content like this! ad-
Afternoon Tea Ideas:
The Cakes
With every British Afternoon Tea there are three layers – Sandwiches, Scones and Cakes. For me, the scones are THE BEST part of an afternoon tea, but there’s something to be said for a dainty little sweet treat in cake form!
Here’s some handy afternoon tea ideas for cakes you can bake at home and add to your tea.
These flapjack bites are SO easy and perfect for a beginner baker! I took my original Honeycomb Flapjack Recipe and pressed the mixture into a miniature muffin tin to create bite-sized flapjacks! Drizzle a melted chocolate of your choice on top for some extra sweetness, and you’re good to go within the hour!
Traybakes are your best friend when it comes to baking cakes for company. This Iced Lemon Traybake is one of my absolute favourites and oh so simple. Just cut it into dainty squares for a big and bouncy zesty number every single time!
Emily from Recipes and Reviews was my Afternoon Tea guest and brought round some adorable (and also super easy) Chocolate Tarts to finish off our cake layer! They looked perfect giving us a much needed choccie kick alongside the jam, oats and lemon – something for everyone!
Why not ask your guests to each bring a cake for the top layer of your DIY Afternoon Tea?! You could even judge each other Great British Bake Off stylee and give out a little present for the winner!
The Scones
My favourite part of an afternoon tea is the scones and I’ve got an amazing (and super quick) recipe for you to make your very own plain or fruit scones!
Find my Perfect Scone Recipe here!
Just make sure you get your cream and jam the right way round…which way is the right one again?
The Sandwiches
For your savoury layer you can be as creative as you like with whatever you have in the fridge!
I made three different sandwiches for my afternoon tea – Cream Cheese and Cucumber, Honey Roast Ham and English Mustard and Fresh Egg Mayonnaise.
I bought a Kingsmill 50/50 crustless loaf (what a time saver for making your sandwiches look super profesh!) and buttered up six slices with the good stuff – no low fat spread here thank you. Before dolloping on a generous layer of filling and slicing each sandwich into three fingers.
My Egg mayonnaise was simply three eggs hard boiled and mashed with full fat Mayonnaise and a little Salt n’ Pepper – delicious and so much better than the pre-made stuff!
Remember to ask ahead to see if any of your guests are vegetarian/vegan or has any allergies so you can adjust the sandwich fillings and make sure no-one goes hungry!
Afternoon Tea Ideas:
Cute Table Accessories
If you want to make your DIY Afternoon Tea feel extra professional you’re going to need a cake stand. You can pick up a pretty cake stand from anywhere with a modern or more traditional feel – there are so many beautiful designs out there.
Cake stands don’t have to be expensive, you can pick them up for around £10 like this plain white version, or this adorable vintage floral set!
And it doesn’t even have to match your crockery – the more eclectic the better with a DIY Afternoon Tea!
A teapot is a great idea for your DIY Afternoon Tea because it saves multiple trips to the kettle if your guests would like another cup. Again, you can go for a more traditional feel with something like this vintage tea set. Or try the modern look with this gorgeous glass set!
Fresh flowers always make a table look happier!
I have a really cute tea box that a friend bought me for Christmas for one year which was such a cute little addition to my DIY Afternoon Tea! Fill it with individual packets of your favourite teas and give your guests a choice.
…don’t neglect the classics though, it’s Earl Grey and English Breakfast for me!
Don’t forget your clotted cream and jam for the scones, and make sure you have enough milk and sugar for your tea too!
You can make your cakes the day before and whip up a batch of scones in less than 30 mins on the day. Your sandwiches won’t take long to assemble and the only other thing you need to do is boil a kettle – easy peasy!
There’s always cake leftover at Afternoon Tea so why not pick up some cute cake boxes for your guests to take home the extras they couldn’t manage!
I’d love to see your DIY Afternoon Tea! So don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @xameliax if you use some of my afternoon tea ideas! It’s such a lovely thing to do on a lazy Sunday or for a special occasion.
PIN THIS POST FOR LATER
