Tea should be served with both savoury and sweet snacks. There should be sandwiches, scones, pastries and cakes—served in this order: Savoury (finger sandwiches with various fillings); neutral (scones, crumpets, buns); sweet (cakes, biscuits, pastries).
Traditional afternoon tea consists of a selection of dainty sandwiches (including of course thinly sliced cucumber sandwiches), scones served with clotted cream and preserves. Cakes and pastries are also served. Tea grown in India or Ceylon is poured from silver tea pots into delicate bone china cups.
Afternoon Tea is a meal composed of sandwiches (usually cut delicately into 'fingers'), scones with clotted cream and jam, sweet pastries and cakes. Interestingly, scones were not a common feature of early Afternoon Tea and were only introduced in the twentieth century.
There aren't any rules when it comes to the food, but a standard afternoon tea menu comprises a tier of sandwiches, a tier of cakes and one of scones or teacakes.
The afternoon tea in Great Britain is a tradition, established by the seventh Duchess of Bedford in the 19th century. At the time, the supper was served very late; the duchess take the habit of drinking tea in the afternoon between three and four o'clock with a light meal.
The answer is that in the 17th and 18th centuries the china cups tea was served in were so delicate they would crack from the heat of the tea. Milk was added to cool the liquid and stop the cups from cracking. This is why, even today, many English people add milk to their cups BEFORE adding the tea!
The recipe for Queen Elizabeth's afternoon tea snack was simple: Butter two slices of soft, white bread and slather one in strawberry jam—preferably handmade from Scottish strawberries grown in the gardens of Balmoral Castle, the Queen's summer home in Scotland.
Tea should be served with both savoury and sweet snacks. There should be sandwiches, scones, pastries and cakes—served in this order: Savoury (finger sandwiches with various fillings); neutral (scones, crumpets, buns); sweet (cakes, biscuits, pastries).
A Victorian tea menu consisted of finger sandwiches (cucumber sandwiches were a common feature), and assorted sweets such as scones, cakes and other pastries. Beverages included teas and lemonade. To accompany the tea, lemon slices, cream and sugar were placed on the table.
There are a few classic options that are traditionally served with English tea. These include scones with clotted cream and jam, finger sandwiches, and cakes or pastries. Of course, there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to tea time snacks. You can serve whatever you like, as long as it goes well with the tea.
Whilst they both include tea as a beverage, afternoon tea includes delicate pastries, little sandwiches, scones and cakes. Whereas high tea is typically a more wholesome meal of meat, potatoes and vegetables served after a long hard day at work.
Tea break, High tea, tea time, tea party, tea towel and many more terms have derived from the tradition of drinking tea. Tea breaks are when tea and biscuits are served. The traditional time for tea breaks are at 11:00 am (Elevensee) and 4 pm in the afternoon.
What was a tea party? For upper class Victorians, afternoon tea was light meal served between lunch, at noon, and supper, at 8 pm. When you hosted an afternoon tea, it would include sweet treats like cookies, candies and cakes, as well as sandwiches, fruits and nuts.
Downton Abbey party food ideas
The traditional order food is served at teas are finger sandwiches, other savory bites, scones with jam (and Devonshire clotted cream if you're lucky), then desserts.
National Dishes
Nothing shouts British more than Roast Beef and Yorkshire Puddings. Fill the tables with trays of puddings, slices of beef and lashings of gravy. If that's too much, are too much then consider Toad in the Hole, Yorkshire puddings filled with sausage with onion gravy is always welcome.
Just like wine, some teas go well with spicy food, while others may be great with very sweet desserts. In fact, many tea traditions include both tea and food. For example, a traditional afternoon tea always includes finger sandwiches, small cakes and scones with clotted cream and jam.
The most common elements of the tea meal are the drink itself, with cakes or pastries (especially scones), bread and jam, and perhaps sandwiches; these are the pillars of the "traditional afternoon tea" meals offered by expensive London hotels.
Queen Elizabeth adhered to a daily teatime meal; her preference for delicate sandwiches with the crusts cut off was well-publicized. Her favorite version was reported to be smoked salmon with cream cheese. If the old adage is true, one should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dine like a pauper.
The Buckingham Palace Garden Party Tea from English Tea Store is flavoury, medium bodied tea with delicate Earl Grey and Jasmine notes. Perfect as a light afternoon tea. Every May, the Queen holds a garden party at Buckingham Palace, a lovely English springtime tradition.
Jam pennies
From the age of 5, Elizabeth was served these in her nursery and they apparently remained a favourite for 90 years. Essentially, these are just jam sandwiches – but we think we'll call them “pennies” from now on too. Alternatively, you could try these little shortbread versions instead?
A massive 85% of British Earl Grey and English breakfast tea drinkers have their tea with milk. Brits are definitely in the minority here, with the next milkiest country being Sweden, where just 32% take their Earl Grey/English breakfast with milk.
Everyday tea, such as English breakfast tea, served in a mug with milk and sugar is a popular combination. Sandwiches, crumpets, scones, cake, or biscuits often accompany tea, which gave rise to the prominent British custom of dunking a biscuit into tea.
Tea is often thought of as Britain's national drink. But how we enjoy it varies from person to person – from no milk, three sugars, to a traditional builders' tea.