Afternoon tea for 6 people

[Originalusername01]

please help ! I'm throwing an afternoon tea for 6 people and no idea what to make or how much to make. I've ordered a large victoria sponge and cupcakes but need some inspiration. Also advice on quantity as I always seem to go overboard .

You need scones.

I’d probably eat (If I wasn’t being polite) one round of sandwiches (so 2 bits of bread) ideally ham, smoked salmon, egg and cucumber (not together!!).

One scone with jam and cream

One bit of cake

One cupcake.

Depending on size of course. And I’d be stuffed full - depending on the people I am sure many would eat much less.

Definitely need scones with jam and clotted cream and sandwiches

As long as you have little sandwiches and scones as well as your cake it will be fine...

I think each person would eat 6 tiny sandwiches ,two scones and a piece of cake. About.

It depends if you have everything out together, or if you’ll bring out sandwiches, then scones, then cake. If so then make more sandwiches as everyone eats more of the thing that is put out first!

Sandwiches and scones must be there, along with the cakey bits. Macaron, cupcakes, or even lemon tart go down well. Variety - a bit of everything!

I love doing an afternoon tea. The sandwiches are a pain and time consuming (even for 6 people) but lovely when cut into nice triangles or little squares. My favorites are smoked salmon and wasabi mayo, or sweet onion and hummus. Yummy!

now I want afternoon tea :)

I would allow:

1.5 Full sandwiches per person so around 6 finger sandwiches.
2 x scones per person
3 x sweet things per person

Most people might eat less than that but nothing worse than not having enough food and scones/cake are nice things for people to take home for later or family.

Do one batch of plain scones and one batch of fruit scones.

Sandwiches I'd go for are:

Coronation Chicken
Cucumber and a herb Cream Cheese
Egg and Cress
Then dependent on your guests beef and horseradish or roasted veg and hummus.

Okay, my specialist subject! If you do it my way, you will have more than you need but it will feel just right.

Sandwiches: 4 finger sandwiches per head (you get 4 strips out of 2 slices of bread with the crusts off), plus you want everyone to have the same sandwich offer and have a few extra for greedy people like me. So make 2 2-slice sandwiches each of ham, smoked salmon, cream cheese and cucumber with salt and pepper, and egg mayonnaise.

Scones: 2 mini scones per person, with jam and cream. You'll need 2 tubs of clotted cream and a jar of jam.

Fancy cakes: 3-4 tiny cakes per person. If you want to make these yourself, make a lemon drizzle, some small tartlets and a fruit or chocolate cake, or a pastry eg eclair. Waitrose does nice boxes of tiny cakes if you can't be arsed - you get 9 in a box so get three boxes and eat the leftovers the next day.

Meringues: optional but nice - either macarons (Lidl sometimes has very nice ones frozen for a reasonable price) or tiny homemade pavlovas, or simple meringue swirls (hazelnut is the best kind). 1-2 of these per person - can lose a fancy cake for each one you include.

Thank you all so much for the quick replies . I love afternoon tea but find hosting it so stressful. Always worried its too much/not enough. I'll be getting in a large bottle of pimms as well

They may not necessarily be officially part of an afternoon tea but mini sausage rolls or mini quiche always go down a treat.

Ooh, I only read the title and the first few words. If you have Victoria sponge and cupcakes you probably only need scones and sandwiches. Having said that, the tiny bits are good fun. Waitrose does a bag of tiny frozen eclairs for surprisingly cheapo and that's really nice to have alongside.

The last time I did afternoon tea for 4 in total I ran round M&S, spent a fortune stopped at tesco and bought lots of booze.
I had shots on arrival then constantly filled everyone's glasses up.
I bloody hate hosting afternoon tea 🤣🤣
They arrived at 1pm and left at 9pm as they all were drunk I don't think they could remember what they had to eat🤣🤣

If you are having men you could have a 'gentlemen's tea' which includes sausage rolls, toast with something like gentlemen's relish and another savoury like a devilled egg (egg yolks mixed with mayo and curry powder and piped back into the hardboiled egg white) or scotch egg.

If you are having men you could have a 'gentlemen's tea' which includes sausage rolls, toast with something like gentlemen's relish and another savoury like a devilled egg (egg yolks mixed with mayo and curry powder and piped back into the hardboiled egg white) or scotch egg.

Are you making things or buying?

I would have thought that anything more than cucumber sandwiches and a pot of tea would be unseemly!

I'll be mostly buying things

What shops do you have near you?

I was talking about afternoon tea for visitors coming soon (DM and DMIL)

I was thinking I'd make it an all afternoon and into the evening thing and more family style than swanky

so, tiny bridge rolls piled up with egg mayo/ham/ coronation chicken, little salad leaves/cherry toms/cucumber on the side
small sausage rolls....make a squillion and cook a couple of trayfuls at a time so they are warm when served
scotch eggs....slice into quarters for daintyness
maybe a large quiche cut into small fingers/squares, salmon and broccoli is lovely
maybe cheese and chive scones, but not if I was doing sweet ones
maybe smoked salmon and weeny blinis ...again would alter the quiche to something else to avoid double fish!

then for afters...
large fancy cake....coffee and walnut (slice nicely)
scones, strawberries, clotted cream
little eclairs or profiteroles
maybe a cheesecake (again large and serve slices)
nice bakewell tart , maybe individual ones?
Giant bowl of boozy fruit salad, serve in fancy tumblers with cute teaspoons

I thought we'd have a biggish breakfast, then keep the Afternoon Tea running from 2ish, plenty to drink, ....fizz/white sangria/pimms and then round off with a cheeseboard instead of supper!
Or a melted camembert with french stick?

I'm not a man but definitely prefer the savoury things, so sausage roll, scotch egg, slice of quiche or similar as well as the sandwiches. Then a scone and a small piece of cake.

@LaurieSchafferIsAllBitterNow may I please, pretty please, be invited?

I am in America, so will possibly have some trouble getting there, and will need 14 days notice so that I can quarantine, but for that day of deliciousness, it would be worth it :)

Lucky DM & DMIL!!

You need more cake, coffee & walnut, carrot cake, or possibly a chocolate tray bake.

Sandwiches:
Niace ham with mustard
Cucumber & cream cheese
Roast beef or pastrami with rocket
Smoked salmon with watercress
Coronation chicken
Egg mayonnaise

Scones with jam & clotted cream
Some savoury things like devilled eggs, sardine pate on toast fingers, cheese straws.

Order one of the many for sale in a box on Facebook 🤭

You need scones, sandwiches 1.5 rounds for each person, cake and tea!

Cut the sandwiches into fingers, not triangles, if you can

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/classic-scones-jam-clotted-cream

Best scone recipe ever. 25 mins from taking floor out of the cupboard to having hot fluffy scones on the table. You want them as fresh as possible. You honestly can’t go wrong. This makes 7 for me with my only cutter but easy to double up. You need real clotted cream as well, much better than whipped.

If you want savoury, these are incredible

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cheese-marmite-scones