What do you serve for English tea in spring when you can’t have strawberries and cream?

[Argyllsocks567]

Hello I’m on holiday at home and have a very special friend from another country passing through to visit for tea tomorrow. She is particularly keen on having a classic English tea.

I am not very organised but thought along something along the lines of dainty sausage rolls, lemon drizzle, maybe some jam tarts?

I am not good at making scones but what about some drop scones?

I’d be so grateful if anyone could give me some ideas? I have all morning tomorrow to prepare. What sort of sandwiches?

I thought of savoury vol-au-vents but is that more canapé territory?

Pork pies, sausage rolls, Victoria sponge, flapjacks, drop scones I absolutely LOVE

Cucumber sandwiches

lettuce and marmite sandwiches

Scones, jam and clotted cream - I know you said you can't make them but have you got a bakery or M&S nearby? They're a must for posh tea for me!
Does your friend have any dietary requirements?
Salmon and cream cheese, ham, cheese, cucumber sandwiches?

Finger sandwiches, mini sub rolls. Salmon and cream cheese, nice ham, cheese and spring onion, cheese must be grated, coronation chicken.

It wouldn't be a cream team for me without scones, can you get some and have with clotted cream and strawberry jam?

Sausage rolls etc are party buffet to me, not tea

Why can't you have strawberries and cream?

I'd buy some scones, then just give them a warm in the oven/ microwave. Under the layer of Roddas clotted cream and Tiptree Little Scarlet jam no one would notice the bought scones. I love drop scones but they aren't quite the same afternoon tea feeling.
How about some lovely toasted crumpets and butter? Then sausage rolls, a scotch egg, lemon drizzle and jam tarts and you are done

Scones nice clotted cream and nice jam all from supermarket.

Little dainty sandwiches.

Lemon drizzle or Victoria sponge

Flapjack or other "extra" cake.

I want to come now.

Goodness me not marmite😫smoked salmon and cucumber,egg and cress. Trump the crusts off. If u can make some things,great,if not go to an independent cake shop or M and S to their bakery. Food envy here😂

Trim.not trump🙄🤣

There are plenty of strawberries in the supermarket.

I wouldn't have instantly thoughts trawberries and cream tbh.

Afternoon tea is usually finger food like littlel sandwhiches and bites of cake/ scones to be taken on the lawn with pretty cups and tablecloths!

@BCBird actually crying laughing at the kitchen hygiene mishaps that would happen if you trumped the crusts off a sandwich! 😂

I think in order to be on trend and British you should have coronation chicken sandwiches! I bloody love coronation chicken!

Dainty sandwiches with classic fillings, smoked salmon & cucumber, cream cheese & watercress, ham, roast beef & mustard or horseradish. (I'd avoid Marmite as it's very......well, marmite.)
Some small sausage rolls or cheese straws would be nice, but not essential.

Cakes, Victoria sponge, coffee & walnut, lemon drizzle, all the traditional ones. M&S scones are fine if you can get them. If you make drop scones instead, you could serve them with strawberries and some pouring cream. Or perhaps serve the strawberries & cream in individual meringue nests.

For drinks, serve an interesting tea, and perhaps a glass of fizz as it's a special occasion.

Pork pie
Scotch eggs
Sausage rolls
Cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches
Egg mayo bridge rolls
Cheese straws
Scones, jam, clotted cream
Victoria sponge
Lemon drizzle.

(not all these things. Probably)

It's easy to do a 'classic' afternoon tea if you can afford it- buy it all at M&S- you can preorder afternoon tea sandwich fingers. Scones/jam/cream and dainty little cakes. To be fair their strawberries are OK at the moment although when we get the UK strawberries soon they are the best Bottle of fizz and big pot of tea and you are sorted.

Crumpets

Well now a traditional English tea is weather dependent. If it's going to be damp, grey skies and gloomy, you need:
Log fire or wood burner.
Pot of lapsang
Fruit cake and crumpets oozing with butter and honey.

If it's warm and sunny
Pot of earl grey
Cucumber sandwiches (cut into triangles and crusts removed)
Cocktail sausages,
Scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

Thank you so much for all
of these terrific suggestions! I’m really grateful!

I am so frazzled - house move - that I have managed to go to the supermarket without looking at your very helpful posts which was the whole point of asking the question! Never mind! There are still some very good ideas here!

I have also been so long out of UK that I have forgotten what constitutes a tea v a high tea. I think pork pie is high tea territory isn’t it? Or is it?

Anyway, everyone seems pretty much in agreement with scones…so I am going to throw some together now… as well as clean and hoover the sitting room and try and get plaster out of my hair.

Point taken about Marmite so will avoid!

Not near an M&S sadly!

Prefer not to go with strawberries until in season but have some home made strawberry jam which someone gave me last year which survived the move.

Made an apple pie yesterday but not very delicate!

Going with beef and horseradish for one lot of sandwiches, maybe cream cheese and rocket for the other? Does that sound ok?

Have wherewithal to make tiny sausage rolls.

Need something lemony to counteract everything else I think? Might make some lemon curd?

Thank you again! Wish I had time to make crumpets or was confident about doing so!

Just noticed someone mentioned champagne? Sounds lovely! Is that a usual addition? I didn’t buy any and don’t have any “lying around” sadly!

If you are short of time, I wouldn't make lemon curd, it's quite a time consuming job. Make a lemon drizzle cake instead, or some lemon syllabub or lemon posset and serve in little dishes/glasses.

Your sandwich selection sounds fine, egg mayonnaise is another option.

Rhubarb and cream.

I just wanted to report back that my tea went well thanks. And that I went for lemon drizzle in the end.

Thank you @AdaColeman I didn’t have time to reply on the day but I’m so glad you posted that about lemon-curd-making being a lengthy process as I hadn’t realised!

Thanks to your advice I decided to go with quite a tart, stiff “cream” to go with lemon drizzle base, out of Philadelphia cheese, icing sugar and lots of lemon juice and a tiny bit of room temp butter to emulsify. Sprinkled lavishly with blueberries.

Also served with small beef and horseradish, cream cheese and rocket, and ham, egg and cress sandwiches with sausage rolls.

Perhaps not the most imaginative spread but it was within my limited capabilities and my guests scoffed the lot so it can’t have been terrible.

Thank you again everyone for your suggestions, have made a note and will use next time!

That all sounds delightful @Argyllsocks567 , I'm so pleased it all went so well for you.

I'd say Afternoon Tea was supposed to be traditional rather than wildly inventive! Though clever you with your creative use of blueberries! 🫐🫐🫐🫐🫐

Thank you AdaColeman one thing I will remember for next time is how detailed the prep is! I assumed a proper English tea could be cobbled together quite fast, but it actually takes quite a while. I am sure the baking elements and sandwich prep get faster the more practiced you become at it, but making everything look dainty is fiddly and time consuming!