I always thought about having a tea party with several blogger friends but since we are all in different states and even countries, the best idea was to have a virtual tea party. How did we do it? We all created a menu together and each blogger was responsible for making something for the party (I’ll share their amazing recipes later too!). I was in charge of the savories so I will share the 2 recipes for tea sandwiches that I made for our virtual party.
One recipe is Chicken Roasted Red Pepper Tea Sandwiches and the other is Lapsang Souchong, Walnut Vegan Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches. Both delicious and easy to make ahead.
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Tea Sandwiches
What’s the difference between tea sandwiches and regular sandwiches?
Tea sandwiches are finger-sized, crustless, usually cold and have light fillings with fine ingredients to avoid pieces from sliding out. They can be eaten in a few bites and are traditionally made with white, soft bread, wholewheat or even pumpernickel. There are endless variations and they can be done in numerous shapes and sizes. Some of the classic ones are:
- Cucumber & cream cheese
- Smoked salmon & cream cheese
- Egg salad
- Pimento cheese
- Chicken salad
They are always present in traditional afternoon tea and are part of the menu together with scones and bite-sized sweets. Afternoon tea is usually served in a 3-tiered tray and tea sandwiches are served on the bottom tier. The middle tier will have scones, cream and jam, and the top tier will have small pastries and sweets. The idea is to eat every course in order, from the bottom to the top.
Besides tea party menus, I also love making them for brunch and kids parties or to serve along with tea in an informal way too.
RELATED: Earl Grey and Lavender Scones
General Tips
Tea sandwiches are great to make ahead. Just make the filling a day or two in advance and assemble the sandwiches a few hours before serving.
Important tips:
– Use thin, sliced, store-bought bread.
– Spreading butter on both sides of the bread will prevent it from getting soggy from the moisture of the filling. I suggest you always do this, especially if you’re preparing way ahead of time.
– Spread the filling into one side, making sure there is a balance of bread and filling. You don’t want the filling to overflow or the sandwich to be too dry. Close both sides and build a sandwich.
– Use a big, sharp kitchen knife and remove crusts. Use a light saw motion to cut through, avoiding to push down the sandwich. Cut into 2-finger width rectangles (for a total of 3 small sandwiches).
– After assembling, cover the tea sandwiches with a plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out and place them on the serving tray right before serving.
Chicken Roasted Pepper Tea Sandwiches
This is a classic Chilean sandwich (Ave Pimentón) and one of my favorites. The filling has 4 simple ingredients: chicken, roasted red peppers, light mayo and salt. For chicken fillings, I often try to get a store-bought rotisserie chicken because it’s more practical, but you can always cook it yourself if you prefer.
Lapsang Souchong, Walnut Vegan Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches
Not long ago, I made vegan cream cheese and loved it. I also love cooking with Lapsang Souchong because it adds smokiness without having anything really smoked. I created this recipe for tea sandwiches filling thinking about pleasing a broader crowd, using a few things that I love and the result was delicious.
Lapsang Souchong is a smoked Chinese black tea. It has a deep smoky aroma, medium body and a smoky but sweet taste. If you enjoy smoky things, you’ll probably like this tea. I love cooking with it, using it to marinate meat or grind it into a fine powder (with a tea grinder) and use it as a spice, like I have for this recipe.
The texture for the fillings should be as you see below. The Lapsang walnut vegan cream cheese should be smooth with bits of walnuts, so make sure you crush the walnuts into small pieces but don’t powder them. The chicken roasted pepper filling should be chunky, so when you process the ingredients, do it for 2 seconds at a time, scrape and evaluate, then pulse for 2 seconds again and repeat the process.
Tea Pairing
To pair the chicken and roasted pepper sandwiches, I recommend a dark roast Oolong like a Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) or a Keemun black tea.
The Lapsang Souchong & walnut vegan cream cheese sandwiches will definitely go well with a Lapsang Souchong tea or I would also suggest a Hojicha green tea.
If you want to offer one type of tea for the whole tea party I would probably choose a Ceylon black tea or a 2nd Flush Darjeeling.
Virtual Tea Party
Since I was the one who organized the virtual tea party, I wanted to send special invites. I used this gorgeous Oscar de la Renta design on Paperless Post to send out to my guests. I love that they partner with designers and brands like Kate Spade New York, Rifle Paper Co., Anthropologie, Liberty, and many more, and have the prettiest options of digital cards online.
We all suggested different recipes for our party and we ended up with a fabulous menu. Here’s what everyone made (check out their recipes because they are so good!):
Lu Ann, from The Cup of Life made Classic English Scones Caroline, from Pinch Me I’m Eating made Mini Pecan Pies Naz, from Tea Thoughts made Mini Apple Cider DonutsA few other ideas are Tea Shortbread Cookies, Hojicha Yoghurt Cake and Pu-erh Tiramisu.
I hope you enjoy my recipes for tea sandwiches and make them to WOW your friends and family. If you do make them, please share a photo and tag me on Instagram @teacachai!
Tea Sandwiches
Ingredients
Chicken and roasted pepper tea sandwiches
- 1/2 of 1 rotisserie chicken
- 1/3 can roasted red pepper (12 oz)
- 2 tbsp light mayonaise
- 1 pinch salt
- 8 slices white bread
Lapsang & walnut vegan cream cheese tea sandwiches
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked
- 1/3 cup unsweetened non-dairy plain yoghurt
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup crushed walnuts
- 2 tbsp ground Lapsang Souchong tea leaves
- 8 slices white bread
Instructions
Chicken and roasted red pepper tea sandwiches
- Cut a whole rotisserie chicken into smaller slices and add 1/2 of the sliced chicken to a processor.
- Add 1/3 can of roasted red peppers (without its liquid), mayonnaise and salt to the processor and pulse for 2-3 seconds at a time until you see a paste-like forming. You don't want it to be too fine, you're looking to have small chunks of pepper and chicken. If the paste is too dry, add 1 tbsp of the canned roasted pepper liquid and blend again for 2 seconds. Repeat this process until you reach the desired consistency.
- Butter lightly both sides of the bread, add chicken-pepper filling to one slice of bread and cover with another slice.
- With a sharp knife, cut off crusts and cut into 3 small rectangles.
Lapsang Souchong & walnut vegan cream cheese tea sandwiches
- Soak the cashews in boiling water for an hour. Drain, rinse and add to a food processor.
- Add the non-dairy yoghurt, apple cider, lemon juice, nutritional yeast and salt and blend until a soft, smooth paste forms. This is your vegan cream cheese base.
- Place the vegan cream cheese in a bowl. Add the crushed walnuts and Lapsang Souchong ground tea leaves and mix well with a small spatula or a spoon.
- Butter lightly both sides of the bread, add vegan Lapsang-cream cheese filling to one slice of bread and cover with another slice.
- With a sharp knife, cut off crusts and cut into 3 small rectangles.
Notes
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