Afternoon Tea – A British Institution

When we’re thinking of British cuisine, it is usually the restaurant scene that springs to mind but there is one element of quintessentially British eating that has its own separate category. Afternoon tea with its image of delicate sandwiches, light as air sponges and the clinking of delicate bone china in elegant salons seems to belong to a vanished era, a time where people had the time and leisure to socialize elegantly in the afternoons. Few of us have afternoon tea any more except as a special occasion or an indulgence on the weekends, but it remains one of those British traditions that are part of our heritage.

Afternoon tea was an invention of the leisured classes at the height of the British Empire. It filled a social role, breaking up the long afternoon hours before the late dinner hour favoured by the fashionable and providing an opportunity for women to socialize in their homes.

Nowadays afternoon tea still has a place in smart hotels, where foreigners and locals alike might go to enjoy this nostalgic tradition, but with more and more people working full-time, few have the leisure to bake the wide variety of cakes, scones and biscuits needed to put on an elegant afternoon tea at home.

However if you want an enjoyable way of entertaining visitors at home on a weekend without cooking a formal dinner, an afternoon tea could be the answer. Tea at a smart hotel will usually present tiered stands with a variety of savoury sandwiches or scones, followed by another stand with several different cakes and pastries. At home though you can simplify things and serve whatever you like:

In winter starting off with toasted crumpets or muffins spread with melting butter is always a hit, as are hot cross buns at Easter. In summer thinly sliced cucumber or egg and cress sandwiches, cut into triangles and crusts removed, are traditional, or else a plate of small scones with butter (or clotted cream) and jam. After that a freshly baked cake makes the perfect centerpiece: a rich fruit cake, a light Victoria sponge, or perhaps a luscious chocolate cake with icing. Then all you need is a plate of assorted biscuits, perhaps shortbread or chocolate biscuits. Ideally the tea itself should be made with loose leaves (either China or Indian tea according to your preference) in a teapot, but the tea bag has almost taken over from loose leaf tea and even in smart hotels you’ll find tea-bags used.

If putting on your own afternoon tea at home seems too much of a challenge then why not discover a great café or hotel that serves elegant teas and make it an occasional weekend indulgence.