Bite Size Afternoon Tea Treats

[Amy Eber]

I am trying to help a friend who runs an upscale bed and breakfast with her afternoon tea menu. It is complementary so we are trying to keep costs down. Food is set out buffet-style for about 1 1/2 hours. Tea sandwiches can be placed under domed glass. I would really appreciate any suggestions and recipes for bite-size sweet and savory offerings that can safely sit at room temperature for the duration of the tea. Anything that could be made in advance and frozen would be helpful since they do not have a full-time chef. We are looking to have as little waste as possible because tea has to be prepared for up to 30 people but some days only about 10 guests make it back at tea time. Very unpredictable so we are really looking for a lot of recipes that can be held a day or so. Thank you so much.

Edited June 1, 2007 by Amy Eber (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Little biscuits with butter and jam. Left overs could be used in some sort of bread pudding for breakfasts.

[Catriona]

Mini flapjacks?

small muffins/cupcakes?

olive and tunafish finger sandwiches

cucumber sandwiches

little mini quiches

What's the climate like? That will dictate to some extent what can be left out...

[Amy Eber]

The inn is down south so hot and humid. They are well air conditioned. Mini muffins are placed out along with mini cupcakes amd cookies and mini scones but they are not that great so I am thinking up new recipes. Surprisingly, some of their tea sandwiches (do not know what they used to offer) got stale, despite being covered. They now offer only sweet things but British guests complained about no sandwiches. The chef is not there at tea time so inn staff cannot spend a lot of time putting things together.

Mini flapjacks?

small muffins/cupcakes?

olive and tunafish finger sandwiches

cucumber sandwiches

little mini quiches

What's the climate like?  That will dictate to some extent what can be left out...

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[prasantrin]

Here are pictures of what I served for my afternoon tea. Almost all are small items, which could be considered bite-sized. I would highly recommend the spanakopita (could be made in triangular shapes to make it more finger-food friendly), sausage rolls, and the mini cornbread muffins.

That whole topic would be a useful one for you (or your friend) to browse through.

[Amy Eber]

I was thinking about mini-cornbread muffin sandwiches and was wondering what filling you used. I make cocktail party treats by spreading them with cranberry mustard and placing generous slices of duck breast in them. Obviously not appropriate for a tea. Do your tea sandwiches hold for 1 1/2 to 2 hours? By the way, Bakehouse makes incredible shortbread mini tart shells. I use them all the time for catering gigs.

Here are pictures of what I served for my afternoon tea.  Almost all are small items, which could be considered bite-sized.  I would highly recommend the spanakopita (could be made in triangular shapes to make it more finger-food friendly), sausage rolls, and the mini cornbread muffins.

That whole topic would be a useful one for you (or your friend) to browse through.

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[Kim Shook]

Chicken Nut Puffs are great for tea. You can jazz them up with some curry powder and serve with chutney. They freeze great, can be served room temperature and are very Southern and 'ladies-who-lunch-ish'!

Another thing that I have made is Firecracker Sandwiches. These do not dry out and are easy to make ahead of time. You can cut each one in half so that you have nice small little finger food and press parsley into the ends to make it 'nicer'. The version with country ham is especially good.

Hope this helps! Kim

[prasantrin]

I was thinking about mini-cornbread muffin sandwiches and was wondering what filling you used.

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It was bacon and mini-tomato. I cut the bacon into bite-sized pieces before I cooked it, making it easier to handle. I don't think the tomato will hold up too well in the heat (I hate wilted soggy tomatoes), but maybe you could put the tomatoes separately so the guests can put them on themselves (then if they get too soggy, people can ignore them).

Someone (I can't remember who) suggested using ham, and I made a ham cranberry sauce cornbread muffin sandwich with a leftover muffin. I liked it.

[CanadianBakin']

I think wraps might be another option although not traditional. You could use just about any filling, much like the firecracker sandwiches that were suggested. Cut them into 1-1/2" pieces and hold them together with a toothpick. These could easily be made ahead, wrapped in saran and refrigerated. Just cut up as many as you need come tea time.

I've also had mini cheese biscuits that were spread with a bacon spread, I'm guessing finely chopped bacon mixed with mayo, then topped with a small piece of tomato and lettuce. If the tomato was between the spread and the lettuce it might hold ok.

Edited June 1, 2007 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[maurdel]

I always love gougere (you know the little cheese puffs) They can keep forever in the freezer (well maybe not forever but they keep well) And they can be split for filling with something if desired, but I like them plain.

Pretty easy to make.

[annachan]

Mini muffins and scones.

Selection of cookies - palmiers, shortbreads, icebox cookies.

[Kerry Beal]

I was thinking about mini-cornbread muffin sandwiches and was wondering what filling you used.  I make cocktail party treats by spreading them with cranberry mustard and placing generous slices of duck breast in them.  Obviously not appropriate for a tea.  Do your tea sandwiches hold for 1 1/2 to 2 hours?  By the way, Bakehouse makes incredible shortbread mini tart shells.  I use them all the time for catering gigs.

Mini cornbread muffins would be tasty spread with just a little red pepper jelly and perhaps a dab of cream cheese. I think they would sit well for a couple of hours.

Also your Bakehouse tart shells with caramelized onion drizzled with a bit of balsamic vinegar and a tiny bit of blue cheese, taste fine warm or cool. Little quiches with celery, walnut and stilton. They use so little filling that the price of the ingredients shouldn't be a huge issue. They'd freeze well unbaked and should hold well for two hours at room temperature.

Edited June 2, 2007 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Sentiamo]

I use mini lamingtons on my petite sweet tray, usually pink ones ( done with raspberry jelly) and chocolate done the usual way. They also freeze beautifully although I find the sponge easier to cut and dip whilst frozen.

Also baby meringues are gorgeous! May not keep firm for a full two hours when sandwiched with cream, but I'd do them anyways. Try baby pink ones with rose flavoured cream, chocolate meringues sandwiched with ganache. White ones with whipped cream and a little citrus or passionfruit curd folded through. Caramel variety with crushed walnuts folded through meringue mix and later sandwiched with a golden mix of dulce de leche and whipped cream. Unfilled meringues keep for weeks in a very airtight container.

Little Lava Rocks are balls of an easy to make recipe using best quality chocolate which are dropped into icing sugar then baked. They crack all over but icing sugar stays white. Look beautiful. Taste even better. PM me if you would like the recipe.

Having some shortbread fingers is a good idea as the ends can be dipped in chocolate a short while before being devoured.

Think about some mini profiteroles already filled with a patisserie cream, taken from freezer then topped with some chocolate. They thaw in no time.

You have heaps of wonderful ideas on this thread, I will come up with some savoury ones when I can get more time away from the kitchen!

Edited to add: I forgot to mention that I would not leave sandwiches out under glass for very long, they still dry out IMO. Best to put one smaller plate out at a time? I doubt that you could get away with an antipodean trick of leaving them covered with a suitably beautiful, damp cloth....lolol.

Edited June 3, 2007 by Sentiamo (log)

[teagal]

For a recent tea party I made sandwiches with a filling of butter, coconut and apricot jam mixed together and mini cornbread muffins with some deli sliced ham and a dab of honey mustard. They went over well, also made mini panna cottas (lime flavored) in tiny cups and they were ok after sitting awhile too. I've been seeing serving peices in different catalogs that can keep you food stay cold for a while. Might be a worthwhile investment. Good luck!

[tmgrobyn]

If you want to do fancy, I recommend Flo Braker's Sweet Miniatures cookbook. There is such a great selection of sweet and savories that it should be a must have cookbook for hosting events.

Being that it is in the south miniature pecan tassies would be high on my list. Along with an excellent selection of jams and madeleines in a variety of flavors. Savories could include cheese straws, savory shortbreads and crostini with an olive tapenade.

[jgm]

How about making small tart shells in mini-muffin pans, and then filling them with lemon curd?

You could make the shells as far ahead as you want; they will keep for a couple of days, or you can freeze them.

If you start needing sweets in a hurry, just take a jar of lemon curd out of the fridge and spoon some into each shell. They don't even need a spritz of whipped cream, but you could do that if you wanted. If you like, you could make your own lemon curd, but also keep a couple of good-quality purchased jars on the pantry shelf, as a backup.

If that works well, there's lime curd, mango curd. . . you get the idea.