Afternoon Tea Sandwiches: Fillings and Making Them Ahead

What are afternoon tea sandwiches, and how do you make them ahead?

Afternoon tea sandwiches are small, crustless sandwiches on thin bread, cut into fingers, triangles or rounds and served as the savoury first course of an afternoon tea. The classic fillings are cucumber, egg and cress, smoked salmon, and ham. To make them ahead, prepare the fillings the day before, assemble in the last hour or two, butter the bread right to the edges, and keep the finished sandwiches covered in the fridge until serving.

Which fillings are traditional for finger sandwiches?

Four fillings turn up on almost every tea table. They are light, they sit well next to scones and cake, and they hold together when cut small.

• Cucumber. Thin slices on well-buttered white bread, with a little salt and white pepper. The most delicate of the four, and the one that needs the most care.
• Egg and cress. Chopped hard-boiled egg bound with mayonnaise, seasoned, with mustard cress (the small sprouted seedlings sold in punnets) scattered over.
• Smoked salmon. Usually on brown bread with butter or cream cheese, a squeeze of lemon and black pepper.
• Ham. Thinly sliced ham with a scrape of mustard, English or wholegrain.

Two or three fillings are plenty for a home tea. Pick one rich one (salmon or egg) and one fresh one (cucumber) and you have covered most tastes.

What are good vegetarian options?

Cucumber and egg and cress are already vegetarian, so most tables have two covered without trying. If you want a third:

• Cheddar and chutney. Finely grated mature cheddar mixed with a spoon of chutney or pickle. Grated holds together far better than sliced when you cut small fingers.
• Cream cheese and herbs. Soft cheese beaten with chopped chives or dill and a little lemon zest, with very thin radish or cucumber slices on top.

Check labels if you are cooking for a strict vegetarian: some hard cheeses are made with animal rennet, and the packet will usually say whether it is suitable for vegetarians.

How do you stop cucumber sandwiches going soggy?

Cucumber is mostly water, and bread is a sponge. Two steps keep them apart.

Salt and drain the cucumber first. Great British Chefs' cucumber sandwich recipe slices the cucumber very thinly, sprinkles it with a pinch of salt in a colander or sieve, and lets it drain for half an hour. Pat the slices dry on kitchen paper before they go anywhere near the bread. Peeling is a matter of taste; the same recipe uses peeled cucumber, which gives the classic pale look.

Butter the bread right to the edges. Soft butter spread thinly but completely, corner to corner, sits between the bread and the filling and slows the moisture down. Missed edges are where the sogginess starts. Cream cheese does the same job if you prefer it.

Then season with white pepper, not more salt, since the cucumber is already salted. A cucumber sandwich is still best eaten within a few hours of making, so make these last.

How far ahead can each filling be made?

This is where hosting gets easier. Most of the work can be done before the day.

Use shop-bought mayonnaise rather than homemade for egg fillings. The UK Food Standards Agency lists "foods containing raw egg" among the foods more likely to cause food poisoning than others, and that matters for anything that will sit on a table for an afternoon.

When should you assemble the sandwiches?

Assemble in the last hour or two before guests arrive. Bread starts drying at the edges the moment it is cut, and moist fillings start working into the crumb, so any earlier and you are trading freshness for nothing.

A practical order: make the egg and cheese sandwiches first, since they are the sturdiest, then the salmon and ham, and the cucumber last. Each batch goes into the fridge, covered, as soon as it is cut.

Thin-sliced sandwich bread gives the soft, even texture these sandwiches are known for. If it is very fresh and squashy, an hour in the fridge firms it up for cutting.

How do you cut crusts and shapes cleanly?

Fill first, then cut. Trimming crusts off whole, filled sandwiches gives straight, matching edges; trimming slices before filling gives ragged ones.

1. Chill the assembled rounds (a round is two slices with filling between) for 15 to 20 minutes. Firm butter and filling cut cleanly; soft ones smear.
2. Use a long, sharp serrated bread knife and a gentle sawing motion rather than pressing down, which squashes the bread. Keep the hand holding the sandwich flat on top and well back from the line of the blade, and cut on a board that does not slide.
3. Take the crusts off all four sides, then cut the shape.
4. Wipe the blade with a damp cloth between cuts, especially after egg or cream cheese.

Each crustless round gives:

• Three fingers (the classic), cut parallel to one side
• Four triangles, cut corner to corner both ways
• Four squares, cut in half both ways

For quantity, plan on 4 to 6 fingers per guest. At three fingers a round, six guests at five fingers each need 30 fingers, which is 10 rounds, or 20 slices of bread.

How do you keep sandwiches from drying out before serving?

Cover them the moment they are cut. Lay the sandwiches on a tray or plate in a single layer or two, put a sheet of greaseproof paper over the top, then a clean, barely damp tea towel over that, and keep the tray in the fridge. The greaseproof stops the damp cloth touching the bread directly; the cloth keeps the air around the sandwiches moist. Cling film wrapped over the whole plate works too, as long as it is sealed at the edges.

Take them out just before guests sit down, and arrange them on the bottom tier of the stand or on a plate down the middle of the table.

How long can afternoon tea sandwiches sit out?

Count the time from when the fillings leave the fridge, which includes the time you spend assembling. The Food Standards Agency's guidance for community events says chilled food, such as sandwich fillings served as part of a buffet, "should be left out of the fridge for no more than four hours," and that "in extremely hot weather, use food that's been out of the fridge within 2 hours." After that, put leftovers back in the fridge or throw them away. The same guidance says if food goes back in the fridge, "don't let it stand around at room temperature when you serve it again."

The FSA's chilling guidance also says your fridge should be set between 0 and 5°C. A fridge thermometer costs very little and settles the question.

If a guest is pregnant, the NHS says cold-smoked and cured fish such as smoked salmon must be cooked until steaming hot, so make sure egg or cucumber is on the plate too, and label which is which. Ask about allergies when you invite people, not on the day.

What comes after the sandwiches?

Once the sandwiches are chilling, warm scones go on the middle tier, and a pot brewed at the right temperature for its leaf, as set out in our guide to brewing tea, goes on the table. For more on planning the whole afternoon, browse the hosting section.

Sources

• Great British Chefs: Cucumber sandwiches
• University of Arizona Cooperative Extension: Safety and Quality of Eggs and Egg Products
• Food Standards Agency (GOV.UK): Providing food at community and charity events
• Food Standards Agency (GOV.UK): How to chill, freeze and defrost food safely
• NHS: Foods to avoid in pregnancy