I’m organizing a Tea…it’s our second year holding the event.
Last year went ok, but there’s always room for improvement. And I didn’t know about SDMB back then.
I posted a little bit about the event in this threadover in MPSIMS…so I don’t want to get into any logistics here. I would like some feedback on menu items, if you don’t mind.
Last year, we served:
[ul]
[li]Sandwiches - we got a few types from an Argentine bakery last year, but we’re hoping to partner with a major grocery store that we’ve been working with recently[/li][li]Three kinds of pastries - guava, blackberry/apple, and mango[/li][li]Scones with pseudo-clotted cream (I’m in South Florida…everything I found online said I can’t do real clotted cream here.)[/li][li]Banana, zucchini, and a few other types of bread[/li][li]Various teas (white, green, ginger, black, earl grey…)[/li][li]Lemonade[/li][li]Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for kids[/li][/ul]
So…any suggestions? Anything I’m missing? Any classic types of sandwiches we should pursue?
Any favorite recipes? I’m taking a few days off from work to spend quality time in the kitchen.
How about tips for condiments and other add-ons to make things more authentic?
Don’t feel weird - I’m a guy, and I’m ORGANIZING it.
I tell any of my macho friends who aren’t comfortable with it’s for a good charity…(which it is). And I tell the rest of my friends that it’s just a fun event, and they get to eat my desserts.
-D/a
How about quiches, tarts, and petit fours? I have no idea if they would be part of an English style tea party, but at the very least, they seem to go well with tea.
Traditional sandwich fillings for afternoon tea-
Egg and cress
Cheese
Ham
Ham and cheese
Cucumber
Smoked salmon and cream cheese
Prawn with cocktail sauce
Egg salad
Ham salad
Tomato
Tomato and cheese
All crust free, cut into little triangles or fingers.
Scones should also have the option of butter and raspberry or strawberry jam.
If you’re doing various semi-sweet breads, look into a fruit cake or barm brack or similar- it goes very well with a cup of tea.
Cake/buns/muffins/fairy cakes or something along those lines as another sweet option- Butterfly Fairy cakes or a Victoria sponge would be typically British.
You did ask.
Wow…not even being a regular over on Cafe Society…I knew I could count on you guys.
Luckily, work is a bit slow right now - I’ll spend some time once I get in and go through specifics.
A few items I need to level set - we’re still small. Last year was almost a rain-out…it poured for an hour before the Tea, then cleared up…but it scared away a lot of people. We severd ~45 people. We expect closer to 100 this year, weather permitting.
We have a mix of people who are the “stereotypical uncultured American”…people who would really be scared off by some of this stuff…but also some people who are very much into the “Society” scene, who will appreciate the authenticity. We strive to reach both by having a variety.
We also have to be sensitive to cost - most of the volunteers who bake and otherwise provide the food do it for free, which really helps keep costs down.
Thanks again! I’ll probably have follow up questions as I do more research and planning…and experimenting.
I’d, personally, take 3 or 4 little sandwiches (equivalent of 2 slices of bread) and a scone or slice of cake, and maybe a fairy cake if I was being greedy.
For 100 people-
300 slices of bread and filling to make 150 sandwiches.
100 scones (say 2 dozen each of raisin/cherry, 4 dozen plain)
100 buns/cupcakes/pastries/breads (say a dozen each of 8 varieties)
10 cakes (say 3 Chocolate, 5 “stereoptypically American”, 2 Victoria sponge)
Sounds about right to me- does it sound too much?
Things you’ll need in bulk- flour, eggs, butter, sugar, milk, cream.
I don’t pity the sandwich assemblers much, but making 3 dozen scones is child’s play, especially with hexagonal cookie cutters.
What she says about courses is, in my experience, spot-on. I had afternoon tea as many times as I could when I was in London. I always ordered the Cream Tea, and the progression of food was always exactly the same:
First: scones, often fruited, with clotted cream, strawberry jam, gooseberry jam, and orange marmelade
Second: sandwiches, three or four types. Smoked salmon with cream cheese, cucumber, and egg or chicken curry mayonnaise; if a fourth type, it was black forest ham with cheese
Third: the sweets, which I called Frenchified Dainties… a lot of fancy pastries and other sweetmeats
Tea went exactly this way at Liberty’s, a posh new hotel not of note, Claridge’s, and the Randolph Arms in Oxford.
Mix some curry powder with some mayo, add chopped cooked chicken, use as sandwich filling with some lettuce.
Or Chicken Tikka - a little Tikka or Tandoori paste with mayo, mixed with cooked chicken and used as a sandwich filling.
Egg and cress is typically chopped hard boiled egg mixed with mayo or salad cream and baby garden cress shoots (which look like Chia sprouts), NOT sliced hard boiled eggs with watercess leaves.
Are you thinking of having any gluten free stuff? You might need to, since afternoon tea is pretty much gluten central.
Still processing all the information…a lot of good tips. Work ended up actually being busy, so I didn’t get to do my “homework”. Hopefully I’ll get to go through this tonight.
Yes! In fact, two of the other committee members can’t do gluten. One of them found a gluten free scone recipe, and she’s going to bake them.
I haven’t spent any time (yet) thinking about what other gluten free options to do. I’m open to suggestions, of course.
-D/a
Catching up…compiling list of sandwich options and other pieces…
Ooh…I love both of these. They have the right balance of sophistication to comfort that I think my guests will go for. And I may be able to cut down the number of pastries I need to make.
Last year we had ~100 sandwiches…some went quickly, some sat too long and got soggy. We need to take that into account this year.
We had three varieties of pastries…I assumed most people would eat two. I ended up making 75 of each kind. I’ll make fewer this year, and add the victoria sponge and butterfly cakes.
Happily, the event is a Saturday evening. Sunday morning, the Church associated with us holds a pancake breakfast. The more…standard…items will be re-used. Scones and pastries will be served directly. Extra cakes will be given out as part of the food pantry. Obviously I don’t want way too much, but very little will go to waste. It’s a nice arrangement.
Last year I made a bunch of the scones, and my Mom helped with a few batches. They go pretty quickly. We bought the sandwiches pre-made. Since then, we’ve developed a partnership with a major grocery store. We’re really hoping they will donate them this year, and we won’t have to pay OR assemble!
Overall I think your quantities line up with my expectations, based on last year. I’m glad - I don’t do this often enough to have a good feel for the numbers yet.
Thanks!
I feel bad posting when the last few posts were mine…but since they were replies to previous messages, and I have a follow up question for anyone still reading the thread…
In my MPSIMS thread about the logistics of organizing this event, Acorns…but not Bacon mentioned:
Is there a proper order to top your scone? My guests will randomly put stuff on there if I put scones next to a bowl of condiments. They’d probably try mustard and vegemite if I put it out. But if I put the right stuff out…AND give them a hint on how to do it…they might get a better experience.
So…what say you? What actually goes on the scone…and does order matter?
We need to take that into account this year.