High tea ideas: recipes for a fancy afternoon tea

Set the scene

Set aside an area of your house for the high tea and fill it with a table and plenty of comfy chairs. Place a vase of flowers, your tea set, plates, forks and spoons on the table. For an extra special touch swap your normal sugar for sugar cubes, lay out linen napkins and light a few candles. Don’t forget the music either, opt for classical or anything that won’t interfere with the conversation

Pick your tea

Perhaps the most important part of a high tea is the tea itself. Depending on how many teapots you have, choose one or two teas for your guests to enjoy. English breakfast is a good tea to serve if you can only choose one, as it will go with all the food and is universally loved. Other tea options include:

Earl grey
Lady grey
Darjeeling

Three-tiered treats

Traditionally, high tea food is served on a three-tiered cake stand. Even if you don’t own a three-tiered stand you can still follow the same principles by including three types of food at your table.

Tier one: Scones

Scones adorned with jam and whipped cream sit on the top tier of the cake stand. Here are some of our favourite scone recipes to recreate this high tea favourite:

Tier two: Sandwiches

Create traditional high tea sandwiches flavours such as cucumber or watercress, or try some of our favourite sandwich recipes. Remember to use fresh sliced bread and, for that authentic touch, cut off the crusts.

Tier three: Sweets

Let your creativity shine through and fill your bottom tier with a range of sweet treats, from dainty tartlets to coconut-covered lamingtons. The only rule is that these treats should be no more that a few mouthfuls and should be easy to eat.