This isn’t really a new blog post or recipe in the traditional way, but more a simple way of helping you devise the perfect afternoon tea, obviously you can tweak the menu to suit your palate, but it offers a rough guide to help you plan your perfect afternoon. My personal must haves are, everything has to be delicate and bite size, only ever fabric napkins, never paper and where possible, unlike the above photo as I was catering for a fair number of people on that occasion, I would usually use a tea pot, a beautiful linen table cloth and of course very delicate cups and saucers. For me I have to have delicate Earl Grey to compliment my afternoon tea, but each to there own and there are many beautiful suitable teas out there to choose from. So play around, use plenty of flowers and add a glass of champagne for that extra special touch.

Easter Sunday Afternoon Tea Menu (Finger Sandwiches) Cucumber with a splash of white wine vinegar & cream cheese Egg & cress Ham & mustard Pastel coloured devilled eggs Homemade scones with jam & cream Mini meringue nests with lemon curd, cream & mini eggs Chocolate fudge cake with a mini handmade nest with eggs Simnel Cake

Finger Sandwiches – Makes 4 rounds of each

Cucumber, Cream Cheese & Dill Sandwiches – 100g cream cheese, 3 tbsp chopped fresh dill, a little freshly ground white pepper, 1/4 cucumber, peeled & very finely sliced, 1 tsp white wine vinegar, a little salted butter, softened and 4 slices each of brown and white sliced bread   Mix together the cream cheese and dill in a small bowl and season with a little ground white pepper. Put the cucumber slices in another bowl with the vinegar. Spread the cream cheese and dill mixture evenly over one side of the brown bread slices. Top with the cucumber slices. Butter the remaining white bread and put a slice on top of each slice of brown bread. Trim the crusts and cut each round into four fingers.

Egg & Cress Sandwiches – 4 medium hard-boiled eggs, cooled. 4 tbsp mayonnaise, 4 tbsp cress, a little salted butter, softened, 8 slices seeded bread, salt and freshly ground white pepper.   Tap the eggs all over to crack the shells, then peel. Put the eggs in a bowl and use a fork to crush them lightly. Add the mayonnaise and half of the cress. Season with salt and a little white pepper and stir to combine. Lightly butter the bread, then divide the egg mayonnaise evenly over half of the bread slice. Top with the remaining cress and slices of bread. Trim the crusts and cut each round into four fingers.

Ham & Mustard – a good quality ham and mustard of your choice, we used English Mustard, 4 slices each of brown and white sliced bread, a little salted butter. Lay the ham evenly over one side of the brown bread slices. Butter the remaining white bread and add a light layer of mustard, put a slice on top of each slice of brown bread. Trim the crusts and cut each round into four fingers.  

Homemade scones with jam & cream – http://dianastaveley.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/scones.html
I used the above recipe, coloured very pastel mint green & lemon, then just piped tiny nests. The lemon ones I filled with lemon curd and the green ones I piped a blob of cream on, I then added a chocolated mini egg to each one.
I followed the recipe above and just finished the cake by covering the sides with grated chocolate and Hubby made the nest out of melted sugar, dribbled over an oiled bowl, I then added mini eggs and a fluffy chick.