Afternoon tea is a tradition that has embedded itself firmly in the British way of life, since the 1800’s. It may not be quite the daily ritual, as it once was, but it has evolved to that of a celebration, a special occasion that brings people together.

A rich history 

The term ‘afternoon tea’ was born in the 1800’s, when a close friend of Queen Victoria, Anna the 7th Duchess of Bedford, complained of having a ‘sinking feeling’ during the late afternoon.

Anna wanted something small to satisfy her hunger, something big enough to fill her up until dinner time but small enough that she’d still be hungry.

It was from this moment that the afternoon tea ritual was born. And by the 1880’s it was formality for the upper class, who would dress in their best gowns and hats, sharing the latest gossip of the town.

A moment of nostalgia

The afternoon slump is still very real, with many of us reaching for a snack or an energy drink around 3pm in a bid to tide us over until dinner. With the fast pace of life, taking our time over a cup of tea and slice of cake every afternoon doesn’t quite fit into our daily schedule. This has only led to the afternoon tea occasion becoming that much more romantic – a nostalgic occasion – which turns into a whole afternoon rather than a mere snack to keep us going until tea time.

A traditional afternoon tea usually involves finger sandwiches and cakes, alongside a pot of tea. Sandwiches often include cream cheese and cucumber, ham and mustard, coronation chicken, cheese and pickle, egg mayonnaise and cress, while cakes offer classics such as Victoria sponge, apple cake, lemon loaf, and scones. 

Mix it up

Why nostalgia plays a big role in our love for afternoon tea, that doesn’t mean we should be afraid of mixing it up, whether that’s with flavours from other cuisines or different blends of tea.

A Summer Afternoon Tea 

In the warmer weather, why not offer iced tea rather than hot tea. This is as simple as cooling down some fruit tea or making your own iced tea. You could also switch up the cake offering with something light and zesty like our lemon meringue pie or coconut and raspberry traybake.

Chocolate Afternoon Tea 

This is a great one if you have a lot of customers with children. Think about offering hot chocolate, milkshakes and babycinos, alongside cakes like chocolate fudge cake, brownies, and chocolate tart.

Another way to bring the afternoon tea to life for children is to theme it on a current trending film or story, such as Frozen, Peter Pan, Rhoad Dahl, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Savoury Afternoon Tea

Take the concept and make it savoury. Everyone likes food in ‘miniature’ form and afternoon tea lends itself perfectly to this. Think mini burgers, mini chips, mini nachos, chicken wings and slaw, piled onto a dainty tea stand. Finish with something sweet like our triple-layered caramel biscuit cake.

Coffee-lovers Afternoon Tea

Embrace all things coffee in an afternoon tea spread, which favours coffee over tea. Find your best local coffee roaster or supplier and do a collaboration with them, to serve the best coffee for your guests. Sandwiches can stay the same but when it comes to the sweet treats, think scones with coffee-clotted cream and Tiramisu Cake. 

Gluten-Free Afternoon Tea

It isn’t always easy to cater for gluten-free diets in smaller kitchens but with our spread of cakes and treats, it’s now much easier: GF carrot cake, GF lemon drizzle, GF chocolate fudge cake, GF brownies, and GF coconut and raspberry traybake.

Pastry Afternoon Tea

The love for pastries continues to be popular, and there is quite a lot you can do with a bit of pastry, to make a very delicious afternoon tea. Instead of sandwiches go for ham and cheese pinwheels or cheese and marmite twists, and smoked salmon and cream cheese puff pastry squares. Sweets can be anything from traditional croissants to jam turnovers and crookies (a croissant and cookie).

When it comes to the tea, there’s something rather elegant about pouring from a traditional teapot, as it adds to the theatre of the occasion. So we would recommend getting some of these if you can. For the tea, try to go outside the usual options and upgrade to loose tea where possible.