There is something inaetly fancy about tea sandwiches. I don't know what it is but when you have some at a party or gathering, it always seems to kick the elegance up a notch.
The best part about tea sandwiches is that they are super simple to make. The nice thing is that you can get really creative about what sandwiches you make--as long as you can cut it up, you can make it.
It can be a bit time consuming but with the right prep, you can have them done in no time. I recently had to make some for my sister's bridal shower and I made 130 sandwiches in about an hour and a half.
The trick to tea sandwiches are to make sure that you "seal" the bread somehow. Whether it's buttering both sides, or using a cream cheese, the point is you want to make sure that you prevent the ingredients from making the bread soggy.
Here are the sandwiches I made for the party:
General-
-2 loaves white bread
-1 loaf wheat bread
-butter
You want to try and account for three sandwiches per person, so that should determine how many loaves of bread you want to purchase.
Ham and Brie Cheese
- 3/4 lb - 1lb deli ham sliced thin
-spreadable brie cheese
-honey mustard
Lay your bread out like the picture below and butter each slice of bread. Spread brie cheese on one of the bread slices per sandwich. On half of the sandwiches, I also used honey mustard, so that some sandwiches had honey mustard while others did not. Layer the ham over one of the bread slices per sandwich and then place the piece with the brie spread across over top. Cut off the crusts and then cut the sandwich in half diagonally creating two triangles. If desired, cut them in half again to create four small triangles.
Cream Cheese and Cucumber
- 1 Cucumber (depending the size), sliced thin--I did not use seedless, but I recommend it
-whipped cream cheese--I used regular flavored and it was good but a bit bland, I would suggest using the garden vegetable flavor
Spread cream cheese on both sides of the bread. Then, on one half of the slices, layer cucumber. Place two slices together and cut off the crusts. Cut sandwiches into triangles.
Chicken Salad
-1 tub of chicken salad (you can make your own if you want, but quite frankly I find that store bought is flavored much better than homemade chicken salad, plus with as much time as you are spending on making these sandwiches, one less step in the process is better)
Spread butter on all the bread slices and place chicken salad on one of the slices per sandwich. Spread the salad around and make sure it's not too thick. Place the other buttered slice on top of the slice with the salad and cut the crusts off. Cut the sandwiches into triangles.
A few things to mention:
-You don't want to make the sandwiches too far in advance, I would say no more than a day. Anything longer than that and you'll have soggy sandwiches
-To store, layer the triangles in a container with wax or parchment paper in between each layer. On the top layer, place a damp paper towel over top the last piece of paper to keep the bread from drying out and place in the fridge until you are ready to serve them.
-Try to use different breads (like wheat and white) to give your guests options.
What are some sandwich combos you can think of?