Hosting the Perfect Afternoon Tea - (Blue Sunday, Teaparty for M.E)

I'm a big afternoon tea fanatic, and so to cheer up lockdown for myself, my mum and brother (and Maisie the cat when there's tuna or ham on the go!) the dining room gets transformed into a little tea room and we (some begrudgingly) get dressed up nice to drink tea and eat cake off of my fast growing china collection.

Having M.E/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, you'd think I would have discovered "Blue Sunday", The Tea Party for M.E sooner - for 9 years, Anna has been hosting a tea party to raise awareness for M.E and fundraise for M.E charities! You can find her profile here, and there are lots of useful links in her bio about M.E and Blue Sunday.

This year's Blue Sunday is on Sunday 16th of May 2021, which is the end of M.E Awareness week, and the idea is that you wear something blue, have a slice of cake, and donate the price you would pay for cake in a cafe to an M.E charity of your choice!

So, here is my super quick and easy guide for having an afternoon tea!

You will need

• An afternoon tea stand - usually these are one stand between two people. We have a lovely Laura Ashley one, and a super handy plastic one that is fab for taking outside on picnics to make things a bit more fancy! Mine is similar to this one here

• A cup and saucer per person, with a teaspoon

• A teapot between 2-3 people

• A side plate per person, along with a knife

• Napkins

• Sugar bowl, milk jug, optional butter dish

Tier One

The bottom tier is for your sandwiches and if you fancy, your savouries! You can go as fancy or as simple with your sandwich fillings as you like. When we're allowed guests over, I make sure to have a separate cake stand with veggie friendly fillings.

Two slices of bread cut into four small triangles per person is plenty!

Hint: if you don't use butter, the triangles will not stand up very well on their own and fall apart easily, so you may want to stack these!

Tier Two

This is your scones! We all feel very strongly about which order the jam and cream should go - the Devon way with the cream first and then the jam, or the Cornish way with jam first and then the cream. (One of them makes more sense than the other, but it's fine, you're still invited!)

I use this recipe and add in raisins, but you could also add cherries or treacle, or top with cheese if you wanted a more savoury option.

You can't go wrong with classic strawberry jam, but I sometimes switch it up with raspberry!

Tier Three

Obviously my favourite bit, the sweet treats! I usually go for two types of cupcake and a biscuit for the top tier, but you can do as many as you like. Go wild. Just have doggy bags on hand for your guests to take any leftovers home!

Why not try our own AHC Jen's Marmalade Loaf Cake!

Hint: most Betty Crocker box mixes can be made vegan by replacing the eggs with alternatives, such as oil, bananas, or dairy free butter!

What's in your teacup?

Of course at an afternoon tea you should have regular tea on offer, but I've often got prosecco in my teacup! Shloer do a great alcohol free pink or white bubbly, and some lovely vintage style alternatives include elderflower presse or lavender lemonade!

When I'm low on spoons, there is no way I'm baking all this myself, or all in one day! I highly recommend Tesco's Finest fruit scones, and Mrs Crimble's now has a vegan version of her usual gluten free chocolate macaroons which are definitely on my shopping list for the next afternoon tea!

Many places deliver afternoon teas, including Afternoon Tea by Rose if you're in Edinburgh, and for my Glasgow folks - I've been eyeing up the Mackintosh at the Willow afternoon tea deliveries for a while!

What way do you have your scones, jam first or cream?!

I wish you many spoons for the week ahead!

Hugs and kisses,

Roz x

@rozconscious