These Afternoon tea menu ideas are sure to be a hit at your next function. With a great combination of sweet and savory finger foods, your guests are sure to enjoy their selection. This complete menu is sure to give you a great place to start as you organise your afternoon tea.
If you’ve been following my recent posts, you’ll probably know all about the recent cafe themed party I organized. This event was an afternoon tea, serving approximately 120 guests.
In this post I will share in detail all the foods we served, giving you some great afternoon tea menu ideas!
You’ll find a full breakdown of the buffet menu, costs and tips to help make your self-catering experience a breeze. The foods in this menu were inspired by those often served in a cafe cabinet, as it was a cafe themed party.
This menu however would well suit a variety of occasions as it has a great mix of sweet and savory. They are also both adult and child friendly.
My hope is that this menu will help give you a good starting point for whatever event you maybe hosting.
This post is all about sharing my top afternoon tea menu ideas.
Sweet Items
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Serving: 20
Preparation: Homemade or ready-made
Est Time: 1 hour homemade
Chocolate chip cookies are always a crowd pleaser and pair extremely well with hot drinks.
Most recipes yield large amounts and are easy to make, so they are a great option to be made at home. These could be made the day before or earlier and then frozen.
Loose Danish Pastries
Serving: 6
Preparation: ready-made
Est Time: 0 mins
Danish pastries, or any other cute pastry treats, can be purchased from a cafe and add a cute detail to your table.
They can be served whole or halved if size allows.
Afghan Biscuits
Serving: 8
Preparation: Homemade or Ready-made
Est Time: 0 mins (ready-made)
Again, often the money we spend at a bakery is worth it we you consider all the time, effort, ingredients and mess that go into baking yourself.
These particular cookies I was happy to purchase ready-made, giving more sweets variety to the table.
Banoffee Slab Slice
Serving: 30
Preparation: ready-made
Est Time: 5 mins
While you probably won’t find something exactly like this, a slab slice is a great option. The banoffee slice I purchased was gluten-free as I wanted to make sure there were sweet gluten free options available.
Buying a slab can save money, is very on theme, and all you need to do is cut your slab into your desired slices.
Fruit Salad in a Cup
Serving: 20
Preparation: homemade
Est Time: 40-60 mins
Fruit cups are a refreshing and beautiful option to offer your guests. The fruits I used in our cup were apple, mandarin, watermelon, kiwi fruit and mango.
Keep in mind the colours of the fruit when choosing your combination. These can be prepared the day before and tossed in lemon to keep fresh in the fridge.
Par-Baked Croissants
Serving: 10
Preparation: Ready-made, heat
Est Time: 15 mins
Croissants are a beautiful pastry option which can be made sweet or savoury. I bought a pack of mini par-baked croissants with the idea of cooking these and making half savory and half cookie croissants.
I ended up keeping it simple and serving these as they were after finished cooking.
Mini Scones
Serving: 30
Preparation: homemade
Est Time: 1 hour
We made plain scones topped with butter, jam and cream. You could also make the scones a self-serve station with all the available toppings.
Scones can easily be made homemade and bite-sized to make large quantities for your event. I wouldn’t assemble these until close to your event, especially in regard to adding the cream just before consumption.
Savory Iteams
BLT Sandwich
Serving: 8+
Preparation: Homemade
Est Time: 30-40 mins
The BLT sandwich typically consists of bread, mayo, bacon, lettuce and tomato. I often like to add a slice of cheese in there.
These should be made fresh on the day of your event. The assembly process is very straightforward however, and once finished, each sandwich can be halved to make two servings.
A cute finishing detail for your sandwiches is to add a strip of baking paper and cotton string in a bow around each serving. This will give it that cafe food look.
Spinach and Feta Quiche
Est Serving: 8
Preparation: Ready-Made or Homemade
Est Time: 15-20 mins in oven
For my event, I purchased 2 long slabs of spinach and feta quiche, which were ready-made. These meant all I had to do before serving was heat in the oven, cut to size and serve.
If you are keen to make these yourself, you could also consider freezing them ahead of time. Quiches generally freeze well, and you’ll still be able to serve your guests homemade.
A lot of this menu was purchased ready to be put in the oven or on plates to save on stress, mess, and most importantly, time.
Sausage Rolls
Serving: 10+
Preparation: Ready-Made
Est Time: 25-30 mins in oven
Over here in New Zealand, sausage rolls are an event and cafe essential. Typically, we buy these pastry-covered logs of mince frozen, and then they are cooked to fresh in the oven.
These can also be a great option for those with allergies, as (like the type I purchased) these can be gluten and dairy free.
Cold Pasta Salad In a Cup
Serving: 8
Preparation: Homemade
Est Time: 30-40 mins
I absolutely loved the look of the salads in cups! These were delicious little ways guests could enjoy a mess-free salad and easily eat on the go.
This pasta can be prepared or partially prepared the day before and kept in the refrigerator.
The cold pasta recipe I used was from Meal Mia Cold Pasta Salad Cups. If youd like to know more about the cups and forks used, see my cafe themed party post.
Greek Salad In a Cup
Serving: 8
Preparation: Homemade
Est Time: 15-20 mins
This salad offers a fresh and gluten-free option for your guests! It is easy to make and can be made the day before and kept in the fridge.
Though the recipe I used included using phyllo shells, changing these out for plastic cups kept with the aesthetic and made them gluten free friendly.
The recipe I used was from My Tried Recipes 15 Min Greek Salad Cups.
Scrolls
Serving: 10
Preparation: Homemade or Ready-made
Est Time: 2 mins (ready-made)
To not put too much pressure on myself, scrolls were one of those things I was comfortable getting ready-made. Getting these from a local bakery means all you need to do is plate and serve.
The scrolls I purchased were massive, so I halved them before serving.
The scrolls I purchased were cheese and marmite, but some other great options include: cinnamon, cheese and bacon, lemon and blueberry, cheese or maple and pecan. Yum!
Bagel Station
Serving: 8+
Preparation: Guests Assemble
Est Time: 10 mins
At the bagel station, guests could customize their halved or quartered bagels with toppings. The topping I love for this station are hummus, cucumber, tomato, cream cheese, salmon, butter, and avocado.
There are many different options of what you could include as toppings, ensuring your guests will enjoy this treat.
Cheese Grilled Sandwiches
Serving: 10+
Preparation: Homemade
Est Time: 20 mins prep, 15 mins oven
The grilled cheese sandwiches each consisted of two slices of white bread, buttered with a slice of cheese in the middle. So simple, but the kids love them!
These were cheap to make in bulk in the morning of our party. One loaf of bread can make roughly 20 whole sandwiches which can then be halved. We then put them in the oven to be grilled for roughly 15 mins before serving.
Like the BLT’s, these look so cute with a bit of decorative paper around them and string or a sticker, giving that cafe look.
