Tea Party Tips

I recently hostessed a tea party for eight little girls, so I thought I'd share some helpful ideas for planning and preparation.

Afternoon tea can have up to three courses: savory (in our case, sandwiches), scones, and sweets/pastries. My assistant (Thank you, Lauren!) and I made 4 types of sandwich and preplated them for our guests. We had some extra on platters to pass for second helpings. These were made ahead, but not until the morning of our tea.

For the sandwiches we used Pepperidge Farm very thin white sandwich bread. I thought about making bread in my special Pampered Chef flower- and heart-shaped bread tube pans, then decided that was over the top (even for me). So Lauren made peanut butter sandwiches, which were popular enough for us to make more during the party. Although you wouldn't make those for a grown-up tea, cucumber sandwiches are required. I peeled and sliced the cucumbers very thin. A little mayo, salt, and pepper went on the bread (every piece) before stacking the slices. These were wrapped and refrigerated until serving time. The pb s'wiches were wrapped and left at room temperature. Crusts were cut off after assembly, but I suppose you could do that first as well.

We used burrito sized tortillas to make the wraps. I've never built these before, so it may not have been done in the most efficient way. I cut the roundness off the tortillas, and then Lauren filled them. The first were spread lightly with Ranch dressing and then layered with turkey, provolone, and tiny diced (and deseeded and spun dry) tomatoes. We rolled and then cut each wrap into 4 sections; they looked prettiest on their sides. Important discovery: there's no need to fill your wrap to the very end, as some filling tends to get pushed to (or out of!) the end. Then ham and American cheese were simpler to assemble. A bit pedestrian, I think, but they worked well for our audience. Some girls had several. (I also facilitated some sandwich trading--not proper manners, perhaps, but I do hate to waste food.) I have my scone recipe and technique down to a science. My innovation for this event was to mix, knead, roll, and cut the dough a week ahead. I froze it on its parchment-paper-covered baking sheet, then thawed and baked it on party day. Fresh and easy!
This course was preplated like the others. We served each scone with strawberry jam (Smucker's makes a great low sugar one with no artificial sweetener.) and whipped unsweetened cream (almost butter...).
After a break, the girls were ready for dessert. A friend made the chocolate covered strawberries. We cut the other pastries into small, interesting shapes. A fancier option would be to make things that were already small, like tarts or shaped cookies.I had fun with the birthday cake. I baked a 6" sour cream butter cake (and cupcakes with the leftover batter) at least a week ahead. I sliced it into three layers using unwaxed dental floss. The floss is wrapped around the cake then crossed. Check the placement and pull both ends; like magic the floss meets itself inside and cuts an even layer.

I filled the layers with chocolate ganache. This is so simple to make: heat heavy whipping cream in the microwave until it bubbles, then add an equal amount of chocolate. I usually use Nestle chocolate chips, but better chocolate would be even tastier. (Another tip: to make bittersweet, mix 3 parts semisweet with 1 part unsweetened chocolate, e.g. 1/2 cup chocolate chips plus 1 oz. unsweetened.) Cool until spreadable. Ganache can be stored for a long time in the fridge or freezer if you can keep yourself from sucking a spoonful every afternoon.

I frosted the cake with French buttercream, then chilled it. Next I wrapped it in plastic and froze it (in a container) until the night before the party, when I put it back in the fridge. It sat at room temp for a few hours so the icing could soften. Then I decorated it simply with frosted roses that I've had on hand for too long.We have a climbing rose that grows tiny blooms. Now and then (every few years?) I'll pick some to frost. I lightly whip an egg white with a fork, just until it is frothy. Then I brush the petals with the egg and sprinkle generously (over a bowl) with superfine sugar. I set them to dry on waxed paper. The paper is on a cooling rack and has holes poked in it for the flower stems to rest in. After drying, the flowers last a long time, although the color fades. These are 2 or 3 years old! The sugaring process works for other flowers, too. It's easy to look up which are edible. I use only home grown, though, so I am sure there are no pesticides. The roses are edible but not tasty; at least on party guest ate hers. :-)For the tea itself, I heated water on the stove and then brewed DECAF in china pots at the last minute. It stayed hot long enough. By the time we needed more heat it was time to make more tea anyway. Tea was served with sugar cubes, cream, and lemon wedges.

As the guests arrived they decorated gingerbread cookies to take home. These were of course baked ahead; I find they can last many days at room temperature. They probably could have been frozen, although I would worry about the stacks getting stuck together. I set up the island ahead of time with cookies, waxed paper work stations, icing, and sprinkles.

Placecards were made of large, unmarked index cards. I hot-glued silk flowers on and Marianna wrote the names.

The cookies were to be taken home in cute buckets, so we lined them with matching tissue and tied on labels (also index cards with silk flowers).

Here's an idea of how to schedule tasks for a nice party. I didn't follow this plan exactly, but it's my best advice:

Far in advance:

• Send invitations.
• Select menu.
• Hire a helper for the morning of party day and at least part of the service time. You may want a helper for clean up time as well, especially if you hand wash your china, crystal, and silver.
• Bake cake, ice, and freeze.
• Bake and freeze other pastries.
• Bake or buy sandwich bread and freeze.
• Mix and roll scone dough; freeze.
• Gather/borrow equipment (sugar tongs, extra teapot) and food (sprinkles, sugar cubes) that is pantry stable but not on hand yet.
• Prep placecards or party favors.

Up to a few days ahead: buy food and flowers.

The day before:

• Thaw anything that's frozen. Most bready foods thaw and store best at room temp.
• Set the table, or at least gather linens, china, crystal, etc.
• Bake/prep any desserts or pastries that weren't freezable.

The day of:

• Dress up and wear your apron. You aren't likely to have time to change at the last minute.
• Make sandwiches and wraps.
• Bake scones.
• Color icing and set up cookie stations.
• Set up other activities (napkin folding,etc.).
• Set table.
• Wash and wedge lemons.
• Cut/set out pastries.
• Decorate cake, if needed.
  

At the last minute:

• Set out sandwich course.
• Brew tea.
• Set out sugar, cream, and lemon wedges.
• Pour cold water.
• Whip cream.
• Smile!
• Prepare for lots of tidying and washing up. ;-)