Birthday Afternoon Tea Party

or, How to host an Easy, Elegant, Afternoon Tea at Home for 8 People

A colourful tiered cake stand filled with delicious morsels for afternoon tea

I have hosted gatherings for years, and you would think I would have a system in place by now, but I don’t.

In my defence, ours is a busy house. And by busy, I mean messy. We have hobbies and projects that tend to be left mid-stream, waiting for energy and inspiration to return.

The price of creativity is a little chaos

Tilly, our ungovernable but lovable German Shepherd, gets an honourable mention in the creation of the mess. Her second most annoying feature is her inability to hold fur onto her body. She sheds every day; it’s a role her follicles take very seriously indeed.

For those wondering, her most annoying feature is barking at a non-threat in the middle of the night and waking us from a deep slumber.

She looks so innocent. Do NOT be deceived, each one of those follicles is actively plotting against my sanity, and sanitary conditions.

So despite preparing for a gathering over several days, the hour before the doorbell rings is almost invariably frantic.

And this afternoon tea was no exception.

The occasion was Mum’s birthday; for years she has presided over the tea table, always elegantly and lavishly set, but it hardly seems fair that she needs to go to the effort of hosting her own party, so I offered to gather the family in her honour.

The lavish table that I have been brought up on. This was this year’s Easter table. And yes, it was all delicious.

My motto this time was: feminine, elegant, and family-focussed.

Taming the Chaos

With Tilly banished to the garden, and her fur thoroughly removed from as many surfaces as possible, craft projects temporarily stashed, and the laundry racks hidden away, it was time to turn my attention to the table — something Mum herself has always done so beautifully

The Table & Aesthetic

To hit the feminine and elegant brief, I opted for my Maxwell Williams tea set in cheery shades of red, blush pink and gold. It is an arresting colourway, and to tone it down somewhat,  I bought pink and white napkins, and blush pink carnations to mirror the blush pink flowers that form part of the china’s pattern.

I have a three tier cake stand in this colourway, as well as in a complementary one from the same set. The overall look was definitely bright and cheery.

This riot of colour was tempered by a crisp white tablecloth, although I had been tempted to lean all the way in with a sensory overload by using a dusty pink tablecloth. Unusually, commonsense prevailed.

The Menu: Keeping it Manageable

I opted to keep the menu as simple and fuss-free as possible by using some of what was left-over from the previous week’s Christmas in July party.

Savoury Selection

Turkey and Cranberry Sausage rolls

Ham Sandwiches

Cucumber Sandwiches with Mint Butter

Scones

Orange and Cranberry

Sweet Selection

Assorted cakes

Chocolate Slice

Macarons

Chocolate Biscuits

Savoury Selection:

I had Turkey and Cranberry Sausage roll mixture in the freezer left over from last week’s Christmas in July party, so I made more sausage rolls. These were a huge hit; I think the orange zest in the filling really lifts the overall flavour profile; counteracting the sweetness from the cranberry sauce used in the recipe.

I used a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Christmas 2017 magazine, but similar recipes can be found online with a Google search. This recipe added orange zest and Dijon mustard to the mix. They are delicious, but a bit moist, so they made the pastry soggy. Next time I will add in some breadcrumbs to see if this will counteract that.

Cucumber sandwiches flavoured with mint butter and a light dusting of white pepper on fresh white bread are always a hit. The mint and pepper lift an otherwise delicately flavoured sandwich and gives a refreshing flavour that contrasts with the sweet treats to follow.

Ham sandwiches made with smoked ham from our local butcher were another savoury delight. 

Tasty cucumber sandwiches are a refreshing counterfoil to the richness of the coming desserts

Quantities

For eight people I made 4 ham sandwiches and 4 cucumber ones, cut into 4 triangles each and two long sausage rolls that were cut into 8 bite size pieces each.This gave two triangles of each flavour sandwich and two mini sausage rolls per person.

Scones

My sister, who has perfected the art of making light, fluffy scones kindly offered to make and bring orange and cranberry scones. These were a treat, and were served with strawberry jam and dollop cream. There was a hint of sweetness in the scones, without being cloying and were the perfect vehicle for the jam (always first in this household) and cream

Sweets

To cater for a family member who is allergic to egg, I found an egg-free chocolate slice recipe online. This was an easy melt-and-mix recipe, using ingredients I always keep on hand. This was very quick to make and used only one bowl, which made a last minute clean up very easy.

For the rest of the offerings I again used leftovers from last week’s party. I had bought a selection of desserts from Woolworths which hadn’t been opened (or discovered by hungry teens in the house). 

This pack of 20 assorted delicacies at Woolworths for $24 , which I think is well worth it. These were placed on the tiered cake stands, along with some macarons, again, from Woolies, and some chocolate biscuits.

There was plenty to choose from,and no-one went home hungry. There was a part of me that felt a little guilty that I hadn’t made more from scratch, but I got over that quickly. My motto of family-focussed came into play here. The point was to spend time with my family, not to prove anything through an entirely homemade afternoon tea 

It’s easy to forget that easy entertaining doesn't mean effortless entertaining. It means making choices that keep the actual gathering manageable, even when real life has been happening in the house right up until the doorbell rings. 

Over to you: How do you keep hosting manageable when real life is happening in the background? Do you lean into store-bought shortcuts, or are you a strictly from-scratch baker? 

I’d love to hear what works in your home. Tell me in the comments below!

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