Elegant high tea recipes

We’ve put together a collection of the best high tea recipes for you to enjoy for the fanciest afternoon tea ever. Delicate tarts, ribbon sandwiches and shortbread biscuits, all of our favourite high tea recipes to make anyone feel a little fancy. Make these recipes for Mother’s Day, a birthday, or just because.

How to host a delightfully fancy high tea party

High tea is a lovely, elegant, and intrinsically feminine way to entertain, and while the art of doing it properly need not be stuffy or restrictive, it does require a bit of forward thinking.

“People do expect you to have gone to some effort in terms of decoration and flowers if you are hosting a high tea,” says renowned Australian fashion designer Fleur Wood.

“It’s a really nice opportunity to get out all of your mother or grandmother’s old china and silver tea pots.

“That’s what I like about hosting these sort of events — you get to use beautiful things we don’t use in our daily lives.”

Of course, it’s also a great opportunity to frock up and look glamorous. Wood recommends a floral frock or vintage dress.

For décor, she suggests mixing it up. “You don’t want it to look either too ‘ye oldy world’ or too ‘shabby chic’.”

She also notes that if it’s for a baby shower — a popular event for high teas — you should avoid the traditional blues and pinks.

Flowers are essential — think tea roses or orchids — as is music.

“It’s important to have the right music in the background to create a mood,” says Wood. “In my book I recommend a French band, Nouvelle Vague.

“Ricky Lee Jones is also fitting for this sort of thing, or there’s a ‘So Frenchy, So Chic’ compilation that’s quite good.”

Jill Jones-Evans, owner of The Victoria Room Tea Salon, which provides one of Sydney’s finest high teas, emphasises the importance of the menu.

“It may sound obvious, but with high tea there really is a lot of preparation involved,” she notes. “Give yourself plenty of time if you don’t want to be in the kitchen cutting up sandwiches.

“That said, it is one of the great things about high teas — you can have pretty much everything done in advance.”

The high tea recipes don’t need to be traditional either.

“You could do an Italian-inspired high tea or make another kind of cuisine the focus, even Indian, for example. My grandmother used to serve high teas in the Scottish highlands in the 1960s and then it was all about the pork pies.

“So, feel free to include things like gourmet sausage rolls and pies — it doesn’t have to be all sandwiches and scones.”

Even the scones can be more modern and creative. The new Victoria Room Tea Salon in Westfield Sydney CBD has a ‘specialty scone menu’ with ten flavours ranging from lavender or white chocolate and cranberry to savory pumpkin and ginger or cheddar and thyme.

Jones-Evans says the biggest seller is the date and orange scone served with Sicilian marmalade. Take-home packs of six scones are also popular.

Correct settings are very important too, of course.

“You definitely want to have lovely high tea stands and good tea ware but it doesn’t need to cost a lot,” says Jones-Evans.

“You can mix and match from op shops and Vinnies. I think that mismatched vintage look is great. Definitely use real linen, cloth napkins and flowers. Other nice touches are things like sugar cubes with silver sugar tongs.”

It also ought to go without saying that good quality loose-leaf tea in pots is essential. “Definitely no tea bags,” pleads Jones-Evans. A mix of one black, one herbal and one green tea is a good place to start to make sure all tastes are catered for.

Jones-Evans also suggests a proper invitation in the post, rather than a text or email.

“It’s all a bit old-fashioned and old school so why not start with that? Just think how excited you are when you get a proper letter or invitation in the post these days.”

vintage cake with yellow piped icing on a white cake stand

Vintage cake with apple & Swiss meringue buttercream

Apple pie gets a layer cake glow up in this stunning recipe. It’s guaranteed to wow your party guests.

Pink devilled eggs on a yellow plate

two varieties of high tea sandwiches on floral plates

Fancy finger sandwiches for a high tea

For entertaining, picnics or a Mother’s Day spread.

Madeleines with white chocolate coating on a white platter

Blinis with smoked salmon

small fetta and mushroom pies on a white platter with dill

Mini fetta & mushroom pies

You won’t be able to stop at just one of these moreish bites.

Over-the-top chocolate and macadamia brownies

Over-the-top chocolate and macadamia brownies

Take brownies to the next level with two types of chocolate and buttery macadamias.

Passionfruit melting moments

HUMMINGBIRD CAKES

Classic lamingtons

BAKED RICOTTA TARTLETS

Pink macaroons

Mini quiches

Millionaire's shortbread

Lime and yoghurt cakes with elderflower syrup

Lime and yoghurt cakes with elderflower syrup

Great for when you want to eat a whole cake in one go!

LEMON MERINGUE CUPCAKES

Classic chicken finger sandwiches

Classic chicken finger sandwiches

These quick and easy chicken sandwiches are a crowd pleaser.

Strawberry bliss scones

Strawberry bliss scones

Sweet and delicate, these strawberry scones are the perfect treat for morning or afternoon tea. Enjoy warm with a dollop of jam and cream.

trout blini on a platter

February 13, 2020

Spelt blini with hot smoked salmon and crème fraîche

Entertaining is simple with these quick spelt blini topped with hot-smoked salmon and crème fraîche

Chicken and cucumber sandwiches on a platter

mini pavlovas with vanilla strawberries

Mini pavlovas with vanilla syrup strawberries

You could experiment with a variety of different berry toppings here. Whatever you choose, you just can’t beat a pav topped with whipped cream and berries and drenched in syrup.

Mini lemon almond lamingtons

Mini lemon almond lamingtons

These gorgeous mini lemon almond fingers are a zesty take on the classic Australian lamington. The combination of soft sponge rolled in coconut and drizzled with a sweet lemon syrup will leave you reaching for more.

Mini brown sugar and hazelnut whoopie pies

Mini brown sugar and hazelnut whoopie pies

These divine mini brown sugar and hazelnut whoopie pies are wonderfully sweet, nutty and creamy. Enjoy one with a pot of tea for an indulgent morning of afternoon snack with loved ones.

Basic scones

Basic scones

Classic scones are easy to make and a delicious addition to any afternoon tea.

Chocolate and caramel eclairs

Chocolate and caramel eclairs

Impress at your next party or celebration with these divine home-made eclairs filled with vanilla custard cream and glazed with rich chocolate.

Peach and hazelnut friands

Peach and hazelnut friands

Brighten up your morning or afternoon with these stone fruit and nutty french cake delights.

Chocolate and caramel macarons

Chocolate and caramel macarons

You don’t have to be in France to indulge in this decadent dessert. Bite through the light outer-layer of these treats to reach the rich chocolate ganache centre.

LITTLE CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CAKES

Little chocolate hazelnut cakes

Un-iced cakes can be made four days ahead; store covered in an airtight container at room temperature or suitable to freeze. Ice cakes on the day of serving. Chocolate and butter suitable to microwave. Note

coconut custard tarts

Baked coconut custard tarts

Sweet and satisfying, these little baked coconut custard tarts have the added nutty depth of both shredded and desiccated coconut, plus a dash of lemon zest.

RASPBERRY AND ORANGE CORDIAL

Raspberry and orange cordial

Bright, fruity and packed with flavour, raspberry and orange cordial is a great base for a refreshing soft drink or used as a mixer for vodka or white rum.

Strawberry jelly cakes

Strawberry jelly cakes

These pretty little morsels combine the flavours of strawberry and coconut for a wonderful teatime treat that can be devoured in two bites.

MINI BLUE CHEESE QUICHES

Mini blue cheese quiches

Cute little mini quiches that pack a huge blue cheese punch.