As I’m sure most of you are aware, it was Mother’s Day here in the UK a couple of weeks ago. Originally, we had plans to take my grandmother out for afternoon tea. However, thanks to lockdown/ self isolation (I can’t quite remember what stage we were in that weekend?) that couldn’t happen. So, not wanting her to miss out, we set her video calls up, and I made an at home vegan afternoon tea and dropped off some Tupperware boxes in her porch. Only a 3 minute walk and no physical contact later, we were all ready to have afternoon tea ‘together’.
I thought I’d share what I made and maybe you could do something similar at home. I know a lot of people have been using their extra free time to bake during lockdown, and setting it up as an afternoon tea could be a nice way to spend a day at home as a family. And making all the individual components does take a while, so you could easily dedicate a full day to it if you’re looking to kill time…
Vegan At Home Afternoon Tea
Most of this was me working with what I had at home, but please keep in mind that I run a food blog so I’m generally well stocked in this department the majority of the time. I did try to pick up a couple of extra bits, with varying success, but most things can be adapted to make them work!
Savoury Tier
I made some sundried tomato and olive tapenade rolls! These are really easy for anyone to make. Some GF Jus Rol, a jar of tapenade (maybe some pesto if you don’t have/ can’t get that) and some sundried tomatoes and olives to fill it, rolled up like mini sausage rolls.
Roasted Mediterranean vegetable & pesto sandwiches. I was hoping to get some GF panini rolls for this but unfortunately that couldn’t happen so I ended up with some ciabattas. Pesto, roasted red peppers, red onions and a little courgette.
Scone Tier
You can’t have afternoon tea without scones, right?? I took the opportunity to make a few of the recipes I had planned for Recipe A Day May while I was baking in bulk and a cherry scone recipe is one of them. The recipe I used for these scones isn’t the final one I’ll be posting next month as I wasn’t 100% happy with my first attempt, but I made these scones with a little pot of strawberry preserve.
Dessert Tier
Brownies
I made sweet potato brownies for the first time! This recipe is also one for next month but I was so happy with how they turned out. If you’re wanting to make some brownies in the meantime, check out these peanut butter brownies or these chocolate orange ones.
Mini Custard Tarts
I used the almond and oat pie crust from this (jam tarts) recipe and the custard recipe from this custard tart recipe with less corn flour (I wanted the custard to be runnier in these) to make some mini custard tarts.
Lemon Cupcakes
My grandmother is quite fussy, so I wanted to make something really simple that I knew for sure she’d like and so a simple lemon cupcake was added to the menu.
Have you guys done anything like this while we’ve been in lockdown? How are you passing your spare time? Let me know how you improvised for Mother’s Day too!
Until next time,
Sophie
Cake stand featured: 3 Tier Slate Cake Stand* (aff)
That savoury tier has me craving sun-dried tomatoes and olives! These all look lovely, and what a great idea as well to share an experience for mother’s day.
The brownies look so good! I’ve never tried sweet potato brownies before.
All of that is vegan?? Looks amazing, wouldn’t have know the difference.
The fact that you dropped some off and created a virtual afternoon tea day is beautiful! What a way to keep the spirits up!
Jessica & James | http://www.foodandbaker.co.uk
I love the idea of doing an afternoon tea at home. I really like the idea of your savoury tier as well as the cakes and I’m normally a sweet tooth!
I used to love having afternoon tea! I always found it to be a real treat, and would love going for special occasions. I love the idea of doing it at home now we can’t go out. The scones look amazing! X
This is solid. I have been reading, watching NBA basketball games on youtube and tv.
Oh my, this looks so delicious.
Going out for real afternoon tea is on my list to do in england, but I could be tempted to make it myself, maybe for a picnic when the country opens up a bit again.
Love, Tea
https://teaspangsberg.com/
I hadn’t known that the afternoon tea had tiers! It’s so sweet that you did your “lockdown tea time” for your grandmother and it looks delicious. Especially the lemon cupcakes. Stay safe ♥
What a delicious afternoon tea! And what a lovely idea to do during isolation! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Looks so yummy! I really appreciate you sharing such nice vegan pastries, as I am trying to include more vegan food and desserts in my diet. And during the lockdown I’ve been cooking a lot of pasta, today I plan on making lasagna. Will definitely try your tea recipes soon. Thanks for sharing (:
This is so much fun! We may not be able to go out right now, but something like this is a great way to include some feeling of ‘normalcy’ in our lives right now.
I’m too much of a coward to bake! I can never make what I bake work for some reason! I’ve actually missed eating GF scones so can’t wait to finally eat one when the lockdown is over! Yummy recipe as always! <3
Those look amazing! Thank you for the inspiration!
I’m from the states and we do t have afternoon tea, so I always get excited when my fellow UK bloggers write about their tea time experiences. After reading your post and seeing how quite easy it is to, maybe I’ll try it out during this isolation period. I can’t wait for your sweet potato brownie recipe!!
Natonya | https://justnatonya.wordpress.com
This is the absolute loveliest idea during quarantine and isolation! And those chocolate chunks look sooo yummy <3
This looks amazing! I’ll definitely be stealing some of these ideas!
the brownies look so nice! but i love this idea of at home afternoon tea, even better that its vegan!
Looks so yummy, and such a nice way to celebrate together.
This whole setup makes me hungry, and what a sweet way the celebrate together on Mother’s Day. 🙂 Those olive tapenade rolls look delicious, and I cannot choose a favorite from among the dessert tier!
Literally just earlier this week I felt the urge to have an afternoon tea setup with my mom & sister at some point! It hasn’t happened yet, but I’m planning on doing this in the very near future. So glad you decided to share this post because now I’ve got quite a few more ideas than I did when this idea first popped into my head :’) xx
I love that you made your own afternoon tea at home. It is easier for you because you get to control the ingredients and make what you like! Mmm, I love the different tiers that you have! I need to do something like this – might as well make the most out of lockdown through food!
Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me
Oh yum this all looks so good! Especially the brownies! i’d love to try the other ones but couldn’t see the links 🙁 I’ve been baking a lot with the kids – I figure measuring things and mixing counts as maths and science as I teach them at home now the schools are closed, haha!
Hope that you are having a lovely Easter weekend 🙂
Sweet potato brownies?? I hadn’t heard of them before but they look so moist and delicious!
Oh this looks so yummy! Especially the lemon cupcakes, you may have inspired me to turn my kitchen into a swathe of sweet treats, scones and sandwiches hahaha! Definitely not a bad thing
Laura
Oh wow, this looks amazing! I am desperate to try those scones – might have to be my next lockdown activity!
teandtwosugars.blogspot.com xx
This is amazing, such a lovely thing to do! I am very intrigued by the sweet potato brownies. I haven’t done much baking in lockdown, but I have been enjoying make some different dinner meals, as its been difficult to get food most of the time, I have been trying to use ingredients that I have lying about that I’ve definitely just forgotten that I have – so that’s been quite fun!
Chloe xx
http://www.chloechats.com
These look scrumptious!!
Sophie, this is incredible! You would start a business with this – I’m serious! Shame you couldn’t take your grandmother out for her afternoon tea but I’m sure she loved all the effort you went through. The sweet tier looks amazing! Well; they all do.
Omg those brownies! I’m really intrigued by how those taste, they look so good though! This is such a cute idea xx
Tiffany x http://www.foodandotherloves.co.uk
Everything looks so good x
This is such a great idea! I’ve always wanted an afternoon tea, and got my chance at a spa day with my mum last year, they had dairy cakes and sandwiches, but no scones unfortunately. I’ll definitely have to try this at home.