Let’s serve Mom an afternoon tea and really make it special! I’m sure you’ve heard the term “high tea” as well, and there is a difference. Even though “high tea” sounds more sophisticated, it actually originated as a working class supper of hearty food meant to satisfy hungry workers after their shifts—usually around 5 to 6pm. “Afternoon tea” was more of a social gathering of the upper class, characterized by lounging in low chairs and nibbling on delicate finger sandwiches and scones. Afternoon tea was typically served from 3 to 5pm.
To make the sandwiches I baked both white and wheat bread. I also baked some rye bread since I was on such a roll. All were easy with my breadmaker—even the rye bread which called for caraway seeds were added by the auto dispenser. But unless you like your rye bread very fragrant, use sparingly! I only used 1/2 teaspoon of caraway seeds for my 1 lb. loaf.
Here I’m using my trusty bread slicer to get the slices as thin as possible. What would I do without this thing? It‘s the best invention since…sliced bread.
Ready to prep! Classic tea sandwiches include some variety of cucumber, chicken salad, egg salad or smoked salmon. Ours has a twist of the Japanese style “sando” so we took some liberties. But they’re still thin, finger style and have no crusts—they’re very similar if you think about it. You might never see a katsu sando in a proper British tea shoppe, but you never know—the world is always changing.
From left to right, tuna&mayo, sliced ham&tomato, cucumber and radish with herbal cream cheese, and egg salad. A perfect balance of protein, veggies, crunchy, creamy and aesthetically colorful sandwiches on two kinds of homemade bread.
Any afternoon tea should have scones with clotted cream and jam. Clotted cream is a thick, rich, buttery, heavy cream that can hold a spoon upright. You can usually find it in jars in the cheese section of your market rather than in dairy. And leave it to the Brits to fuss over which comes first on the scone—the cream or the jam. This is a real thing. The Devon method is to spread the clotted cream first (like a butter) followed by the jam. The Cornish method is the opposite, jam first.
Bake the scones first and decide later!
Both Devonshire and Cornwall are counties located in Southwest England. The Devons believe clotted cream will spread more evenly over a warm scone, like butter. The Cornish believe the jam should be experienced first as a complement to the cream, so it should be on top. Which do you think is better?
And finally, pour a good cup of tea using quality tea leaves of your choice. Use your water boiler at the right temperature so you don’t scorch the tea. Yes, the hotness of the water matters.
Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers, aunts, grandmothers or mentors who provided us with care!
If you want something heartier for Mother’s Day (that’s why I baked the Rye Bread), make patty melts. The griddle can handle this easily–with such a wide area to cook on, you’re able to spread the onions out, which cooks them faster and brown more evenly.
Nice and brown and crisp.
Yum! Who can resist a good patty melt? Rye bread is used because it’s a sturdy bread that holds up to the oily ingredients—traditionally made with grilled onions, a hamburger patty and Swiss cheese. Plus, the aroma of the caraway seeds pairs well too.
Did you know that patty melts were invented right here in SoCal? A gentleman named Tiny Naylor featured them at his coffee shops in the 1950s. I’ll leave it up to you to settle the debate between whether the patty melt is a hamburger or a sandwich.
Tea in England The tea cup used in our afternoon tea comes all the way from England. It was commissioned to celebrate the life of Queen Elizabeth II, which we bought when we visited Windsor Castle a couple of years ago. Her majesty’s favorite tea was Earl Grey, with a splash of milk and no sugar.
This was our lunch at Fortnum & Mason, a popular London department store famous for their afternoon tea.
Three ladies are busy at work in a little tea kiosk, stocked to the walls with all kinds of teas. We had some chai tea here and it was the best we’ve ever had. They just can’t brew it like that here in the States.
The view from our hotel room in London. It looked across a cricket field where we were able to watch a match that I totally didn’t understand. This solitary cup of tea, served in a plain white cup and saucer is so British to me. It’s understated, steeped in tradition and somehow solid without the need to shout.
What an amazing trip this was.
Products used in this post: Home Bakery Maestro® Breadmaker BB-SSC10, Panorama Window® Micom Water Boiler & Warmer CD-LFC30, Zojirushi Micom Toaster Oven ET-ZLC30, Gourmet Sizzler® Electric Griddle EA-DCC10
Please note that these recipes were not tested by Zojirushi America
All images by Bert Tanimoto ©2026
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