Tea Finger Sandwiches
Crustless, dainty sandwiches with cucumber-cream cheese or egg salad fillings
- 1 loafthin-sliced white sandwich bread, crusts removed
- 8 ozcream cheese, softened
- 2 tbspfresh dill, finely chopped
- 1 tbspfresh chives, finely chopped
- 1 wholeEnglish cucumber, thinly sliced
- 6 wholelarge eggs
- 3 tbspmayonnaise
- 1 tspDijon mustard
- 0.5 tspkosher salt
- 0.25 tspwhite pepper
- 1 tspfresh lemon juice
Assemble up to 4 hours ahead. Cover with a damp paper towel then plastic wrap and refrigerate. Egg salad can be made 1 day ahead and stored separately. Do not freeze.
- 1Hard-boil the eggs: place in a pot, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, cook 10 minutes, then transfer immediately to an ice bath. Peel and finely chop once cool.
- 2Make egg salad: combine chopped eggs, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt, and white pepper. Mix gently until just combined. Refrigerate until needed.
- 3Make cucumber cream cheese: beat softened cream cheese with dill and chives until smooth. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
- 4Assemble cucumber sandwiches: spread cream cheese on one slice of bread, layer cucumber slices slightly overlapping, top with a second slice and press gently.
- 5Assemble egg salad sandwiches: spread egg salad evenly on one slice, top with a second slice and press gently.
- 6Trim crusts from all sandwiches using a sharp serrated knife with a sawing motion. Cut each sandwich into 3 equal finger-shaped rectangles.
- 7Arrange on a platter in alternating rows. Cover with a damp paper towel and plastic wrap. Refrigerate up to 4 hours.
- 8Garnish with fresh dill sprigs or watercress just before serving. Serve cold.
Use day-old bread - it slices cleaner without tearing. Chill assembled sandwiches under damp paper towels for up to 4 hours. Cut with a sharp serrated knife using a sawing motion. Layer fillings thin - overstuffed sandwiches fall apart. Present on tiered trays for authentic elegance.
The finger sandwich as a format is inseparable from the British afternoon tea tradition, which historians credit to Anna Maria Russell, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, around 1840. Because the fashionable dinner hour among the English upper classes had shifted to 8 or 9 in the evening, the Duchess began requesting a tray of tea, bread and butter, and cake in the late afternoon to relieve what she described as a "sinking feeling." She began inviting friends to join her, and the practice spread rapidly through aristocratic society, gaining royal endorsement when Queen Victoria — who documented over 7,000 tea parties in her diaries — adopted the custom. By the 1860s, afternoon tea had become an entrenched social institution with an established format: crustless finger sandwiches, scones, and small cakes. Wikipedia's article on tea sandwiches traces their American appearance to the 1867 cookbook by Mrs. Hill. The cucumber sandwich, possibly the most iconic variety, became a symbol of Edwardian refinement satirized by Oscar Wilde in The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). The egg salad filling has American roots, gaining popularity in the late 19th century as commercially refrigerated mayonnaise became available. Both varieties remain the standard for elegant North American catered events.