Summer baking: Afternoon tea week

Summer baking is an essential activity to do with children for the rest of the summer holidays. What’s a better way to enjoy summer than with afternoon tea? As it’s afternoon tea week from the 7th-13th of August, we have decided to centre our summer treat inspiration around creating your own afternoon tea. This activity is perfect to do with children whilst enjoying some sunshine, or as a pick me up through the dull days.

Check out some amazing, yummy summer baking recipes and have a go at creating a lovely afternoon tea for everyone to enjoy. Follow our step by steps and get baking over the weekend and throughout the holidays.

Watch our video to see how to make each recipe & read the step by steps below for some more detail!

Rhubarb & custard scones

Ingredients:

• 300g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 50g custard powder
• 150g caster sugar
• 95g cold butter, cubed
• 175ml milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 250g rhubarb, chopped

Method

Step one

Mix the flour, baking powder, custard powder, 5og caster sugar and  ¼ tsp of salt in a large mixing bowl. Rub the butter into this mixture using your fingertips until it turns into fine breadcrumbs.

Step two

Mix in the milk gradually using your hands until smooth. Roll out the smooth dough on a floured surface until 2cm thick. Place the dough onto a baking tray lined with baking paper, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Step three

Move onto making the rhubarb jam while waiting for the dough to firm. Tip 100g of the caster sugar and rhubarb into a saucepan with 2 tbsp of water. Simmer over a medium heat for 15 minutes, stir occasionally until rhubarb has softened and mixture is thick. Transfer the jam to a bowl and let cool.

Step four

Preheat the oven to 200C fan/ 220C and take dough out of fridge. Cut out scone shapes from the dough using a circular cutter. Place scones onto a baking tray lined with baking paper leaving 2cm in between each. Roll out remaining dough and cut more scones out and move to tray.

Step five

Glaze the scones with the beaten egg and bake for 10-12 minutes until tops are golden brown. Leave to cool completely on tray. Serve with rhubarb jam and clotted cream or more custard to spread on.

Cheese & onion rolls

Ingredients:

• 300g plain flour
• 200g butter, cold
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 200g cheddar cheese, grated

Step one

To make the pastry, sift flour into a large mixing bowl with 1 tsp salt. Grate the butter into the flour mixture. Stir together using a knife the pour 120ml cold water. Mix together to form a dough. Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Step two

During this time, start the filling. Melt 30g of butter in a frying pan until it foams. Add in the onions and a pinch of salt and cook on a medium heat. Stir occasionally until the onions are soft. Once cool stir in the cheese and set aside.

Step three

Line a baking tray with baking paper. On a floured surface roll out the pastry into a large rectangle around 3mm thick. Cut into small rectangles then divide the filling between them. Squash the filling into a sausage shape on one side of each rectangle, leaving 5cm at each end.

Step four

Glaze the exposed pastry with some egg then fold the short sides of the rectangles and roll the empty part of the pastry over the filling. Press the edge to seal and use the ends of a fork to crimp. Repeat with each rectangle. Move to prepared baking tray and chill in fridge for 20 minutes.

Step five

Preheat oven to 180C fan/200C. Remove rolls from fridge and brush over with rest of the egg. Bake on top shelf for around 40 minutes or until deeply golden brown. Serve hot or cold with any sauce you like.

Butterfly cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 260g butter, softened
• 110g caster sugar
• 110g self-raising flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp milk, plus 2 tbsp if needed for buttercream
• Strawberry jam (optional)
• 300g icing sugar
• 1-2tsp food colouring gel (optional)

Step one

Preheat oven to 160C fan/ 180C. Line a cupcake tin with cases. Prepare the sponge by tipping 110g of the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder and milk into a large mixing bowl. Beat with a whisk until smooth and combined.

Step two

Divide the mixture between the cases and bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. Place a skewer in centre of each cupcake to check if baked, wait until skewer comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack.  

Step three

Make the buttercream while cakes are cooling. Beat the icing sugar and 150g of the butter until pale and fluffy. Add in the food colouring gel to make them colourful. Mix in some milk if the icing feels stiff.

Step four

Once the cakes are cool, slice off the tops or cut a circle out the top with a sharp knife then cut them in half lengthwise. Spread the buttercream on top of the cakes then gently push each sliced top into it. Do this at an angle to look like butterfly wings. Add a spoonful of jam if you want.

Raspberry blondies

Ingredients:

• 150g raspberries
• 200g light brown soft sugar
• 225g butter, plus extra for tin
• 100g caster sugar
• 200g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 125g milk chocolate, chopped
• 125g white chocolate, chopped

Step one

Tip the majority of raspberries into a saucepan along with 1 tsp brown sugar and 2 tsp water. Cook over a medium heat until they have broken down. Remove from heat and let cool.

Step two

Melt the butter in another pan over a medium heat. Add in both the sugars and cook until bubbling and sugars have dissolved. Remove from heat and leave to cool for around 10 minutes.

Step three

Combine the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Grease a tin with butter and line with baking paper. Preheat oven to 160C fan/180C.

Step four

Pour the wet ingredients (including raspberry jam) into the dry and add eggs and vanilla extract. Mix well until all the flour has gone. Fold in both of the chocolate chunks and transfer the mixture to the tin and level with a spatula.

Step five

Place the reserved handful of raspberries on top and bake for 40-45 minutes until set with a slight gooey centre.

Let cool in tin then cut into squares and serve with your afternoon tea!

Sandwiches

Create an array of different sandwiches for everyone to enjoy. Use different meats such as ham, chicken or tuna and even make your own spreads such as tuna mayonnaise, cheese and onion or egg, bacon and mayonnaise.

Be as creative as you like with the sandwiches for example, you could cut them into circles using a cookie cutter, or you could try and make different fillers you haven’t tried before. Cut into small pieces however you like, we have done triangles, and place onto a cake stand ready to serve!

So go on, have a go at creating a jam-packed and delicious afternoon tea. Get children involved to help you create some of the recipes and sandwiches. They will have plenty of fun baking and will enjoy the treats even more since they helped. Use these recipes as inspiration and twist them to your liking. You could even add some of your favourite summer baking recipes if you want!

Want some more summer baking inspiration? Check out our summer recipe: baked blueberry cheesecake blog!