How long do you leave your Christmas decorations up? I always like to leave mine up past New Year’s anyway, but this year in particular I think we need as much cheer as we can get, so we may not take everything down until mid-January. If you’re still in a celebratory mood, but don’t want to leave your house, may I suggest a Christmas tea at home?
The gingerbread scones I posted the other day are a perfect starting point, though you could do a cranberry-pecan scone instead, if you prefer, or try these delightful-looking cinnamon sugar scones.
Cucumber Christmas tree sandwiches are a must, even if you’re not big on cucumber. Then, depending on what you have in your fridge, a turkey and cranberry or ham and cheese tea sandwich would be lovely.
My first Christmas tea at home was also a birthday party, so I decided to make a Japanese Christmas cake. We saw these everywhere in Okinawa and planned to get one last year, but we waited too long. Unlike the heavy British Christmas cakes you may be used to, Japanese Christmas cake is light and airy, because it’s basically strawberry shortcake.
The actual tea is a pretty integral part, of course, so I picked up some Christmas tea from Mount Vernon and ordered some other Christmas tea online. Both were delicious.
Add in some Christmas cookies or other sweets you have laying around, pour some champagne into your fanciest glasses, and pull out something festive to wear. Be sure to comment below or tag me on social media if you do your own Christmas tea at home!
Christmas tea menu
Gingerbread scones with whipped cream
Turkey and cranberry tea sandwiches
I used a small round biscuit cutter to cut the bread and turkey into circles, then stacked them up. Good with rye bread or with white bread.
Cucumber Christmas tree sandwiches
Cut the bread with a cookie cutter, then spread softened cream cheese (mixed with a little bit of fresh dill) on the bread, and top with sliced English cucumber.
Mini apple pies
I used this recipe, but halved it, and it still made more than six mini pies worth of filling (probably 8 mini pies). I would suggest using orange juice instead of lemon, and adding another tablespoon or two of brown sugar. Otherwise it may be too tart. You should also taste the filling before you put it in the crusts so you can add more sugar if necessary. I made the filling the night before so everything would go faster the day of the tea.
Christmas cookies
Use what you have, or bake up some new ones! I’m going to update my sugar cookie recipe on the blog, because those are always a great option. Also good: Sprinkle cookies, gingerbread cookies, snickerdoodles and jam thumbprints.
Japanese Christmas cake
This is basically strawberry shortcake. I halved this sponge cake recipe and baked it in two 6-inch cake pans, then put slightly sweetened fresh whipped cream and chopped up strawberries between the two layers. I covered the whole thing in more whipped cream and decorated with sliced strawberries.
Other good menu options: Ham and cheese pinwheels, bourbon balls, cranberry pecan scones, cheese puffs, peppermint bark, mini pecan pies, cranberry-upside down cake, or coconut cake (you can use store-bought lemon curd filling to make things a little easier)
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