AuthorSarah D.The cucumber sandwich is the quintessential tea sandwich. It is the first one to come to mind when speaking of tea sandwiches.
The cucumber sandwich is the quintessential tea sandwich. It is the first one to come to mind when speaking of tea sandwiches.
These delightful mini sandwiches are very easy to make. They're super refreshing and they present well. Use them when entertaining guests, or for your own pleasure.
They're an adorable cooling treat that goes well with afternoon tea, or at a birthday party, or a baby shower, or a house warming party, or just relaxing with friends.
What's so great about them is that they are incredibly fresh and simple - and also simple to eat since they are intentionally made to not be messy. A perfect finger food by design.
You won't have to worry about spilling them on your nice clothes, and they're simple to eat while having a conversation.
I hope you enjoy this delightful cucumber sandwich recipe below.
This recipe is for 12 tea sandwiches.
Ingredients
- 6 slices of fresh white bread*
- 1 large cucumber, peeled
- 6 Tbsp cream cheese, or Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese for the vegetarian version
- fresh salt & pepper
- 1/2 fresh lemon
*You may use wheat bread or another bread of your choice if you like, but be sure that it's soft and delicate.
Directions
Slice your peeled cucumber into paper-thin slices. I like to do round slices, which is easy if you have an extremely sharp knife. But another option is to use a vegetable peeler and shave long slices off of the cucumber instead.
Then I like to place the cucumber in a strainer, or on some paper towel, while I prepare the bread, just to be sure they aren't too wet for the sandwiches.
Spread the cream cheese on each slice of bread.* It is important to thoroughly cover the bread with the cream cheese because it keeps the cucumber's high moisture content from making the bread soggy.
Put a thin layer of cucumber on the bread. (If you are going to make the sandwiches “closed,” you may double-up on the cucumber if you like.)
Lightly salt and pepper them and give them a spritz of fresh lemon juice.
Close the three sandwiches, or don’t if you want to serve them open-faced. Cleanly trim off the crusts.
Slice the bread into bite size pieces; you can cut them into 4 squares, 4 triangles, 3 long strips, or even use cookie cutters to make them into shapes - now they are finger sandwiches!
Garnish with fresh mint and/or lemon wedges.
*A variation is to use fresh dill or mint, chopped finely, mixed into the cream cheese before adding it to the bread.
