It seems impossible to have an English tea party or any tea party for that matter without having cucumber sandwiches. I have had cucumber sandwiches so many different ways, and have loved most of them.
This is a no frills recipe, and I love it. It is the recipe for the Basic Butter Spread (from Colin Cowie’s blog) that elevates these sandwiches to be the best cucumber sandwiches I’ve ever made. The spread makes the sandwich. It has so much flavor with the lemon, salt and pepper. Don’t be afraid to use this as a spread on many different sandwiches. It is good and basic.
The sandwiches can be decorated many different ways. Be sure to use the English cucumbers. They are the long skinny shrink wrapped ones. They have fewer seeds, and a great flavor. Choose your favorite bread. These were made with a loaf of sliced sourdough bread. Make the sandwiches any shape you choose. They can be open faced or topped with another piece of bread. Peel or don’t peel the cucumbers, or you can score them with a fork. Just be sure to drain the sliced cucumbers well on paper towels before adding them to the sandwiches. Soggy sandwiches are NOT good! Top them with tomatoes, sprigs of dill, sprouts, etc. For the Royal Tea, the cucumber sandwiches were made open faced with sliced cherry tomatoes for garnish. The red tomatoes added a pop of color, and was also another layer of flavor.
Basic Butter Spread
By Published: March 25, 2012
- Yield: 1 1/2 cups (24 Servings)
- Prep: 5 mins
Cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, salt and pepper make an easy and delicious sandwich spread.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 juice of lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium bowl blend together all ingredients. FYI- I like a good amount of pepper in my spread.