Tea Sandwiches with Herb Butter: A Summer Treat

Do tea sandwiches really only belong  to towering trays that may or may not include English scones with jam and cream, slices of at least two kinds of cake (sponge, and fruit), and cups of steaming-hot black tea, to be served at the stroke of four o’clock in the afternoon? And followed by dinner a few hours later? Or could tea sandwiches in fact be dinner? Or lunch? Or very fine picnic fare? And what is the difference between tea sandwiches and ordinary sandwiches, anyway? So many questions.

Here are recipes for two easy, summery tea sandwiches with a herb and goat cheese butter that will make you want to reach for another, and another.

Tea sandwiches are dainty. They are made with soft bread. They have shed their crusts. Their fillings are luscious rather than sturdy and architectural (no lofty BLT’s, here). They are lightweight yet indulgent, and they require only one hand to guide them to their destination.

First, the bread. Sandwich loaves, with their right angles, make the neatest sandwiches. My favorite bread for tea sandwiches is criminally soft: an enriched milk bread like Japanese shokupan. It is a process to bake at home, but the result is decadently good. If you’d like to bake shokupan at home, you can’t go wrong with the recipe and method by Namiko Hirosawa Chen (author of Just One Cookbook). To bake the bread, you’ll need to order special Pullman bread pans, which have lids.

But you do not have to bake your own bread. When I don’t have time to bake, I visit a Chinese-owned Brooklyn bakery chain called Lily Bloom whose enriched (butter, milk) “toast bread” has the tender crumb that is perfect for airy tea sandwiches.

And if you can buy any type of Pullman loaf, you are in luck. Sliced thinly enough, even a sourdough Pullman will make a good sandwich.

Finally, there is another option (and I say this in a guilty but defiant whisper): Wonder bread. If there ever was a time to throw caution to the wind, here it is. Grab a squooshy loaf and get to work. Good for you it is not. Does it make a delightful tea sandwich? It does.

Creating a herb butter for tea sandwiches is quick and makes the most of the soft herbs of summer. In this particular compound butter I have combined two basils (Greek and Thai), with mint, cilantro, and shiso. You could also use chives, parsley, and tarragon (go easy on the anise-flavored tarragon). The herb butter can be made in advance and chilled—just bring it to spreadable temperature about 30 to 40 minutes before you prepare the sandwiches.

Another easy spread that is extremely effective on these inhalable sandwiches is anchovy butter: mashed-up, oil-preserved anchovy fillets puréed with butter (about six fillets to one stick of butter). That’s it.

For summer sandwiches my go-to fillers are usually seasonal vegetables: Snap peas add deliciously sweet crunch, while nothing is more classic than cucumber, first salted lightly to draw out some moisture, then patted dry. Cooked or pickled beet slices make pretty pink sandwiches. Other options include chopped, cooked shrimp (or crab meat) tossed in mayonnaise, smoked salmon with lemon juice and black pepper, or paper-thin ham with mustard.

Once the sandwiches are made they should be kept covered. Leaving them out at room temperature will encourage dry edges—the death, in short, of a successful tea sandwich.

Herb and Goat Cheese Butter for Tea Sandwiches

Makes 1 cup

This compound butter is very versatile and you might also like it spread over hot, roast corn, or as a dip for raw vegetables. The teaspoon of onion is a sneak ingredient that makes a world of difference. (But no need to add it if you are using chives.)

• 4 oz unsalted butter
• 4 oz fresh goat cheese (“chevre”)
• 1 packed cup mixed soft herbs (like basil, mint, chives, cilantro, shiso, etc.), finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon microplaned or grated onion
• Large pinch of salt

Take the butter out of the fridge 20 minutes before you need it, to take some of the chill off. Cut the butter into slices and place them in a food processor along with the goat cheese, herbs, onion and salt. Pulse until the mixture is very smooth. Spoon out into a bowl and either chill for later use, or use at once.

Tea Sandwiches with Cucumbers and Snap Peas

Makes 24 tea sandwich portions (6 sandwiches cut into 24 quarters)

The sandwiches can be made up to a day in advance, and should be kept covered and chilled until needed. Salting cucumbers is good way to make the sandwiches ahead of time without them going soggy. (If you are serving them at once there is no need.) The crucial question, though, is when to cut off their crusts: Before filling, or after filling? I have tried both, and after is the winner: the filling goes all the way to the edge. Wipe your knife inbetween cuts, to keep the edges clean.

• 2 cups chopped or sliced Persian cucumber
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup herb and goat cheese butter (see recipe above)
• 12 slices sandwich bread
• 1 cup snap peas
• Salt, for sprinkling
• Freshly ground black pepper

Toss the cucumber with the salt in a bowl and set aside for 10 minutes. Rinse well in a strainer under running water then tip the cucumber onto a clean dish towel. Roll up to absorb excess moisture, and return the cucumbers to the bowl (they will have lost a lot of volume).

On a clean surface lay out your bread slices, pairing neighboring slices so they fit perfectly when the sandwich is closed. Spread the butter liberally over each slice, all the way to the edges.

For the cucumber sandwiches, lay a generous layer of cucumber on 3 slices of bread. For the pea sandwiches, lay peas end to end on 3 slices, all the way to the edges. It’s fine if they stick out a little. Season well with freshly-ground black pepper and sprinkle a fine layer of salt across the top—seasoning makes all the difference.

Close the sandwiches, pressing firmly. Using a sharp, serrated bread knife, cut the crusts* off, wiping the blade on a damp cloth between cuts. Now carefully cut each sandwich from corner to corner, twice, creating those quintessential tea sandwich quarters.

To serve, arrange the quarters on their longest side, face up. Garnish with more fresh herbs, or with edible flower petals.

* Leftover crusts can be dried for crumbs, deployed in a tomato and bread salad, or added to a cold, raw soup like gazpacho or ajo blanco, for thickening.