Simple Recipes for a Seaside Afternoon Tea

The Pleasure of a Seaside Afternoon Tea

There is a particular kind of afternoon that only happens near the coast. The tide turns, the light softens, and everyone drifts back up the lane with sand in their shoes and salt drying on their skin. It is not the moment for a complicated meal. What you want is a pot of tea, something freshly baked, and a plate of sandwiches that tastes of the sea you have just been looking at.

The good news is that a seaside tea is one of the simplest things you can put together. Everything can be made in a small kitchen, most of it in advance, and the whole spread travels well to a garden bench, a beach hut veranda, or a picnic rug on the cliff path. What follows is a practical plan for four people, with a few local touches that make the difference between a nice tea and a memorable one.

Scones, Straight from a Hot Oven

Scones are the heart of the plate, and they are at their best within an hour of leaving the oven. Make them first, then deal with everything else while they cool.

• 350g self-raising flour, plus a little extra for dusting
• 1 tsp baking powder and a good pinch of fine sea salt
• 85g cold butter, cut into cubes
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 175ml whole milk, with a squeeze of lemon stirred through

Heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan, gas 7) and line a baking tray. Rub the butter into the flour, baking powder and salt until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar. Add the milk slowly and bring it together with a knife, finishing with your hands. Work lightly — the less you handle the dough, the higher the scones rise. Pat it out to about 3cm thick, cut straight down with a floured cutter without twisting, and space the rounds well apart. Brush the tops with a little milk and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until risen and golden. Cool on a rack under a clean tea towel, which keeps the crusts soft.

Jam from a Nearby Farm Stall

Half the pleasure of the seaside tea is the shopping. Look for a jar of jam made within twenty miles of where you are sitting: strawberry in June, raspberry in July, blackberry and apple from the hedgerows in September, rhubarb and ginger in the cooler months. A farm stall or a village shop will usually have something better than anything on a supermarket shelf.

If you have picked your own fruit, a quick fridge jam is easy. Simmer 500g prepared fruit with 400g jam sugar and a squeeze of lemon for 12 to 15 minutes, until a little dropped on a cold saucer wrinkles when pushed. Pot it, cool it, and keep it in the fridge for up to three weeks. Warm the jam very slightly before serving — a few seconds in a bowl of hot water loosens it and makes it easier to spoon over a scone.

Crab Sandwiches Worth the Effort

If you are near a fishing harbour, buy dressed crab or a tub of fresh white and brown meat. It is the single best thing you can put between two slices of bread at the seaside.

• 200g white crab meat, checked carefully for shell
• 50g brown crab meat for depth of flavour
• 3 tbsp mayonnaise, plus a little extra for spreading
• Finely grated zest and juice of half a lemon
• A pinch of cayenne pepper, a few snipped chives, and white pepper to taste

Fold the crab meats, mayonnaise, lemon and seasoning together gently, keeping the flakes as whole as you can. Butter slices of thin brown bread or soft white, spread with a little extra mayonnaise, and sandwich together with the crab. Cut off the crusts if you like, then wrap the sandwiches and keep them properly cold in a cool bag until the moment you sit down. Crab does not enjoy a warm afternoon in the sun, so bring them out at the last minute and put any leftovers straight back in the fridge.

A Proper Pot of Tea

Loose leaf tea is worth the small extra fuss outdoors. Warm the pot with hot water, tip that away, then add one rounded teaspoon per person and one for the pot. Pour on freshly boiled water — a brisk Assam or an English breakfast blend stands up well to scones and crab — and brew for three to four minutes before pouring. A second pot of something lighter, such as a Darjeeling or a Ceylon, is a lovely way to finish. If you take milk, add it to the cup first; it is easier to judge the colour that way. For a garden tea, a large teapot under a knitted cosy keeps the second cup as hot as the first.

Laying the Table Outdoors

Cloth, cream and cake all behave differently in a sea breeze, so a little forethought helps. Weight the tablecloth at the corners with stones or pebbles, or use a heavy linen runner instead. Serve clotted cream in a small bowl set inside a larger one of cold water, or keep it in a cool bag until the last moment. Put the jam and cream out with separate spoons, and give everyone their own small plate and knife rather than letting people crowd around one board.

Add a few cucumber sticks or radishes for crunch, a handful of strawberries if they are in season, and a slice of lemon for the tea. Then sit down, look at the water, and let the afternoon take its time. That, more than any recipe, is what a seaside tea is really about.