Making Cucumber Finger Sandwiches

The cucumber sandwich is the quintessential tea time finger sandwich for anyone who enjoys afternoon tea. Making cucumber finger sandwiches is easy and just as fun but let’s first talk about the classic basic cucumber finger sandwich.

The first course in an afternoon tea is known as the savories and one of the keystone sandwiches is a simple cucumber sandwich. Though cucumbers have been around for centuries, the use of them in sandwiches first started with the advent of afternoon tea in the 1800’s. Serving a light meal in between breakfast and dinner, afternoon tea gave royalty and upper class the sustenance to maintain until the evening meal. Composed of small items, finger sandwiches and in particular cucumber sandwiches were a frequent and now expected item for the menu.

Basic Cucumber Finger Sandwich

The basic cucumber sandwich is a very simple sandwich of thinly sliced cucumbers on thinly sliced and lightly buttered bread. The bread can be your choice, but the classic sandwich is usually white bread. the crusts are removed and the sandwich cut into three small finger sandwiches.

Basic ingredients are white bread – I like to use a firm but not rustic bread. Pepperidge Farms has a nice sliced loaf that is fairly dense. You can sometimes find it in the thin slices. Butter and an English Cucumber. If you are using unsalted butter, then you can add a little touch of salt to the sandwich. Don’t peel or seed the cucumber – you want the vibrant color to come through.

Prepare your cucumbers. You want thin slices. I like to use my mandoline on the lowest setting but you can use a sharp knife as well.

Lightly butter one side of the bread. Make sure your butter is room temperature. Then layer the thinly sliced cucumber slices on the bread. Add a light dash of salt and top with a second light buttered slice of bread.

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Cut the crusts off the sandwich and then slice the sandwich into three finger-sized portions. Use a serrated knife. You are now ready to enjoy your cucumber tea sandwiches.

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Variations On A Theme

But wait…..there are endless variations on this theme. You can switch out the butter for cream cheese, add dill or other seasonings, try different breads and even alter the shape to fit the occasion. Literally endless variations on the fugue, only limited by your imagination.

Here’s a basic cream cheese version along with some of my favorite variations on the cucumber tea sandwich.

Cream Cheese Filling Variation

Use one 8 ounce package of cream cheese at room temperature.

Take your cucumber and cut it in half. Use one half of the cucumber for your slices. The other half for the cream cheese mixture.

You will want to seed the cucumber before adding to the cream cheese. Cucumbers have a high water content and it will make your cream cheese spread too watery. Seeding a cucumber is very easy. Slice the length of the cucumber and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.

Chop up the cucumber and add the dill and cream cheese to a food processor. Blend till mostly smooth – I like a little chunkiness to it.

Its that simple. Refrigerate this mixture until ready to use. When ready, just spread on your bread like you would the butter and then embellish as desired.

Serving and Enjoying

These sandwiches can be made several hours ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. I will lightly dampen a paper towel and lay it on the bottom of my plastic container. Then lay the sandwiches in a single layer. Cover with another damp paper towel. The sandwiches will stay fresh and not dry out until its time for service.

Serve your sandwiches along side your other savories and enjoy!

Some Fun Ideas To Try

I have used different breads – classic white bread with a dense texture, pumpernickel, gluten free bread and even raisin bread.

Using my cookie cutters, I have made mushroom shaped with a tomato lady bug for the Midsummer Night’s Tea . For Christmas, I took a Christmas tree cookie cutter and embellished with fresh dill.

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A garden tea I used a square theme with cucumber, dill and radishes. A delicious fresh taste. And of course for that Valentine’s Tea, a heart shaped cookie cutter with a tomato rose on top.

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Making cucumber finger sandwiches is easy and fun and will make your afternoon tea a very special time. Have fun and enjoy!