Vegan Tea Party

If you follow my blog or social media you will no doubt already know how much I enjoy a nice afternoon tea. This was something I was really worried about having to give up when going vegan but in the last year I have visited a few establishments who all offer vegan and dairy free afternoon teas including Sketch, The Savoy and The Little Hallingbury Mill.

Last weekend I had a few friends over for lunch and I decided that I would host my very own vegan tea party in the comfort of my own home. I already own a few vintage tea sets which don't get as much use as I would like so this was the perfect excuse to dust off the china and come up with my own perfect afternoon tea menu.

In my mind I was planning a whole series of baked treats but in reality I didn't end up having the time or energy to make many things from scratch. I always have to be in the mood to bake and if I force myself to do it when my heart isn't in it things are bound to go wrong. So I decided on the next best option which was a whole host of accidentally vegan treats.

If you don't already follow Accidentally Vegan UK on Instagram then you really need to as they are the ultimate guide to vegan convenience food and where I got most of my ideas for my tea party from. They also reminded me that the Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix is an excellent accidentally vegan product and an incredibly quick and easy way of making cakes. Until now I was yet to try the infamous method of replacing the dairy with a can of diet coke but I gave it a go and it works! To make things even easier the Betty Crocker chocolate butter cream icing is also vegan friendly so it ended up taking me half an hour to knock up 25 cupcakes using these products.

I was also very lucky in that my guests bought along some of their own vegan friendly treats with them so there was more than enough to choose from. This is also a really nice idea to suggest to your guests as it takes some of the pressure off from you and gives others the chance to try their hand at vegan baking and cooking. Or in some cases vegan shopping!

I really wanted to share my vegan afternoon tea menu with you all as I know from experience that it can be a challenge catering for others whilst also wanting to show off the ease and enjoyment of being vegan. So here it is!

Sarah's Vegan Tea Party Menu

A selection of finger sandwiches inc.

Peanut butter & jelly

Traditional cucumber

Hummus, red pepper & falafel

Stuffing, cranberry. mayo & lettuce

A savoury selection of...

Linda McCartney vegan sausage rolls

Pesto vol au vents

Toasted pitta breads & guacamole

Carrot & cucmber sticks with hummus dip

Tortilla chips

Cakes...

Betty Crocker chocolate cupcakes

Chocolate brownies 

Lemon drizzle cake 

Sweet treats... 

Party ring biscuits

Mr Kipling jam tarts 

Pink Panther wafer biscuits 

Sainsbury's mint chocolate thins 

Dark chocolate covered strawberries

All served with a pot of English breakfast & earl grey tea with soya milk

I was so pleased with how everything turned out and how straight forward it was to host a vegan afternoon tea party of my own. All of the food went down a storm with both the vegans and the carnivores which was great to see and it was the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon with friends.