Afternoon Tea

The term ‘Afternoon Tea’ conjures up pictures of Edwardian ladies eating dainty, wafer-thin cucumber sandwiches and bite-sized, melt-in-the-mouth scones, served on delicate floral china in the drawing room.

Even when I was a child (long after the Edwardian era) ‘tea’ was still a meal we had, especially on a Sunday. Then it consisted of bread and butter with tinned tuna and tomatoes, followed by Hales Lime Layer Cake (whatever happened to that) for example.

Now it seems that ‘Afternoon Tea’ is well and truly back on the menu at many Supermarket Cafés, so why not give one a try?

Morrison’s Afternoon Tea – definitely the best value, £2.05 - £2.59, price has varied between branches I have visited lately. For this you get sandwiches filled with cheese/ham/egg or whatever is available, a cream-filled scone or egg custard tart (sometimes 2) and a pot of tea, so great value whatever you pay. I love the fact that sandwiches come with this one – it doubles as a light lunch.

Sainsbury’s Cream Tea, £2.55 - £2.75. Consists of a fruit scone, pot of clotted cream, mini jar of jam and a pot of tea (£2.55) or cup of coffee (£2.75). I seemed to have more cream and jam than I needed, so took the rest of the (yummy Taste The Difference strawberry) jam home, bit tricky to do this with the cream though. Nice this gives you the choice of tea or coffee.

Tesco’s Cream Tea, £3. The poorest value, which is unusual for Tesco.  The standard pot of tea, fruit scone, clotted cream and a pot of jam, which is quite ordinary, but charged at a higher price than the others.

One point that I would like to make about all these teas though  is that they are served with fruit scones, whereas I would prefer a traditional Devon (plain) scone – as would my husband who has a violent dislike of sultanas and currants.

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy