Make Your Own Wimbledon Cream Tea

What do you need for a Wimbledon cream tea?

Did you know there's a difference between a cream tea and a ‘Wimbledon cream tea’? It's actually our most popular option and is slightly different to what most understand a cream tea to be, which is just a scone, clotted cream, jam, and a cup of tea.

For a Wimbledon cream tea you'll need to add cucumber sandwiches and strawberries and cream.

The famous south-London Wimbledon tennis tournament has taken place since 1877. These days it’s watched all over the world and lasts two weeks, starting at the beginning of July.

Our ‘Wimbledon Cream Tea’ is also a symbolic reference to the middle-class decadence of a summer in SW19, the wealthy and popular area on the edge of London. It's known for its fictional Wombles and the tennis club where strawberries and cream have become as much a part of the tournament as the sport itself. Cream teas were served to wealthy Victorians who used to play tennis in their ‘backyard’ during breaks.

We're well known for our scones because we like to make the scone experience extra special.

The Wimbledon Cream Tea:

Cucumber sandwiches come first

Wimbledon cucumber sandwiches are made with one slice of brown and one slice of white bread, salted butter, thinly sliced cucumber, salt and pepper. Cucumber is thirst-quenching during hot weather.

I’ve got cucumbers growing in the garden at the moment. They have spiky thick skins that need to be peeled: thin-skinned varieties are grown in hotter climates or in glass cloches.

We sandwich our cucumber between two buttered slices of bread, and, if Mike is in charge, they're cut into small triangles or bite-sized rectangles if I’m in charge! Mike is partial to a triangular sandwich, a memory from his childhood and those mid-meeting platters that break the monotony of City business meetings. I prefer bite-sized rectangles because I feel you get more sandwich and less crust - and they look more uniform on the plate.

Strawberries and cream

Strawberries are in season during July and are a low-sugar fruit that's also absolutely blinking delicious! We always include strawberries with our Wimbledon Cream Tea. At the tournament, strawberries are served with thick whipped cream. There is no better taste.

Scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream

Add a large scone (plain or fruit), warmed and served with a pot of clotted cream, and a pot of strawberry jam, and your Wimbledon cream tea is almost complete.

Scones are considered a ‘quick bread’ but should definitely not be overhandled or kneaded like bread. In the 1850s in the west country the Victorians started to serve scones rather than bread with cream and jam: they're now hugely popular in tea rooms around Britain.

A perfect scone should be crisp on the outside and soft and crumbly on the inside. If anyone serves you a cold scone, refuse to eat it and contact the authorities immediately! Consume this gorgeous tea after a vigorous game of tennis or an especially exhausting shopping trip.

How do you pronounce 'scone'?

For your information, in Wimbledon, scone is usually pronounced with an ‘oh’ as in ‘stone’. We at Mel's Marvellous Cakes pronounce it with an ‘o’ as in ‘gone’. Don’t worry though, we will still understand you whichever way you decide to pronounce it.

Eating your scones in the traditional way

To add yet more complexity to the scone debate, I know that most of you cut your scones in half before spreading the cream and jam. However, did you know that traditionally a scone is eaten by breaking off small pieces and spreading a small amount of cream and jam on them as you go? It’s a much neater way of eating and means that a full mouth doesn’t restrict the conversation or cover the blue caravan in scone crumbs!

Loose-leaf tea with your Mel's Marvellous Cakes' Wimbledon Cream Tea

Our Wimbledon Cream Teas are accompanied by a pot of loose-leaf English Breakfast tea, or Earl Grey tea if it’s the afternoon. Loose-leaf tea has more flavour than a teabag and the oils in the tea leaves can be delicious and refreshing in the hot weather. The oils in a robustly flavoured loose-leaf tea are essential palette cleansers for a rich meal such as a cream tea.

Some people have sorbets in between the courses of a rich meal and for a cream tea, the loose leaf tea cleanses the palette of the oily clotted cream – it's delicious but also very filling!

We can, of course, offer other teas according to your preferences and we can help you make the right choices.

Let us make your perfect Wimbledon Cream Tea

All this talk of cream tea is so comforting for me as it represents magical stories, adventures, and childhood visits to grandparents.

If you have had tea with us, you will know how carefully we curate the experience. I hope these ideas have been helpful and you see that cream tea is not only the perfect way to refresh your appetite but also to gather with friends and colleagues in a pleasant garden-party setting.

For enquiries about planning your own gathering, please get in touch.

We can cater your afternoon- tea party at your home or party venue, or we can deliver it as a special treat. We are based in Woking, Surrey and deliver to the surrounding areas. Whether we cater or deliver your afternoon tea, you'll get the whole vintage experience with crockery included - and we do all the washing up!