Go Back
a plain plate of small closed crustless white-bread finger sandwiches cut into long narrow strips approximately three times as long as wide, with thin overlapping pale-green cucumber rounds and a very thin chive-flecked butter layer, without broad square pieces, cream cheese or garnish
Melissa Hart

Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

Salt the cucumber before it goes anywhere near the bread, then blot both sides until the slices stop leaving wet circles on a towel. That small pause matters more than making every finger exactly the same width. Soft chive butter gives the cucumber something to stick to and protects the white bread without burying its clean crunch under cream cheese. I’d cut these close to serving, because the exposed edges dry faster than an uncut sandwich even when the middle is properly protected. A thin, overlapping layer is enough; a double stack of cucumber makes the fingers slide apart as soon as somebody picks one up.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 50 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 12
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 large English cucumber about 14 oz
  • 1/2 tsp fine salt
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter softened
  • 2 tbsp finely snipped chives
  • 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
  • 1/8 tsp white pepper
  • 16 thin slices soft white sandwich bread

Method
 

  1. Slice cucumber into 1/16-inch rounds, toss with salt in a colander and stand for 15 minutes. Spread on clean towels and blot thoroughly on both sides.
  2. Beat butter with chives, lemon zest and white pepper until spreadable. Lay out the bread and spread one face of every slice evenly with the butter.
  3. Arrange cucumber over eight buttered slices in one thin overlapping layer, trimming stray edges rather than folding them into thick spots. Close with the other eight slices, buttered faces inward.
  4. Put the sandwiches in a covered container and refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm the butter slightly. Keep the bread flat without weighting it heavily.
  5. Trim the crusts with a sharp serrated knife and cut each sandwich into three equal fingers, wiping the knife between cuts. Serve 24 fingers, two per serving, or refrigerate covered until serving the same day.