Making Cucumber Sandwiches for Devonshire Tea

In my last post I wrote about this afternoon's Service of Choral Evensong. The music will be glorious, and if you're in the Rochester area, I hope you'll come. Evensong will be followed by a traditional English High Tea, or Devonshire Tea. Devonshire Tea is more like a meal than a snack, and almost always includes cucumber sandwiches. I just finished making several trays.











Traditional English cucumber sandwiches are made by placing cucumber slices between two pieces of buttered bread. In New Zealand they are made a little differently. A butter and cream cheese spread is used instead of plain butter, and various spices are mixed into the cucumber. Garlic, dill, Italian seasoning, curry, pepper - there are many variants of New Zealand cucumber sandwiches. Here is the recipe I used:

1 (8 oz.) pkg. softened cream cheese
1 stick butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
2 cucumbers, unpeeled & thinly sliced (or 1 long seedless English cucumber)
1 Loaf white hearty sandwich bread

Remove crust from bread with a sharp knife and cut into shapes: triangles, rectangles or squares.
Place cream cheese, butter, garlic powder, salt, pepper and dill in a small bowl; stir to combine, or use an electric mixer. Spread lightly on all bread slices, top one slice with cucumbers and another bread slice.
Cover with foil or plastic wrap until ready to serve.