Air Fryer Afternoon Tea

Featured in our air fryer cookbook Air Fryer Easy Everyday, this air fryer afternoon tea is perfect for mixing and matching recipes to create afternoon tea at home.

Combining a mixture of sandwiches, sweet treats and savoury treats and plenty of extra afternoon tea ideas, you will love this for making at home.

Afternoon Tea Using The Air Fryer

You’re probably wondering where the idea came from to make an afternoon tea using an air fryer.

Well, we were close to submitting all the recipes for Air Fryer Easy Everyday, and the hubbys best friend popped around with some scones and some other sweet treats. I looked at it all and thought to myself that all of the treats he had baked, could be done in the air fryer and made into a fun home version of afternoon tea.

I was straight in touch with my publisher asking her for a change to the recipes.

She said yes and obviously deserved a medal as I did make a lot of last-minute changes to make Air Fryer Easy Everyday even better for you.

The next discussion was where we would put our afternoon tea recipe, after all a lot of it was going to be a round up of recipes from the book that could be included in your afternoon tea.

We chose for it to become the last recipe of the cookbook at the end of the baking chapter, and it looks truly beautiful.

Then we spent a full day in the studio as the food stylist prepped and made the afternoon tea. Then the kids sat in the studio for an hour and sampled the great work.

Today, I will be sharing with you some simple ideas for making your own afternoon tea at home in the air fryer. With a mix of sweet and savoury delights, there is something for everyone.

What To Have For Afternoon Tea?

A traditional afternoon tea will have cups of tea to drink, along with sandwiches, scones and a mixture of sweet and savoury treats. Some afternoon tea establishments will give you the choice to be team savoury and avoid the cakes for more savoury favourites.

Quick Ideas For Afternoon Tea At Home

When I was putting together a to do list for afternoon tea for the cookbook my first thought was:

• Must make fruit scones
• Must have finger sandwiches
• Must have a cake
• Must have sausage rolls
• Must have some more savoury and sweet

And from this its easy to mix and match ideas as we all like different things for afternoon tea.

Firstly, we decided on our air fryer fruit scones. These were going to be covered with cream and jam for the photographs in the book.

Secondly, came the sandwiches. As we had a few different roasted meats in the cookbook, they could become our sandwiches. But you can stick to sandwiches you love such as using our air fryer hard boiled eggs recipe to make egg mayonnaise sandwiches.

Cake is the best and to give some colour to our afternoon tea we went with our air fryer sprinkle cake. Though you can do any such as our air fryer victoria sandwich which is also in our first cookbook The Complete Air Fryer Cookbook.

Thinking of the savoury we added air fryer sausage rolls and our air fryer impossible quiche.

For extra sweet treats we then added air fryer shortbread along with some of our favourite air fryer raspberry muffins (also works well with raspberries or blueberries).

It was then served up with some tea and that was our afternoon tea for the cookbook.

Behind The Scenes Of Our Air Fryer Afternoon Tea

Though of course, I wanted to take you behind the scenes back to February 2024 when we were in the studio photographing the afternoon tea.

School Was Out!

Then after starting early, the afternoon tea, including individual photos for recipes in the cookbook, were done just before 4pm.

We brought Sofia and Jorge to the studio to sample the afternoon tea and they were well impressed.

Though of course, for us the best benefit of the afternoon tea photoshoot is how much of it, we could bring home with us.

So, this is what we did for the photoshoot and a glimpse behind the scenes of Air Fryer Easy Everyday, but what could you achieve yourself at home with your air fryer?

The Afternoon Tea Stand

I know the first question will always be about getting an afternoon tea stand, if you are going to be making your own at home.

Firstly, the one in the studio was sourced by the prop stylist Faye and wasn’t my own. It was on hire, so it had to be returned.

But a couple of weeks later, I was at an art and crafts fair and found this beautiful one for just £7, then a month later at a car boot I found the matching cups and saucers for just 50p each. So you don’t have to spend a lot and aren’t they cute?

Now let me talk you through some air fryer afternoon tea recipes……

Making Scones In Air Fryer

This is your own afternoon tea at home, and you can of course go sweet or savoury with your scones.

Either opt for our air fryer fruit scones or our regular air fryer scones if you hate raisins.

Remember, though if you are making afternoon tea for two, to 1/3 the mixture so that you are making two scones not six.

Afternoon Tea Finger Sandwiches

Who doesn’t love afternoon tea finger sandwiches. But the fillings is all about personal choice.

Here are a few afternoon tea sandwich fillings:

Roast beef – using our air fryer rotisserie beef, or you can cook some sirloin steak and make the best ever air fryer steak sandwiches.

Gammon/ham – of course steak sandwiches can be expensive and the cheap alternative (we did this when recording some videos) is to use some air fryer gammon steaks and then slice ready for sandwiches.

Coronation chicken – I’ve become hooked on this. I made some air fryer frozen chicken breast using our curry yoghurt marinade from our air fryer chicken marinades, then added extra mayonnaise, curry powder and raisins and they were so creamy and yummy.

Tuna melt – I also love to make a tuna melt and the ingredients that I add to a tuna melt, but into a tuna afternoon tea sandwich.

Of course you can mix, and match but these are some easy ideas you can do ahead of time. Plus, you can make these sandwiches the day before to save on time.

Savoury Afternoon Tea Ideas

Next let’s talk savoury afternoon tea. If you plan on just making a sweet version then you can skip this step, but there are some amazing things you can make.

Again, like with the afternoon tea sandwiches there is so much you can do ahead of time and here are a few of my savoury afternoon tea recipes:

Air Fryer Impossible Quiche – I just feel like quiche belongs in an afternoon tea. Like it’s the starting point of sweet treats. Well this is one of the easiest recipes and you don’t even make a pastry.

Air Fryer Homemade Sausage Rolls – These are so yummy and you can make a few bigger ones and then chop them up to make some delicious party sausage rolls.

Air Fryer Scotch Eggs – At many places that we have been out for afternoon tea to, has included some scotch eggs. They are so easy to make in the air fryer and you can make extra to save for another day.

Air Fryer Cheese Flan – this is a good plan B to a cheese quiche and includes the pastry first and then a cheese filling.

Air Fryer Egg & Bacon Pie – My grandma often made this when I was growing up and its so yummy. You can make your own, save some slices for your afternoon tea and then you have some more for another day.

Afternoon Tea Mini Cake Ideas

After scones, sandwiches and savoury treats, then next part is to talk about afternoon tea mini cakes.

You can make them mini or make a full-sized cake and then chop it into chunks like we do. You can also make muffins too as they also small and cute for an afternoon tea.

Here are some mini cakes for high tea ideas:

Air Fryer Victoria Sandwich – The most famous and perfect for making a small version for afternoon tea.

Air Fryer Carrot Cake – I have lost count the number of times I have gone out for afternoon tea and there has been some yummy carrot cake. This also appeared in our first book The Complete Air Fryer Cookbook.

Air Fryer Easter Cake – Like the carrot cake, its nice to make something seasonal and that is why easter cakes are also fun and delicious.

Air Fryer Chocolate Cake – You can also make a basic chocolate cake via the air fryer and then decorate it however you like and cut it into squares.

Air Fryer Sprinkle Cake – The sprinkle cake we used for the 2^nd cookbook and perfect for serving. What is brilliant is that you can change the icing colour to match the season.

Air Fryer Lemon Drizzle Cake – This is perfect for when you fancy a different type of cake for the afternoon tea and you can make it into muffins too.

Beyond cakes for afternoon tea here are a few more sweet treat ideas:

Air Fryer Butterfly Buns – There is something cute about butterfly buns and how good they look in an afternoon tea and yes you can make them in the air fryer.

Air Fryer Cupcakes – Or you can make cupcakes in the air fryer and with these, you can mix and match buttercream to make them stand out or make them seasonal.

Air Fryer Strawberry Muffins – featured in our air fryer afternoon tea and perfect for adding to your afternoon tea. Works well with blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries.

Air Fryer Lemon Slices – Inspired by my love for Mr Kipling these are brilliant because they are the perfect size and then you can half them again for an ideal afternoon tea size.

Air Fryer Flapjacks – I love flapjacks and they are brilliant in the air fryer and easy to chop into cute pieces. You can also keep them basic or cover them in melted chocolate.

Air Fryer Shortbread – Then last but not least is the shortbread. In our afternoon tea menu and perfect for in shapes or for adding extra in ingredients to, such as making a chocolate version.

Of course, we don’t expect you to add all the mini desserts for afternoon tea, but it will give you some ideas.

For a general rule aim to do scones, sandwiches, 2 savoury items and 2 sweet items. Then 1 extra item of either sweet or savoury to finish your set.

As Featured In Air Fryer Easy Everyday

When we were making our second air fryer cookbook (late 2023) we decided that we had to do an air fryer afternoon tea. Highlighting the great recipes from the cookbook and bringing it together in a traditional afternoon tea way.

Perfect for an afternoon tea at home or picnic afternoon tea. To get in on the act don’t forget to order a copy of Air Fryer Easy Everyday below. 

Can’t make it now? Then save it for later!