Today we are going to introduce you to a quintessentially English recipe from our finger food collection, our soft and delicate finger sandwiches. Back when websites and food blogs didn’t exist, cookery programmes weren’t on every channel, and gourmet food was unheard of, our friends the finger sandwiches were about, and how! Then as now these dainty little morsels have ceaselessly impressed and tickled the taste buds. Needless to say it was during Victoria’s reign that these exquisite little sandwiches reached their pinnacle.

Drift with your imagination to a warm sitting room in Victorian England: four young young ladies sitting round a beautiful lace covered table laden with pastries, scones and tiny sandwiches. Rosy cheeks, excitement, fashionably cinched waists, full skirts, intricate bonnets and wafer thin porcelain; the girls are gathered to enjoy Afternoon Tea and the latest gossip, and what better way to spend an afternoon amongst friend!

Babingtons finger food recipe

What if we were to tell you the you can experience this Victorian atmosphere at Babingtons? That you can savour our delicate finger sandwiches right here in Italy’s oldest Tearooms, at any time of day? This archetypal English fare is truly perfect for every occasion, whether it be a snack, a light lunch or tiffin, or for a more substantial High Tea. Let’s take a closer look at our finger sandwiches.

Served on either soft, white or brown bread, our dishes include the four ‘essential’ teatime finger sandwiches. Let’s kick off with a classic, the irreplaceable wild Scottish smoked salmon sandwich, nothing says High Tea quite like these. Or you could go with our oh-so-English healthy and refreshing cucumber sandwich. Perhaps the slightly more substantial chicken sandwich will tickle your fancy. Or maybe you feel adventurous and you’d like to try our egg and poppyseed sandwiches. Whichever one of these speaks to your heart it is important to remember that the secret of a truly genuine finger sandwich is in the butter! It absolutely has to be salted! And with that you have the perfect Babingtons finger sandwich.

Chiara’s Tip

These light, colourful and so very more-ish little treasures would have us eating them and eating them! Their filling marrying so beautifully with the bread that they literally melt in your mouth. A veritably delectable dish eaten either alone or with a cup of tea. But which tea? Chiara Bedini, a descendant of our founder Isabel Cargill and co-owner of Babingtons Tearooms has no doubts, it has to be Babingtons Afternoon Blend!

A light and smokey tea, we have blended Darjeeling and Lapsang Souchong to give us a delicious cup full of flavour.

All that is left for us to do is to invite you to try this extraordinary combination at none other than the oldest Tearooms in Italy, well it has to be Babingtons of course! Founded in 1893.