The first time I visited the UK, I was studying abroad through my university’s summer school program. We were in Paris for the majority of the semester, but the last week of school was in London.

Though I did see Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre, the cultural highlights back then were pub crawling, flirting with the guards at Buckingham Palace, and watching punk rockers in the Underground. And the food in the dorm cafeteria was abysmal.

It wasn’t until I went back to London with my husband years later (no longer as a broke-ass college kid) that I got to experience a proper High Tea. For World Geography Wednesday, I decided to recreate this fun English tradition for my kids.

“I thought how unpleasant it is to be locked out; then I thought how it is worse, perhaps, to be locked in.” – Virginia Woolf

Having lived in Scotland (that’s another blog post), my kids already know that England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the UK). I dug out my old map of London, and we studied some new maps as well.

Even before I became an urban fantasy author, the first chapter books I read to my children were The Chronicles of Narnia by English author C. S. Lewis. Aside from being part of the canon for urban fantasy, these books unlocked my imagination as a child and established my ongoing love of fantasy novels. (Shameless plug to check out my books…)

In preparation for our High Tea, we watched the movie The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe based on the second book in the Narnia series. Though they’re set primarily in a magical land, they give a great account of English culture around WWII. We also revisited every British book we have, even the picture books.

Here’s some of what we learned:

You might know that the Englishman John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, invented the sandwich. (He was a gambling addict who asked a servant to bring him some roast beef stuck between two pieces of bread so he could keep playing.)

So, it’s not surprising that the English tend to love cucumber sandwiches, Cornish pasties, sausage rolls, mince pies, or any other variation of handheld breading with filling.

But did you know that the World Wide Web was invented by a British scientist, Tim Berners-Lee? Go figure.

Or that the “English Garden” landscaping trend was actually a revolt against the geometric gardens popularized in France? You won’t find sculpted trees or forced straight lines in any self-respecting English landscape. No, ma’am.

Enough research, it’s time to start cooking!

Drinks and Salad

The foundation of any High Tea is a teapot full of hot brewed tea, plus milk (or cream) and sugar. Full stop.

It can be a Chinese blend (oolong), Indian (chai), or English (Earl Grey) – dealer’s choice. You can use tea bags or loose leaves; green, white, or black. But preferably, it should not be herbal (like chamomile), which doesn’t contain leaves from an actual tea plant. We went with Lady Grey, a strong black tea that smells like bergamot.

The salad was pear, walnut, and blue cheese. It was delicious and a perfect starter for all the breaded things to come.

Handhelds

Cucumber sandwiches are pretty straightforward. But I zhuzhed up mine with “Everything Bagel” seasoning mixed into the cream cheese. You’re welcome.

The scones (which are NOT triangular, as they’re named after the round stone ancient Scottish kings were crowned upon) are from a buttermilk recipe that I adore. But feel free to use canned biscuit dough – your kids won’t mind! Serve them with lots of butter (or clotted cream), jam, and lemon curd.

Foodie Police Disclaimer: If you’ve read my other posts, you know I sometimes simplify international recipes to make these meals more practical. Paul Hollywood (from The Great British Bakeoff) would probably not approve of store-bought dough. But it’s a school night, and we’re all doing our best!

I ended up making my own clotted cream. (I’m not a martyr, but they don’t have fresh clotted cream at my grocery store. Just the flavorless, shelf-stable stuff in a jar.) It was super simple to make. You just pour a pint of heavy cream into a shallow dish, put the dish in your crockpot, pour water outside the dish until it comes halfway up the sides, and let it cook on high for (hear me out) 12 hours. You’ll have to add water every 3-4 hours, but otherwise you leave it alone. DON’T STIR IT. Cover the dish with foil and let it cool in the fridge overnight so it separates. Scrape the clotted (solid) cream off the top, and save the liquid. The liquid is buttermilk, which you need for the scone recipe anyway. Win-win!

The quiche I made was a basic spinach and cheese. Here’s the process, in pictures.

Main Course

For a meaty centerpiece that my kids loved, I made an apple and sausage roll. It’s iconically British, easy to make, savory, and delicious with caramelized onions. The full recipe is below if you’re interested.

Sweets

Normally, sweets are the highlight of a proper High Tea. The dessert stand should be stacked with chocolate bonbons or truffles, petit fours (bite-sized iced cakes), cream puffs, macarons, or biscuits (cookies) of all kinds. Because I was already giving my kids caffein right before bedtime on a school night, I just served one dessert: mini chocolate cream pies. They were totally worth it…

Sausage Rolls

INGREDIENTS:

½ white onion

½ apple

olive oil

brown sugar

1-lb breakfast sausage (preferably sage)

garlic

½-punnet button mushrooms, sliced

Tony Chachere’s “Original” Seasoning

rosemary

2-cans crescent dough

1 egg

sesame seeds (optional)

TOOLS:

baking pan

aluminum foil

heavy skillet with lid

spatula

small bowl

whisk

pastry brush

PROCESS:

Preheat the oven to 450˚. Cut the onion and apple into small pieces. Line the baking pan with aluminum foil. Spread the onion and apple pieces on the foil, drizzle them with olive oil, and sprinkle them with brown sugar.  Toss it all together, spread it out, and bake it for about 30-min. to caramelize it.

Put the sausage meat in the skillet and turn the heat on High. Add the mushrooms and garlic, and season it with rosemary and Tony’s. When it starts to sizzle, lower the heat to Med-Hi. Brown the meat, breaking it up into small pieces with the spatula.  Once the onions and apples are ready, add them to the skillet, and stir everything well. (Remove and recycle the aluminum foil but keep the baking pan out.)  Reduce the oven temperature to 350˚.

Sprinkle a little flour on your counter and open a can of crescent dough. Unroll it into one big rectangle and lay it on the flour. Spoon half of the sausage mixture down the middle of the dough (like filling a taco), fold it over on both sides, and pinch the ends closed. Lay the roll on the baking pan, then repeat with the other can of dough and the other half of the sausage. Whisk the egg, brush it on top of both rolls, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake the rolls for about 15 minutes until golden brown.

I hope you enjoyed this article on teaching your kids about England! Check back here for more kid-friendly geography ideas.