Picnic season is upon us, and what better reason for a silly sandwich?
If there’s ever a time when we can cast aside the sensible egg and cress or ham and mustard it must be for a midsummer picnic when a bit of fun and frivolity is always on the menu. Here are a few of our favourite sweet sandwiches that are part lunch, part pudding and part party.
Fairy Bread
An Antipodean delicacy; open buttered white bread slices, sprinkled with hundreds and thousands. Nutritional factor: zero. Fun factor: eleven out of ten.
Banana and Honey
Reminding us of childhood Sunday teas, the hilarity of putting banana in between slices of Hovis has never left us. Jazz it up with a sprinkling of cinnamon.
Grated Apple
Excellent with crusty bread and a slightly salted butter. Add peanut butter if you must but we quite like the simplicity of a good old apple sarnie.
Chocolate, brie and raspberry
One for toastie fans. This is like a sweeter version of a bacon, brie and cranberry toastie. The brie and the chocolate (dark for preference) melts beautifully into the toast while the raspberry reduces to a very pleasant mush, taking the place of the cranberry sauce.
Fruit Sandos
A Japanese staple: chilled, whipped cream and seasonal fruits - strawberries, mandarins, pear… whatever you like - sandwiched in slices of milk bread (brioche also works). Fresh, sweet and so pretty looking.
Sugar sandwiches
No messing about here. This traditionally Irish treat was usually bestowed upon children by over-indulgent grandparents. There’s little as exciting as the sight of the bag of Tate and Lyle, a tub of Stork and some plastic bread on the sideboard in your Granny’s kitchen. Add some lemon juice for a bit of zing and a pancake day ambience.
In our June issue, we have a rather lovely recipe for a grown-up silly sandwich. The Rose Petal & Strawberry Sandwiches (recipe below) are part of our Heart Body & Soul feature that focuses on roses this month. It also includes instructions to make Rose Bitters, Rosewater Tonic and a savoury galette with Rose Harissa.
Rose Petal & Strawberry Sandwiches
Give your afternoon tea a floral and fruity twist with sandwiches that give scones a run for their money
Per sandwich:
Two slices of brioche bread
1 tbsp clotted cream
1 tbsp strawberry jam
A few drops of rosewater
3 strawberries
Fresh rose petals, six or more
1 Spread the cream onto both slices of the brioche bread.
2 Stir the rosewater into the jam, then spread this on top of the cream on one slice of bread. Thinly slice the strawberries and carefully lay on top of the cream on the other slice.
3 Remove the heels of the rose petals if needed before laying the petals on top of the jam and carefully putting the two pieces together. Either cut into dainty fingers or leave as delicious doorsteps.
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