27 Tea Party Recipes for Easter Brunch That Will Genuinely Impress
From dainty cucumber sandwiches to lavender scones and pastel petit fours — your springtime spread starts here.
Easter brunch is one of those rare occasions where you can go full English-countryside-garden-party without anyone raising an eyebrow. Floral tablecloths? Totally acceptable. Finger sandwiches arranged on a three-tier stand? Practically required. A pot of something fragrant steeping in the background? Now we are talking.
I’ve hosted Easter tea parties for the past several years, and the learning curve was real. My first attempt involved slightly soggy deviled eggs and a lavender scone that could double as a hockey puck. But somewhere between year two and year three, I cracked the formula — and these 27 recipes represent the sweet spot between impressive and actually doable before guests arrive at eleven.
Whether you’re hosting ten people in a flower-filled dining room or throwing a low-key brunch for four in your kitchen, this list covers the whole table. We’re talking savory finger foods, floral-forward bakes, tea-infused sweets, and the drinks that pull everything together. Ready to set the scene?
Suggested Image Prompt: Overhead flat-lay of a spring Easter tea party table spread, soft natural morning light filtering through sheer white curtains, pale sage and blush linen napkins, a white ceramic teapot with fresh chamomile flowers tucked beside it, three-tiered stand holding crustless cucumber sandwiches, lemon curd tarts, and pastel macarons, scattered fresh rose petals and mint sprigs on the table, warm golden tone with slightly hazy depth-of-field background, rustic-elegant food blog aesthetic optimized for Pinterest.
Why a Tea Party Format Works Perfectly for Easter Brunch
Here’s the thing about Easter brunch — it lands in that slightly awkward window that’s too late to be breakfast and too early to be a proper lunch. A tea party format solves that instantly. You serve lots of small, beautiful things in waves. Nobody goes hungry. Nobody gets overwhelmed with a giant plate. And somehow everything looks like you spent a week preparing it even when you really just had Saturday afternoon.
The other advantage? Tea party food is almost entirely make-ahead friendly. Finger sandwiches get assembled the morning of. Scones bake in twenty minutes. Lemon curd keeps in the fridge for a week. The whole structure of a tea service is built around not losing your mind the hour before guests walk in, which, honestly, is the highest form of party planning.
Pairing your food with the right teas also adds a layer of elegance that requires zero effort. According to Healthline’s guide to herbal teas, chamomile, lavender, and rose teas all offer calming, antioxidant-rich properties — which means your tea selection does double duty as both a flavor complement and a genuinely wellness-friendly choice. That’s a detail worth mentioning to your guests, FYI.
Want more ideas on building your tea pairings? Check out these tea and biscuit pairings perfect for afternoon entertaining — they translate beautifully to an Easter brunch spread.
The Savory Side: Finger Sandwiches and Delicate Bites
A tea party without finger sandwiches is just people standing around with tea in their hands looking confused. The savory layer grounds the table and gives guests something to reach for while the sweeter items are still arriving. These first ten recipes anchor your Easter spread with classic-but-elevated bites.
1. Classic Cucumber and Cream Cheese Sandwiches
The undisputed ruler of the tea party sandwich kingdom. Thin white bread, whipped cream cheese, and razor-thin cucumber slices. The trick is pressing the assembled sandwiches lightly in the fridge for thirty minutes before cutting — it prevents the dreaded sliding cucumber situation. Add fresh dill and a whisper of lemon zest to make it feel special. Get Full Recipe
2. Smoked Salmon and Chive Pinwheels
Roll a cream cheese and chive mixture into softened flour tortillas with thin smoked salmon, then refrigerate overnight and slice into pinwheels. They look stunning on a tiered stand and taste like you had a professional cater your event. These are genuinely one of the easiest things on this entire list and one of the first items guests always reach for. Get Full Recipe
3. Egg Salad Finger Sandwiches with Tarragon
Classic egg salad gets a proper spring upgrade with fresh tarragon, a little Dijon, and a squeeze of lemon. Serve open-faced on small squares of toasted brioche for a result that looks far more elegant than it has any right to. Perfect for the Easter theme without being on-the-nose about it. Get Full Recipe
4. Radish Butter Crostini
Thinly sliced French radishes layered on lightly toasted baguette rounds with salted compound butter and flaky sea salt. If you have never tried this combination, prepare to be irrationally pleased with yourself for discovering it. Radishes are also having a proper moment right now and these just look absolutely beautiful on a platter. Get Full Recipe
5. Pea and Ricotta Tartlets
Blind-baked mini pastry shells filled with a whipped ricotta and sweet pea mixture, topped with a single pea shoot for drama. Fresh peas pack in a surprising amount of plant-based protein and fiber alongside their sweetness, making these both pretty and genuinely filling. Get Full Recipe
Make your finger sandwiches the morning of brunch, cover them tightly with a slightly damp paper towel and plastic wrap, and refrigerate. They stay perfectly fresh for up to four hours — no soggy bread, no last-minute stress.
6. Asparagus and Gruyere Quiche Bites
Mini quiches baked in a muffin tin with thin asparagus tips peeking out over the top. Gruyere melts into something creamy and nutty, and the whole thing comes together from a single batch of simple custard filling. Asparagus is peak spring and it just reads “Easter” without trying too hard. Get Full Recipe
7. Watercress and Butter Finger Sandwiches
The most underrated sandwich on any tea table. Generous softened butter on thin crustless white bread with a pile of fresh peppery watercress inside. That’s truly the whole recipe, and it’s genuinely better than it has any right to be. Watercress is also packed with vitamins K and C — nutrition wins disguised as an old-fashioned canapé. Get Full Recipe
8. Smoked Trout and Dill Cream on Blinis
Mini buckwheat blinis topped with horseradish cream cheese, flaked smoked trout, and a tiny sprig of fresh dill. Buckwheat blinis have a slightly earthy, nutty flavor that pairs brilliantly with the smokiness of the trout. These take about twenty minutes to make and eat in two bites. Get Full Recipe
9. Ham and Gruyere Croque Squares
A miniaturized croque monsieur, essentially — layers of thinly sliced ham, Gruyere, and Dijon béchamel between buttered brioche slices, pressed and cut into bite-size squares. Serve warm. People will lose their composure slightly. That is the intended outcome. Get Full Recipe
10. Deviled Eggs with Everything Bagel Seasoning
Classic deviled eggs with a crunchy, savory everything bagel seasoning topping that adds just enough texture to make them feel current and interesting. If you have been making deviled eggs the same way for ten years, this is the gentle intervention you needed. Get Full Recipe
Scones, Breads, and Baked Goods That Deserve a Tiered Stand
This is the heart of any proper tea party. The scone situation needs to be taken seriously. IMO, getting your scones right is sixty percent of the perceived effort of hosting a tea party — they set the tone for everything else on the table.
11. Classic Cream Scones with Clotted Cream and Lemon Curd
Cold butter, cake flour, heavy cream, and a touch of sugar. That is the short version of the world’s most essential tea party scone. Serve them warm, split in half, with proper clotted cream and a spoonful of sharp homemade lemon curd. The key: do not overwork the dough and chill it for fifteen minutes before cutting. Get Full Recipe
12. Lavender and Earl Grey Scones
Steeped Earl Grey in the cream before mixing, add culinary lavender to the dough, and finish with a lavender-lemon glaze. These smell absolutely extraordinary baking and taste even better. They pair beautifully with a pot of brewed calming floral tea — the whole combination is genuinely transporting. Get Full Recipe
I made the lavender Earl Grey scones for our Easter gathering last year and my sister-in-law asked for the recipe before she even finished eating one. I had never felt more accomplished in a kitchen setting, and I am including every birthday cake I have ever baked in that statement.
13. Strawberry and Rose Scones
Fresh diced strawberries and a tablespoon of rose water folded into a classic scone dough. The berries keep the inside tender and the flavor is unmistakably springtime. Finish with a thin rose-pink glaze made from powdered sugar and a drop of beet juice for the color. Get Full Recipe
14. Honey Cardamom Rolls
Soft enriched dough rolls brushed with honey butter and laced with ground cardamom. They bake small and pull apart easily, which makes them perfect for a buffet-style brunch spread. Cardamom and honey is one of those flavor pairings that feels exotic and familiar at the same time, which is exactly what you want from a centerpiece baked good. Get Full Recipe
15. Lemon Poppy Seed Tea Bread
Dense, moist, and sliceable — this loaf pulls double duty as a baked good and a vehicle for lemon glaze. Brush the top with a tart lemon syrup right out of the oven while the crumb is still warm, and it soaks in to create something that is genuinely better the next day. Make it Friday, serve it Sunday. Get Full Recipe
Bake scones and breads the day before and warm them at 325°F for eight minutes before serving. Nobody will know. Your kitchen will smell like you baked fresh all morning. Both things can be true.
The Sweet Tier: Tarts, Cakes, and Petit Fours
The sweet tier is where a tea party table becomes a visual event. Pastel-glazed mini cakes, glossy lemon tarts, tiny coconut macaroons — this is the part guests photograph before eating, which means presentation matters as much as flavor. Fortunately, these recipes deliver on both.
16. Lemon Curd Tarts with Candied Violets
Blind-baked shortcrust tartlet shells filled with silky homemade lemon curd and finished with a single candied violet on top. Candied violets are available at most specialty grocery stores or online — and a small jar of edible flowers like this one is worth every penny for the visual payoff. These are the showstoppers of the sweet tier. Get Full Recipe
17. Earl Grey Petit Fours
Tiny square cakes soaked in Earl Grey syrup and coated in a thin fondant glaze in pale gray-blue. They look extraordinarily fancy and are made from a single sheet cake cut into small squares — no special pan required. A bench scraper makes cutting them cleanly much more satisfying. Get Full Recipe
18. Champagne Macarons with Raspberry Filling
Pastel pink macarons with a tart raspberry champagne buttercream. Macarons have a reputation for being difficult, and honestly that reputation is not entirely undeserved — but a good recipe, the right kitchen temperature, and a kitchen scale (weight measurements only, no volume) make them very achievable. Easter morning macarons hit differently. Get Full Recipe
19. Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Easter means carrot cake — but in cupcake form for the tea party format. Brown butter in the cream cheese frosting adds a slightly nutty, caramel-adjacent depth that makes this wildly better than the standard version. Top with a small marzipan carrot for the Easter aesthetic. Cute without being insufferable. Get Full Recipe
20. Honey and Pistachio Baklava Bites
Miniature baklava cut into small diamond shapes, drenched in orange blossom honey syrup with finely chopped pistachios. They keep well at room temperature for several days and travel beautifully, which makes them excellent for gifting leftovers to whoever helped you clean up. Get Full Recipe
Kitchen Tools That Make This Spread Actually Doable
These are the things I genuinely reach for when preparing a tea party spread. No hype, no nonsense — just the tools that do what they promise.
Three-Tier Serving Stand
A tiered cake stand transforms a pile of sandwiches and scones into a visual moment. White ceramic or chrome — both work beautifully against a spring table.
Loose Leaf Tea Infuser Set
Loose leaf teas steep better and taste cleaner than bags. A stainless steel infuser with a drip tray is the kind of thing you use every single day once you own one.
Mini Tart Pan Set
Individual 4-inch removable-bottom tart pans are the backbone of the entire sweet tier. A set of six mini tart pans lets you bake a full batch in one go with professional-looking results.
Tea Pairing Guide PDF
A downloadable guide to pairing teas with different foods — sweet, savory, and in-between. Useful for planning the beverage side of your brunch with actual intention.
Party Planning Timeline Template
A printable brunch timeline that works backwards from your serving time, so you know exactly when to start each recipe. Saves enormous mental energy the morning of.
Tea Party Menu Card Template
Printable menu card templates in soft spring colors. Place one at each seat or prop them against your stand for a detail that makes everything feel considered and deliberate.
Spring Drinks: The Teas and Botanicals That Set the Mood
The drink situation matters more than people give it credit for. A well-chosen tea service sets the mood of the entire table. The good news is that spring flavors — elderflower, chamomile, lavender, mint, hibiscus — all translate beautifully into both hot and iced formats depending on your weather.
Research consistently supports tea as a genuinely wellness-forward choice. According to Healthline’s review of anti-inflammatory teas, options like green tea, ginger, and turmeric tea contain plant compounds that actively reduce inflammation — making your Easter brunch an inadvertent wellness ritual. Worth mentioning.
21. Hibiscus Iced Tea with Honey and Citrus
Steeped hibiscus flowers cooled and served over ice with a honey syrup and a twist of orange. The color is an extraordinary deep crimson that looks stunning in glass pitchers. Hibiscus is naturally tart and refreshing — exactly what you want alongside buttery scones and rich sandwiches. Get Full Recipe
22. Chamomile Lavender Hot Tea Service
A custom loose-leaf blend of chamomile flowers and dried lavender, served in a ceramic teapot with honey and a small jug of warm oat milk on the side. This is the tea that makes guests close their eyes for a moment after the first sip. It is that good, and it takes about four minutes to prepare. Get Full Recipe
23. Strawberry Basil Sparkling Lemonade
Muddled fresh strawberries and basil steeped into a simple syrup, mixed with fresh lemon juice and sparkling water. Non-alcoholic, bright, and fizzy — perfect for those who prefer something other than tea, and it looks spectacular in a glass jug with the fruit floating inside. Get Full Recipe
The Final Seven: Extras That Elevate the Table
These last few recipes are the fillers, the condiments, the finishing touches that move a good tea party into a great one. A jar of homemade lemon curd. A bowl of clotted cream. A platter of petit shortbread cookies. The table looks abundant and generous, and not a single one of these things is difficult to make.
24. Homemade Lemon Curd
Six egg yolks, lemon juice, zest, butter, and sugar cooked slowly until thick and glossy. Takes about fifteen minutes on the stove and keeps for two weeks in the fridge. A stainless steel fine-mesh strainer makes getting a perfectly smooth curd effortless. Serve it alongside scones and also spooned over the Pavlova below. Get Full Recipe
25. Rose Water and Pistachio Shortbread Cookies
Buttery shortbread cut into small rounds or flower shapes, flavored with a touch of rose water and studded with finely chopped pistachios. Bake them in large batches — they keep for a week in an airtight tin and look beautiful piled up on a cake plate with a dusting of powdered sugar. Get Full Recipe
26. Mini Pavlovas with Pastel Berries
Individual meringue nests baked until crisp on the outside and marshmallow-soft inside, topped with lightly sweetened whipped cream and a scattering of fresh berries. They look completely spectacular and the meringue can be made two days ahead, which checks every party-planning box there is. Get Full Recipe
27. Clotted Cream (Easy Oven Method)
Pour heavy cream into a wide oven-safe dish, bake at 175°F for ten to twelve hours overnight, then refrigerate until the thick top layer forms. That’s it. That’s real clotted cream, made in your own oven while you sleep, ready for your scones the next morning. If this isn’t the most satisfying thing you’ve read all day, I don’t know what to tell you. Get Full Recipe
Following this list for our Easter gathering genuinely transformed the morning. I made the lemon curd and clotted cream on Friday, the scones and petit fours on Saturday, and by Sunday I was actually relaxed before guests arrived. That has never happened to me before at a party I hosted.
Build your tea party table the night before. Set the tiered stands, arrange the linens, place the teacups and small plates. All you need Sunday morning is to fill the stands with food. The setup is ninety percent of the visual work and takes less than twenty minutes to do the evening before.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many recipes do I actually need for an Easter brunch tea party?
For a group of six to eight people, five or six recipes is plenty — one or two savory options, two or three bakes, one sweet, and a tea or two. You want enough variety to feel abundant without running yourself into the ground. The recipes on this list are designed to be layered together, not all made at once.
Can I make tea party food the day before?
Most of it, yes. Scones, shortbread, lemon curd, clotted cream, petit fours, and meringues all keep well overnight. Finger sandwiches should be assembled the morning of your event but can be refrigerated for up to four hours before serving — just cover them with a lightly damp paper towel to prevent the bread from drying out.
What teas work best for an Easter brunch tea party?
Spring calls for lighter, floral-forward teas. Chamomile, Earl Grey, jasmine green, hibiscus iced tea, and lavender blends all work beautifully. Offer at least one herbal caffeine-free option alongside a classic black tea for guests with different preferences. Explore tea and biscuit pairings to match your teas intentionally to your food.
How do I make finger sandwiches look professional?
Remove the crusts cleanly with a sharp serrated bread knife, refrigerate the assembled sandwiches under a damp cloth for thirty minutes to let everything set, then cut with one decisive slice per cut — no sawing. Arrange them on the tiered stand alternating orientations for variety. The presentation difference between rushed and careful cutting is enormous.
Are there good plant-based or dairy-free swaps for a tea party menu?
Absolutely. Vegan cream cheese works well in the cucumber and salmon pinwheel sandwiches. Coconut cream whips beautifully for the pavlova topping. Oat milk or almond milk can replace cream in most scone recipes with a slight texture change but great flavor. Many herbal teas are also naturally dairy-free and pair well with plant-based spreads — these caffeine-free tea options are good starting points.
Go Make Something Beautiful
Easter brunch, done as a tea party, is one of those hosting formats that rewards the effort you put in without demanding you be a professional chef. These 27 recipes cover every corner of the table — from the savory first bites to the floral sweets to the drinks that set the mood — and most of them can be made ahead so you can actually enjoy the morning with your guests.
Start with what sounds most exciting to you. Maybe it is the lavender scones or the smoked salmon pinwheels or the overnight clotted cream. Pick three or four things, do them beautifully, and let the table be the star. That is really the only rule of a good tea party worth following.
Now go put on something nice, brew something fragrant, and make your Easter table exactly as lovely as you want it to be.
