Platinum Jubilee afternoon tea: ideas for your own menu including sandwiches - weather forecast for picnic

This is everything that you’ll need for your Platinum Jubilee Afternoon Tea Party menu, as laid out by the official Queen’s Platinum Jubilee website.

Afternoon tea

For an afternoon tea you’ll, of course, need bits and pieces for an afternoon tea.

The finger sandwiches are easy to throw together - cucumber finger sandwiches, smoked salmon and cream cheese and egg and cress and are self explanatory.

For the rest of your afternoon tea, if you’re feeling up to the task, try making your own sausage rolls, Victoria sponge cake, strawberry tarts and scones.

Cream tea

A cream tea is a bit different to afternoon tea - for a cream tea, you’ll need tea and scones, clotted cream, jam and, if the feeling strikes you, butter.

Elderflower & Lemon Cake

You can try your hand at making this elderflower and lemon cake from BBC Good Food.

The recipe requires oil, eggs, natural yoghurt, milk, butter, golden caster sugar, self raising flour, lemons, elderflower cordial, cream cheese and icing sugar, and will serve 15 to 18 - so it’s perfect for if you’re hosting or attending a Big Jubilee Lunch.

Eton Mess

Eton Mess is a classic summer dessert that only requires three ingredients - strawberries, meringue nests and double cream.

Check out this recipe from Olive Magazine to get the specific weights and measurements.

Apple Pie and Custard

If you’re down to give making your own pastry and pie a go, this recipe courtesy of the Spruce Eats will have an apple pie ready to go in under an hour.

While there’s no shame in buying shop bought custard, if you want to pair your homemade pie with a homemade custard as well then this one from Jamie Olivier is sure to do the trick.

When is the Platinum Jubilee?

The Platinum Jubilee weekend will be held from 2 to 5 June, celebrating Queen Elizabeth II as she becomes the first British monarch to mark 70 years on the throne.

A huge host of events have been planned to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, including an extra bank holiday.

The May Day bank holiday weekend will be shifted to Thursday 2 June, with an additional bank holiday on Friday 3 June to introduce a four day weekend in order to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee.

What’s the weather forecast like for the Platinum Jubilee?

If you’re hoping to take your afternoon tea out on the road for a picnic, then it’s always best to check out the weather forecast beforehand - the UK is notorious for having rather unpredictable weather.

According to the Met Office, from Thursday, things are looking to settle down for most of the UK, with good periods of fine and dry weather.

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Helen Caughey said: “While it may be an unsettled start to the long weekend for some with showers for Northern Ireland, Wales and western England, many parts will see much more settled conditions over the long Jubilee Weekend, with plenty of dry weather and good spells of sunshine.

“Temperatures will be widely into the low 20s, feeling warmer in the sunshine, although temperatures will drop off quickly into the evenings.

“The main source of uncertainty for the weekend itself is to do with how far a plume of warm air, currently across the continent, encroaches over southern areas of the UK from late on Friday.

“The latest outlook suggests that this plume of warm air could bring a spell of showers to southern areas overnight on Friday and into early Saturday, with some showers hanging around for a time on Saturday.

“Further showers are likely for southern areas on Sunday, perhaps the odd heavy one, most likely at this stage for the far southeast.

“Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England look like they’ll see the driest conditions from Friday onwards most likely enjoying some prolonged periods of sunshine.”