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Why not indeed? Friends and family will love the home-made touch with a special afternoon tea. You can choose to make several batches of smaller cakes to give everyone plenty of choice, or create one large centrepiece cake plus a selection of sandwiches for the savoury element.

If you want to recreate the type of afternoon tea you’d enjoy in a luxurious hotel, you could also make up some scones – these freeze well, so it’s always a good idea to have some in your freezer for those impromptu tea sessions.

Delia has several wonderful scone recipes:

Buttermilk Scones with West Country Clotted Cream and Raspberry Butter, and various savoury versions, Buttermilk Scones with Cheshire Cheese and Chives or Roquefort and Potato Scones with Sage.

Children, of course, are great biscuit fans: Delia has plenty of biscuit recipes on the site too, including Oat Crunch Biscuits,  Star-shaped Biscuits  Preserved Ginger and Oat Biscuits,  Apricot and Nut Crunchies, Walnut Shortbreads, Chocolate Chip Ginger Nuts ,Gingerbread Men and Macaroons. 



So, which cakes should you make? The choice is yours. If you want a traditional plain cake, then a Victoria sponge is always a popular choice. In the summer, the refreshing flavours of Coconut Lime Cake  make this a great option – or use a glut of raspberries to fill Delia’s All-in-one sponge with Raspberries and Mascarpone Cream 


You could also try Delia’s own personal favourite cake – Preserved Ginger Cake with Lemon Icing – perfect with a cup of tea! Another classic, loved by everyone, has to be carrot cake: 

Smaller cakes always look impressive arranged on the tea table on pretty plates or a cake stand. Aim to make several types, so that there is variation in size, shape and colour.

A good selection would be Orange Butterfly Cakes, Chocolate Drop Mini Muffins with Red Noses, Chocolate Mini Muffins with Toasted Hazelnuts,  Viennese Tartlets  and Fresh Apricot and Pecan Muffins with Cinnamon Icing 


If you’re short of time or feel that your cookery skills aren’t up to scratch, Delia also has some fantastic ‘cheat’ cake recipes, which use a ready-made ingredient to save you time and effort – no one will ever be able to tell!

Treat yourself to Ginger and Maple Syrup Gateau,  Cheat’s Chocolate Rum Gateau,  An Unlikely Lemon Gateau or Moist Chocolate Hazelnut Gateau. 

Browse more cake recipes from Delia....

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Have you looked at the Delia Online Cookery School