Top Tips for making perfect finger sandwiches for your gluten free afternoon tea

• Choose three fillings that vary in taste, colour and texture and hold the sandwiches together when they are sliced and eaten.
• As part of a full afternoon tea, allow three to four finger sandwiches per person
• Prepare the filling ingredients first and assemble the sandwiches up to 2 hours before they are to be eaten.
• When assembling the sandwiches make sure you arrange the filling to the crust or just beyond the crust on all sides. This way, when the crusts are removed your sandwiches will look generously and evenly filled.
• To store sandwiches for up to 2 hours before serving, arrange on a serving plate, loosely cover with damp kitchen towel then cling film and store in the fridge. 20 minutes before serving, remove the sandwiches from the fridge to bring up to room temperature and only remove the cling film and kitchen towel just before serving.
• For extra colour, garnish your sandwiches with full sprigs of fresh watercress

Finger Sandwich Menu for a gluten free afternoon tea for 4

Cream Cheese, Shallot and Smoked Salmon Sandwiches
Ingredients
4 slices of Genius brown bread
50g-75g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1/2 shallot, peeled, cut in half lengthways and thinly sliced
50g-100g good quality smoked salmon slices
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
1 Arrange 4 slices of brown Genius bread on a board
2 Spread each slice with an even, generous layer of Philadelphia cheese.
3 Cover 2 slices of bread with smoked salmon slices arranged close together in one layer.
4 Sprinkle the salmon with slices of shallot and season with black pepper.
5 Place the 2 slices of bread, spread with cream cheese only, on top of the salmon and shallots and press down gently.
6 Place the salmon sandwiches on a plate, cover with damp kitchen paper and cling film and refrigerate.

Egg, Chive and Grainy Mustard Mayo on Genius Brown Bread
Ingredients
4 slices of Genius brown bread
2 large organic eggs, boiled for 9 minutes, cooled under cold running water then shelled
1 tablespoon of good quality mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon French grainy mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 chives, finely sliced.

Method
1 Arrange 4 slices of brown Genius bread on a board
2 In a medium sized bowl, mash the two boiled eggs into small lumps with a fork
3 Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix thoroughly.
4 Divide the mixture between two slices of bread and spread out to the the crusts in an even layer.
5 Place the remaining 2 slices of bread on top and press down gently.
6 Place the egg sandwiches on a plate, cover with damp kitchen paper, then cling film and refrigerate.

Avocado, Roast Chicken and Garlic Mayonnaise on Genius White Bread
Ingredients
1 small clove garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tablespoons good quality mayonnaise
Freshly ground black pepper and salt
4 slices of Genius White Bread
1 small ripe avocado, halved, stoned, peeled and thinly sliced
70g-100g thinly sliced roast chicken breast

Method
1 Arrange 4 slices of white Genius bread on a board.
2 In a small bowl, mix together the crushed garlic, mayonnaise, two grinds of black pepper and a pinch of salt. Spread the mayonnaise to the edges of each slice of bread.
3 Arrange the chicken over two slices of bread in an even layer. Arrange the avocado slices on top.
4 Place the two slices of bread spread with mayonnaise on top of each sandwich and press down gently.
5 Place the chicken and avocado sandwiches on a plate, cover with damp kitchen towel and cling film and refrigerate.

To present the finger sandwiches:
1 Remove the cling film and kitchen towel from the sandwiches.
2 On a board, make a stack of three sandwiches with one of each variety, with the Avocado and Chicken sandwich in the middle, making sure that the crusts are perfectly aligned.
3 With a sharp serrated knife, cut off the crusts.
4 Cut the pile of sandwiches into three equal “fingers”, cleaning the blade of the knife between each cut.
5 Carefully transfer each finger shaped pile of sandwiches to individual plates, garnished with a sprig of watercress or arrange each group of three finger sandwiches in lines on a larger serving plate and serve immediately.