Published on : 17 September 20193 min reading time

Have Fun – and raise money !

Everybody likes the look of strawberries – so take advantage and use them to bring friends together in aid of BCC to host a Tea Party

You need somewhere to hold it – a garden (with somewhere undercover)
Or a room, with enough space for a table to show off food, and enough chairs
Or, if you are good at organising, a what about a Picnic!
Or why not hold it in your Hospital or Cancer Centre Reception ?

Why bother ?

This summer Breast Cancer Care (BCC) are asking people to gather friends and do something to celebrate strawberries and raise money for Breast Cancer Care.

They are hoping to break records, that 9,000 lovely people will hold a Strawberry Tea, and help their summer fundraiser drive.

This is easiest entertaining menu ever. Everything can be made in advance – traditionally a Strawberry Tea could include :

Sandwiches :

  • Cucumber (these are staple and so cheap !), peel cucumber, soak in white wine vinegar and season ; you could add cream cheese if you like ;
  • Egg and Cress ;
  • and if you want to be really grand Smoked Salmon (supermarkets sell ‘bits’ or off-cuts which are cheaper) season with lemon juice and black pepper.
  • It’s nice to use a real loaf ; buy day before and then it’s easier to slice. Cut off crusts !

But I’m from Devon, so we spread cream on first, then top with strawberry jam (and we call them skons, not skoan !) As on the rgiht above.

Mary Berry has a good recipe – as she says handle lightly when mixing. I like to make small bite sized ones, as they can be filling ! And I use clotted cream, but dieticians would go mad !

As kids we grew up on Devon/Somerset borders, and called scones and cream Cut Throats (I suppose after the blood-red strawberry jam !).

Victoria Sponge

This is THE traditional cake to serve, and again Mary Berry has an easy recipe.

But if you want to go mad you can make an Angel cake (all white) which looks sensational filled with strawberries and cream.

Or perhaps make mini-cup cakes topped with strawberries – but make them bite sized, otherwise they are difficult to eat when juggling plate, cup etc.

Then everyone can have fun ! And make more money offering boxes with goodies they can take to patients.

Crafty Tip

If strawberries are a bit bland, sprinkle with sugar and freshly-squeezed orange juice – this can perk them up !