Variety of high tea sandwiches presented on a plate
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Finger sandwiches offer a dainty touch of elegance to any meal. You can serve them with a formal tea, as hors d’oeuvres before a lunch or dinner or as part of a buffet meal. Finger sandwiches give you the opportunity to be extremely creative. You can include unusual sandwich fillings such as cucumber, watercress, raisins, goat cheese, curry, smoked salmon, cream cheese and olives. Finger sandwiches generally should be chilled or at room temperature rather than warm, so assemble them, cut them and then refrigerate them in an airtight container until you are ready to serve them.

Spread a slice of bread with a very thin layer of butter or margarine. This will help prevent sogginess when you refrigerate the bread. Add a thin layer of the toppings, spreading them all the way to the sides of the bread, then put another slice of buttered bread on top to close the sandwich. Repeat this process for each sandwich you make.

Slice the crusts off of the sandwiches with a serrated knife. Cut off as little as possible, and cut gently to avoid crushing or tearing the bread.

Cut the sandwiches into the desired shapes. For triangle-shaped finger sandwiches, slice each sandwich along both diagonals to form four triangles. Alternatively, you can cut the sandwich into quarters by slicing it in half vertically and horizontally. This will create four squares. Another common option is to cut the sandwich into thirds either vertically or horizontally to create three finger-shaped pieces.