A Princess Tea Party

Over the weekend, we threw an intimate tea party for a very special 3 year old. Because she absolutely loves Cinderella, it is only fitting that we do a blue and white theme party with "Princess" accents.

We decided to focus more on the colors, rather than going all out with Cinderella party products. Everything was purchased from Party City.

We had (from top left) smoked salmon sandwiches (recipe below), ham and cheese sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, shortbread cookies and earl grey macarons with tea. 

I guess some other princesses decided to join the party too.

I've made these smoked salmon sandwiches many times and it has always been a big hit with both the adults and kids. So, I decided to make them again for this tea party.

Recipe for smoked salmon sandwich:

1 stick butter, softened

2 sprigs green onion, chopped

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

1 loaf honey whole wheat bread

Smoked salmon (about 2 4oz packages)

2 cups thinly sliced cucumber

Instructions:
1) To make the compound butter, leave the stick of butter to soften at room temperature. This usually takes a few hours after you take them out of the refrigerator. However, if you're like me and forgot to prepare ahead of time, simply put the stick of butter in the microwave and heat it at 5 seconds intervals until it softens.
2) Add chopped green onion, parsley, salt and pepper to the softened butter. You can use the mixer with a paddle attachment to mix or the back of a wooden spoon to gently combine the mixture. Because the smoked salmon has already been seasoned, use salt sparingly. You do not want an overly salty sandwich.
3) Spread the compound butter on both sides of the bread. Add smoked salmon and cucumber.
4) Trim the sides off and cut the sandwiches diagonally into four mini triangles.

Side note:
Compound butter is simply butter with supplementary ingredients - generally herbs or spices. You can also use this compound butter to flavor a simple pan seared fish (I love it with Salmon) or scallops.

I used this shortbread recipe for the princess dress and slipper cookies. I got the cookie cutters at Sur La Table for a dollar each. The dress and slipper cookies are adorned with dragees in different sizes and color, and decorated in white and blue royal icing.

Earl Grey Macaron.

I made a batch of earl grey macarons that I've brushed with light blue food coloring to match the theme of the party. To add color to your macarons, simply mix a few drops of food coloring with water. Then, lightly brush the top of the macarons and let them dry.

Happy birthday sweet Shi-wa-wa! :) And special thanks to Jessica for hosting and the rest of the aunties who helped out too!