These Vegan Cucumber Sandwiches, cut into perfect fingers, are a delicate addition to any afternoon tea stand.

What is a vegan cucumber sandwich?

A cucumber sandwich is exactly what you think it is. Two slices of buttered bread filled with slices of cucumber.

It may not be the most obvious choice of sandwich filling but they have become a staple on afternoon tea stands since the Victorian era! Supposedly when the British were in India they were struggling with the heat and refreshing cucumber seemed to help. And so the cucumber sandwich was born!

These cucumber sandwiches are just as refreshing as the original but are made vegan thanks to spreadable non-dairy butter.

The secret to the perfect Vegan Cucumber Sandwich

They are best when the cucumber is perfectly sliced for a uniform bite. You can use any bread you like but for me it has to be a soft white sandwich loaf.

But the real key to a delicious cucumber sandwich is seasoning. Really you could say that's the secret to any recipe ever. But, when the recipe is otherwise just bread, butter and cucumber, you really do have to use seasoning to make the flavours of the ingredients shine.

Once you've buttered your bread, laid across your thinly sliced cucumber then you need to add a healthy sprinkling of salt and a few good cracks of black pepper. Don't skimp or you will regret it later.

Finger sandwiches

Now I'm not saying how you cut a sandwich changes its taste... But, there's really only one way to serve a Vegan Cucumber Sandwich. How you cut your sandwich might seem like a non-issue but if you want to serve these as part of an afternoon tea (or any other special occasion) then the done thing is to cut them into fingers rather than triangles.

This involves trimming off the crusts and then cutting them in half. The result being two sandwiches in a long, finger shape.

If you do cut them into triangles I won't tell on you!

Vegan Egg Mayo Sandwiches and Cucumber Sandwiches-01

The recipe