I grow mint in a large pot in my herb garden. It has a variety of uses in salads, desserts, tea infusions and the like. For this version of cucumber sandwiches, a “hint of mint” is the ideal ratio.

Cucumber Mint Tea Sandwiches

Ingredients:
loaf of white bread, frozen
1 English cucumber
8 ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
2 t. minced mint
dash kosher salt

Directions:
1. Thoroughly wash your mint before mincing. Reserve the tiny tips for garnish.
2. In medium bowl, blend the cream cheese, minced mint and salt. set aside.
3. Using a very sharp knife or a mandoline slicer, slice the cucumber very thin-about 1/16th of an inch thick. Place the cucumber slices between two sheets of paper towel. Blot the excess moisture from the cucumber slices.
4. Remove bread from freezer, use a sharp round cutter to cut desired rounds of bread.
5. Working quickly, spread each (still-frozen) bread round with a generous schmear of minted cream cheese.
6. Top each sandwich with a slice of cucumber. Garnish each with one tiny mint leaf.

Notes:
A little mint goes a long way. Resist the urge to use multiple baby mint leaves as garnish. Less is more!
I prefer to use English cucumbers as they have less seeds as your regular garden variety and also have thinner skins. Their small diameter makes for very dainty (one-bite) sandwiches!
I have a very nice set of stainless Ateco pastry cutters. The key to a nice cucumber sandwich is to size the cut bread as close to the same diameter as the cucumber. If you don’t have the exact size diameter as your cucumber, choose the next size up.
If you want to make the sandwiches about an hour before your tea, place on half-sheet pan or arrange them on the plate for the 3-tiered tea tray. Then wet and wring out paper towels and gently lay the unfurled damp towels on top of the (ungarnished) sandwiches until tea time.

Blue Willow Kitchen is not compensated by any companies or retailers listed in its blog posts. Links are provided for product identification as a courtesy to our readers. If you are a savvy shopper, you might find the products we list at a lower price at your local retailer. Shop local!