Witch finger sandwiches, mummy cucumber sandwiches, pumpkin rolls, witch hat cheese and crackers, black cakes and chocolate cockroaches: every single bite at this witch tea party had a spooky twist, and it all came together on tiered trays like a proper afternoon tea. Here is the whole menu, plus the black Kir Royale and the table it was served on.
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Quick Look
- 🎃 Party: Witch Tea Party with a vintage green witch look
- 👪 Guests: 4
- 🍽️ Menu: Five savory bites, scones and three sweets, served on tiered trays
- 🍸 Drinks: Black Kir Royale and black tea
Why You'll Love This Witch Tea Party
- It feels elegant and cozy instead of scary.
- Almost every bite is something witchy, and most are easy to make.
- Much of the menu can be made the day before.
- The black Kir Royale has just three ingredients.
- The decor is thrifted and foraged, so it is budget friendly.
Halloween is the perfect excuse to gather people, and a witch tea party is a cozy, fun way to do it. We kept the look vintage and cottagecore, with a green witch table full of thrifted treasures. Everyone wore black and a witch hat, and the food stole the show. I had so much fun turning classic tea sandwiches into black cats, witch fingers and witch hats. If you are planning a Halloween tea party of your own, here is everything we served and how we put it together.
If you love this party, you might also like my Fall Tea Party, my Summerween Party Ideas or my guide to How To Throw An Afternoon Tea Party For Adults.
Witch Tea Party Menu
The food was the heart of this witch tea party. I wanted every bite to look like it belonged on a witch's table, and most of it can be made ahead. We went with a classic afternoon tea menu of small sandwiches and savories, scones with clotted cream and jam, and some sweet desserts, and everything was served on classic three tiered trays.
Savory
Witch Finger Sandwiches
What does a witch serve at a tea party? "Finger sandwichces" of course. I filled small finger shaped rolls with the egg salad from my egg salad tea sandwiches recipe. To make the finger rolls I used half of my bread maker dough recipe. I shaped them into long finger shapes, pressed a sliced almond into the end of each one for a fingernail, and used a knife to cut some small slits to look like knuckles. These were a big hit at the party.
Black Cat Salmon Sandwiches
These were pumpernickel bread cut with a cat shaped cookie cutter, spread with cream cheese, and topped with smoked salmon and two capers for eyes. Pumpernickel and salmon are a classic pairing, and the dark bread makes a perfect black cat.
Pumpkin Rolls with Chicken Salad
I made the small pumpkin shaped rolls with my pumpkin shaped dinner rolls recipe and filled them with the chicken salad from my chicken salad finger sandwiches.
The recipe divides the dough into 8 rolls. For tea sandwiches, I divided the dough in half and made 8 smaller rolls from just half of it, so a full batch makes 16 tea sized rolls. I used the other half of the dough to shape the finger sandwich rolls above, so one batch of dough made both.
Mummy Cucumber Sandwiches
These are open faced sandwiches on white bread with a thin layer of cream cheese, and mayonnaise. Long, thin ribbons of cucumber cut with a vegetable peeler are laid across the bread at slight angles to look like mummy wrappings, with two tiny eyes peeking through. We used black sesame seeds for the eyes, which worked perfectly. Skip using candy eyes, as they don't work with a savory sandwich.
Witch Hat Cheese and Crackers
These are so cute. Each witch hat is a round dark cracker topped with a cone shaped cheeseball.
For the crackers, I used a copycat Raincoast Crisps recipe with a few swaps. I used dried apricots instead of cranberries and almonds instead of hazelnuts. Before the second bake, I cut the crackers into circles to make the base of the witch hats.
For the cheeseball, I mixed together:
- 1 block cream cheese
- ½ pound marble cheese, finely shredded
- ¾ teaspoon hot sauce
- ¾ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
I formed the mixture into cones and rolled them in a coating of half poppy seeds and half everything bagel seasoning. I did not season the cheese itself because the coating carries all the seasoning. Set each cone on a cracker circle base and you have the cutest and yummiest little witch hat ever.
Scones
No witch tea party menu is complete without scones. I used my easy food processor scones and served them with real clotted cream and jam in mini cauldrons. Look for real clotted cream at the British imports store.
Sweets
Mini Black and Orange Cakes
My daughter Maddie loves to bake cakes and made these individual cakes with black cocoa, then finished them in black and orange for a vintage Halloween look. Black cocoa gives a deep, dark color and dark chocolate taste, without any food coloring. We used this recipe for the black cocoa cake, and baked it in a 9 x 13 pan. When it was cool we used a tin can as a cutter, then froze the cake for an hour before applying a crumb coat of frosting, and then decorating after it set. A final detail was a small satin ribbon bow. These were a real show stopper of the afternoon tea, and I love how beautiful and vintage inspired they looked on the tea trays.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Date Cockroaches
These sound a little scary, but they were really yummy. To make them, cut a date in half and put some peanut butter inside. Then spread chocolate on the back and pipe on the legs and antennae with melted chocolate. Let them harden on some parchment paper. They're so good and perfectly creepy.
Crescent Moon Cookies
Crescent moon cookies are an easy way to bring the witch theme to the sweets. Use your favorite crescent moon Christmas cookie recipe. We coated the in powdered sugar after they cooled and added a few star sprinkles also.
Serving Your Witch Tea Party Food
I served this witch tea party inspired by a traditional hotel afternoon tea, with one course on each tier of a three tiered tray. I used two matching trays I was lucky enough to find on Facebook marketplace, and each tray held two guests' portions, so every person had one of everything.
The bottom tier held the savory sandwiches and cheese and crackers, and the middle tier held the sweets. The scones went on the top tier because it was too small for my vintage style cakes. If you have a small top tier, put whichever course fits it best.
Serving this way solved a problem I have had before. When I put sandwiches out on platters, it always feels like I need more. With five different savory items on individual trays, nobody asked for seconds, and the portions were perfect. If you are planning your own menu, plan one of each item per guest and let the variety do the work.
Black Kir Royale Witch Cocktail
At fancy hotel afternoon teas, it's very common for a sparkling wine to be offered to go with it. I thought it would be fun to include it for my witch tea party, and we gave it a witchy twist. We served black Kir Royale cocktails. A Kir Royale is crème de cassis topped with sparkling wine. We added a pinch of edible black luster dust to the bottom of the glass before adding the cassis and sparkling wine. As you pour it all turns as dark as a witch's potion. I tied black ribbon bows around the stems of the champagne flutes to finish the look.
What you need:
- A pinch of edible black luster dust (less than ⅛ teaspoon per glass)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons crème de cassis, depending on how sweet you like it
- Sparkling wine, to fill the flute
Tip: Put the black luster dust in first and the drink turns black as you pour. There is no need to stir, which keeps the bubbles lively. Check that your luster dust is labeled edible, not just non toxic, because some are for decoration only. We found ours at a special cake decorating supply store.
And every tea party needs tea, I served the witches black tea of course in vintage tea cups.
Witch Tea Party Table Decor
For the decor, I went with a subtle green witch look. I can imagine her as a botanist and collector, so the table felt more like a cozy cottage than a haunted house. There were decorative mushrooms, framed and embroidered insects, specimens under glass cloches and bunches of flowers from the garden.
Most of what made the table special was thrifted. I found the vintage silver teapot, the brass candelabra filled with bat taper candles from the dollar store, and the black floral teacups from the thrift stores. The flowers were the last ones from my garden, and I cut the orange maple leaves that same morning to decorate the table. They cost nothing, and they look so pretty against all the black. There were crows and butterflies, and some small vintage birds in the perfect shades of rust and black. I also found a new but vintage looking ceramic black cat for the table. One of my favorite details was a small cauldron with a fog machine inside that added the perfect foggy magical atmosphere.
Witch Tea Party Gallery Wall
A vintage photo gallery wall set the scene for the party. I used a variety of gold and brass frames from antique and thrift stores, and found some vintage witch pictures online that I printed at home and added to the frames. There were also some real framed butterflies, a couple of mushroom paintings and the most beautiful embroidered insects that my daughter Paige made for me. I hung them all with command strips. And as a finishing touch, I added a flight of black and white paper butterflies, for a little whimsy. If you want to make something similar, a mix of old photos and thrifted frames goes a long way.
What to Wear to a Witch Tea Party
I asked my guests to wear black and a witch hat, and that was the only dress code. It is an easy way to get everyone involved in the party, and it makes a table full of friends look like a coven. If you are hosting, send your guests a quick message with the dress code a week or so ahead so they have time to find a hat.
Tips for Hosting a Witch Tea Party
- Plan one of each item per guest. Serving each guest their own portion on a tiered tray means you never have to guess how much food to make.
- Make the rolls ahead. The pumpkin rolls and finger sandwich rolls come from the same dough, so one batch covers both. I made them the night before and stored in an airtight container until party day.
- Shape and freeze the scones. Bake them on the day of the party so they are warm.
- Make the fillings and cheeseballs the day before. The egg salad, the chicken salad and the cheeseball cones all chill well.
- Put the sandwiches together on party day. It keeps the bread fresh.
- Thrift your teaware. Vintage teapots, candelabras and teacups are easy to find secondhand and look so good on a witch tea party table.
A tea party is one of my favorite ways to gather, and this one reminded me why. There is something special about women sitting down together over a pot of tea, dressed in black and enjoying each other's company -it's a little bit of everyday magic.
Frequently Asked Questions
We served five savory bites, scones with cream and jam, and a few sweets. The full list is in the menu above.
Plan one of each item per guest. With five different savory bites on each person's tray, nobody asked for seconds.
Put a pinch of edible black luster dust in the flute, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of crème de cassis, then top with sparkling wine. The drink turns black as you pour, so there is no need to stir.
Black clothing and a witch hat.
More Tea Party Ideas
If you try anything from this Witch Tea Party or any other ideas on my blog please let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting today!
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