What is afternoon tea without a few adorable mini desserts? With a little time and creativity, you can reinvent store-bought items into beautiful little desserts for a special occasion tea.

Miniature Tea Party Desserts

In the Small Bites for Tea Time post, I featured easy canapés and finger sandwiches assembled with ready-made products to make assembly a breeze. No tea party table would be complete without a few miniature desserts, too.

Grocery stores are filled with items you can combine and elevate into even more delicious treats to please the most discerning tea party guest. I’ll share what products to look for (there are so many ways to customize) and provide not just one easy recipe, but three…for good measure!

Detailed ingredients and instructions are in the recipe card below, but here are the ingredients and some helpful tips for each delicious sweet treat.

Individual Bread Puddings with Caramel Sauce

A cinnamon-scented custard is baked with bread already studded with fruit. Drizzle a super easy, microwaveable caramel sauce on top and call it done! Although this one requires a little more effort than the others, it’s a simple recipe to prepare thanks to a few shortcut products!

Fruited bread – like cinnamon raisin loaf, cranbery-nut bread, etc. Selections will vary depending on the season. Be sure to look in your grocer’s fresh bakery as well as in the packaged bakery aisle.
Milk – feel free to use any variety of dairy milk (low-fat, whole) or dairy-alternative.
Soft caramel candies – the kind that come in small squares or rectangles and individually wrapped. Sea salt caramels are perfect!
Whiskey – you can use water instead.
Pantry staples – room temperature unsalted butter, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, vanilla extract, eggs, heavy cream (or half & half or milk).

Tips:

I used 4-ounce ramekins, but custard cups or muffin tins can be used as well. Bake times may need to be adjusted slightly (either up or down) depending on the container you choose.
Whether using ramekins or a muffin tin, place them on a sheet pan in case any custard spills over during baking.

Sea Salt + Chocolate Waffle Cookies

This is so easy, it’s ridiculous! We’re taking buttery cookies up a notch with a drizzle of melted chocolate and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. That’s it!

Waffle cookies – you may find these at the grocery as ‘stroopwafels’ or ‘butter crisps’. Whatever name they go by, they look like small, thin waffles.
Chocolate candy bar – I’m partial to Belgian dark chocolate, but you might prefer milk chocolate. Grab your favorite bar & you can’t go wrong!
Flaky sea salt – like Maldon.

Tip: Instead of flaky sea salt, you could stud the chocolate drizzle with chopped dried fruit, crystallized ginger or crushed nuts.

Raspberry-Marmalade Mini Tarts

Refrigerated pie crust turns into tiny tart cases to hold a fresh raspberry and sweet-tart orange marmalade. Only three ingredients! Or, you can take it a step further by brushing on a quick orange glaze spiked with brandy to give them a glossy finish.

Refrigerated pie crust – if the package comes with two pie crusts, you’ll need just one…save the other for another recipe.
Orange marmalade – if you prefer, use apricot or peach preserves.
Fresh raspberries – a 6-ounce package is enough.
Brandy – totally optional!

Tip: If the tart cases become too pliable or warm after placing them in the mini muffin tin, pop the tin in the fridge for about 15 minutes before filling and baking.

a group of mini raspberry-marmalade tarts

Ideas for Using Up Extra Ingredients

If you’re sticking with small batches, you’ll have some extra yummy treats left. Besides eating them as is, here are some ideas to use them up…

Make French toast with the fruited bread.
Serve orange marmalade on crumpets, biscuits or English muffins at your tea party.
Grab some marshmallow fluff and make s’mores with the soft caramels and waffle cookies — it’s really, really good!

Throw a Tea Party Anytime!

Hosting an afternoon tea is great way to celebrate holidays like Mother’s Day, and perfect for a baby shower or bridal shower!

What a wonderful way to enjoy a variety of flavors, from savory canapés (like classic cucumber sandwiches with cream cheese) to these beautiful desserts. For even more variety, fill in with fresh fruit and ready-to-serve goodies like little cheesecakes, petit fours, and macarons. Display your fare on tiered serving trays or an assortment of pretty cake stands. Don’t forget the flowers!

Try These Other Mini Dessert Recipes!