Simkin: Tea parties not just for the British

April 29 is a date that will have international significance — not just because it’s the… April 29 is a date that will have international significance — not just because it’s the penultimate day of finals, but also because Prince William of Wales is marrying Kate Middleton. What better way to celebrate both occasions than a tea party?

Tea is a far broader subject than I could hope to cover in a food column. For the sake of simplicity and tradition, then, we’ll confine ourselves to black tea options, neglecting the many fine white, green and herbal varieties. The classic options are Darjeeling, widely hailed as the champagne of teas for its delicate taste, Earl Grey and English Breakfast. I would also highly recommend plain PG Tips tea — wildly popular in the United Kingdom and available at the Giant Eagle Market District and some Indian grocery stores.

You’ll want to provide guests with cream or milk and sugar — I don’t actually know of anyone who takes their tea with lemon, but I suppose you could prepare for that contingency, as well.

As for food, finger sandwiches aren’t at all dissimilar from regular sandwiches except for their presentation: crusts cut off, sliced into triangles. So basically like lunch when you were 5, but now with elegance.

There are a few classic ingredient varieties you could attempt. I’d recommend making at least two for variety’s sake, if you’re attempting to put together an actual tea party. Chicken, tuna and egg salad are probably concoctions you’re already familiar with making that will serve as excellent fillings on white or wheat bread. Smoked salmon and cream cheese or cucumber is another favorite, as well as watercress and butter.

Is it a tea party without scones? Of course it is: A tea party is a state of mind and has no formal requirements other than perhaps tea and friends. But you’re probably expecting a scone recipe, and I’m loath to disappoint.

Hence, for basic plain scones, combine 3 cups flour with 1/2 cup sugar, 5 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cut in 3/4 cup of butter, then stir in 1 beaten egg and 1 cup of milk until a rough dough forms. Roll dough into a circle about 1/2 inch thick and cut into eight wedges — not unlike how you would cut a pizza. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Add half a cup of cranberries, raisins, blueberries, raspberries, chocolate chips, some combination of all of the above or whatever else you like.

Serve with butter, jam and, if you can track some down, clotted cream — a peculiar dairy product with a consistency somewhere between butter and cream that ideally complements the dry texture of the scones.

For dessert, one could make anything from lemon squares to petit fours. My magical baking roommate has two recipes that have worked nicely in the past: meringues and citrus cookies.

If you’d like to try your hand at meringues, the steps are simple. Separate 4 eggs. Put the yolks aside, we’ll come back to those later. Beat the egg-whites until they are frothy and have multiplied to three times their original volume — it’s not witchcraft, it’s food science. A stand mixer would be ideal: Meringues are possible to make by hand but exhausting. Add a dash of cream of tartar and 1 and 1/3 cups of white sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Pipe the mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, or until the outer edges start to brown slightly.

Plain meringues are totally fine, but if you’re dying to add flair, you could consider adding 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract or another flavoring to the mixture or even a cup of chocolate chips — lumps of chocolate detract from the aesthetic a bit but are delicious, so you’ll have to choose your battles accordingly.

As for those leftover egg yolks, we’ll not let those go to waste. Whereas in a normal cookie recipe you would use 2 whole eggs, for citrus cookies we’ll instead use 4 yolks, yielding a much richer cookie appropriately decadent for a tea party. Combine the yolks with 1 cup of butter at room temperature, 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar, 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 2 teaspoons of lemon extract or orange extract, or both if you’re feeling especially citrus-y. Bake at 350 degrees for 13 minutes.

Decorations, serving accoutrements and etiquette I leave entirely to your discretion. I’m fond of a strict formal dress code — some of my guests, considerably less so.