Best Afternoon Tea in Edinburgh

An abundance of savoury and sweet items, all homemade in house by our dedicated pastry chefs. Mouthwatering finger sandwiches with seasonal fillings, delicate scones with Scottish smoked salmon and delicious petit fours, served with loose leaf Brodies tea.

Seasonal soup – Sample – Scottish Kitchen Garden wild garlic and courgette

Ramsays of Carluke ham and grain mustard sandwich

Free range egg finger sandwich

Isle of Mull cheese scone with Dickson’s of Cockenzie smoked salmon and Katy Rodger’s creme fraiche

Findlays of Portobello haggis cannonball

Our skilled pastry team is led by chef Adrian and they work hard to bring you a mixture of traditional classics and creative inventions. Our heavenly homemade cakes and sweets are sure to satisfy even the most sweet-toothed guests.

Fresh from the oven fruit scone with homemade berry jam and chantilly cream

Amalfi lemon posset

Scottish strawberry jelly cubes

Traditional fruit cake flavoured with Brodies Earl Grey

Glengoyne 10yo whisky truffle

French Macaron with white chocolate ganache

Selection of Brodies Tea for you to choose from

Choose your own loose leaf tea at the table from our beautiful Scottish selection. The perfect afternoon treat.

Brodies have been importing and blending tea since the time of the great tea clippers which docked at the bustling Port of Leith, laden with precious cargoes from the farthest corners of the earth.

Peppermint | Chamomile

Earl Grey | Scottish Breakfast

 Cherry blossom | Berry tea

Green | Darjeeling

High Tea for Two £35

Battered sustainable white fish with mushy peas, chips, lemon, homemade tartar sauce and country bread. Served with a selection of teas.

May to June
Available Tuesday to Saturday
3pm to 4.30pm

July & August
Available Monday to Sunday
3pm to 4.30pm

September to April
Available Tuesday to Saturday
3pm to 4.30pm

We always serve cheese scones with our Afternoon tea but cut them in half, butter them and serve with our favourite smoked salmon, a little creme fraiche and a tiny leaf of fresh dill.

Makes 10–12

150g unsalted butter, chilled, plus extra, softened, for greasing
300g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp baking powder
100g Isle of Mull or similar mature cheddar, finely grated
1 egg
15g chives, finely chopped
200ml natural yoghurt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Egg wash made from 1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF/Gas 7 and grease a baking tray.

Sieve the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl and coarsely grate the remaining chilled butter on top. Dip the butter into the flour to stop it sticking, then add the grated cheddar and rub the mixture with your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg, chives, yoghurt and cayenne pepper.

Mix until the ingredients come away from the sides of the bowl.

Transfer to a floured surface and knead lightly. The mixture should be soft enough to handle. The yoghurt can make the mixture sticky so don’t be shy to add more flour if it is too sticky to handle.

Roll out to about 2.5cm thick, then use a small scone or biscuit cutter to cut out the scones.

Place on the greased baking tray, brush with the egg wash.

Bake for 10–12 minutes until risen and golden.

125g ground almonds
125g icing sugar
90g Scottish organic egg whites
110g  caster sugar
Food colouring (optional)
150ml double cream whipped or creme patisserie
2 tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 170/C/325F/Gas 3 and line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Put the icing sugar, ground almonds and 40g egg whites together in a large bowl and mix to a paste.

Put the water and caster sugar in a small pan and heat gently to melt the sugar, then turn up the heat and boil until the mixture starts to go syrupy and thickens – I don’t use a thermometer but if you prefer to use one, it should read 115C at this stage.

Whisk the remaining 50g egg whites in a small bowl until medium-stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed from the bowl, then pour in the sugar syrup, whisking until the mixture becomes stiff and shiny.

For coloured macarons, add a few drops of food colouring. Tip this meringue mixture into the almond paste mixture and stir gently until the becomes stiff and shiny again.

Spoon into the piping bag. Pipe a little mixture under each corner of the baking paper to stop it sliding around. With the bag held vertically, pipe 1½in flat circles onto the lined tray, about ¾in apart, twisting the bag after each one. The mixture should be quite loose to give a smooth finish.

The piping will leave a small ‘tip’ on each circle so, when they’re all piped, give the tray 2–3 taps on a flat surface to flatten them.

Leave to stand for 30 minutes to form a skin then bake in the oven for 12–15 minutes with the door slightly ajar until firm. Remove from the oven, lift the paper off the baking tray and leave the macaroons to cool on the paper.

When cool, sandwich the macarons together with whipped cream or flavoured creme patisserie

There are times when all that is needed is a little cup of tea and a delicious slice of old fashioned fruit cake. The perfect way to spend an afternoon. This cake always tastes better a day later and lasts very well if wrapped in greaseproof paper and stored in a cake tin.

225g sultanas
100g raisins
100g currants
175g dark brown sugar
150ml earl grey tea
Grated zest of one orange
1 egg
225g self-raising flour

Soak the dried fruit in the hot tea overnight with the orange zest.

Beat the egg until light and fluffy and then add a spoonful of flour and a spoonful of fruit until all the mixture is incorporated.

Transfer to a 1 kilo lined loaf tin. Bake at Gas mark 3 for 1 hour 30 minutes until cooked.

I always cover the cake halfway through with a sheet of baking paper to stop it getting too dark

Makes approx 10

You will be slightly surprised by just how much butter is in our scones but that’s what makes them so delicious. With homemade jam and a little cream makes them even more irresistible!

600g self-raising flour
125g caster sugar
200g cold butter
2 eggs
100g sultanas
150ml natural yoghurt

Put the flour in a large mixing bowl and add in the cubes of cold butter, work with your fingers until you have a breadcrumb texture.

Add the sugar and sultanas and then mix in the eggs and yoghurt, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.

Knead a couple of times just to bring together, roll out into a rectangle 2cm deep and cut out as many rounds as possible.

Brush with beaten egg and bake for 10 mins at 180 or until risen and golden.