Queen of Hearts Sandwiches

I'm writing this during the COVID-19 pandemic and many of my friends and family have their kids at home. This is a nice little addition to make a Mad Hatter's tea party picnic with Queen of Hearts sandwiches. They're simple and easy for little ones to make, use simple ingredients, and involve minimal mess - plus they're great fun.

So this is for my niece Gracie, who dressed up as the Queen of Hearts for World Book Day this year.

Essentials: 2 slices of white bread | red jam (strawberry/raspberry) | a heart cutter | ordinary table knife

Optional extras: Margarine/butter | Sprinkles | writing icing OR Marmite

To serve: Some warm red squash (cordial) poured out of a tea pot into a dainty cup!

Firstly, cut the crusts off your slices of white bread. Cut each slice in half so you have 2 rectangles of around playing card size. You should now have 4 small slices. Use your heart cutter to cut a heart out of the middle of 2 slices of bread.

Spread the complete slices with jam (and butter if desired) and place the cut slices on top. Ta da! You have adorable jam sandwiches.

It's fine to stop here if you don't have decorations. You can also make savoury 'spade' sandwiches by cutting a small 'tail' out below an upside down heart. I used Marmite (Veggiemite in Australia) to get a darker suit.

Use your writing icing to add little hearts tothe top left and bottom right of the sandwich to complete the playing card look. I'd recommend this is a task for older children or an adult helper as it's quite tricky. Then sprinkle some sprinkles inside the heart.

Serve with hot squash 'tea', those biscuits (US cookies) you made early in the week, and find a copy of Alice in Wonderland to watch or read. Most importantly make sure to shout 'off with their heads' before taking a bite!