Afternoon Tea at Home in Dubai: Building the Table From Our Bakes

For afternoon tea at home in Dubai, order from our shop the day before for tomorrow's 3–6 pm delivery window, and build the table from four plates: a Classic Lemon Butter Cake Loaf at 35 AED sliced thin, cookies from 14 to 18 AED, sandwiches at 12 AED cut into fingers, and croissants from 14 AED. Delivery is 20 AED below 150 AED and free from 150 AED, with no minimum order, so a tea for four at 155 AED travels free. For a tea that starts before 6 pm, choose the 7–10 am window on the day instead.

To be plain: there are no scones or ready-cut finger sandwiches in our shop, and we do not sell tea or any other drinks. We bake to order in our kitchen in Dubai Silicon Oasis and deliver across Dubai. This guide is for a tea for four to eight that you lay out yourself; for a birthday, baby shower or book club with more guests, see our small event catering guide.

Can you get afternoon tea delivered at home in Dubai?

Not as a set afternoon tea from us: we deliver the bakes, and you brew the tea, add any scones and lay the table. Everything is baked to order for the delivery day.

That works because most of the table waits at room temperature; only the sandwiches go into the fridge. Your side is the teapot, the crockery, a sharp knife for the cake and tongs for the nut plate.

What goes on an afternoon tea table from a bakery?

A cake loaf sliced thin, a mixed plate of cookies, sandwiches cut into fingers and a few croissants torn in half.

• Cake loaves, 35 AED. The Classic Lemon Butter Cake Loaf is the one our tasting notes pair with tea. It slices with a clean edge rather than crumbling, and it is better on day two. The Marble Cake Loaf is the neutral one, for a table where tastes are unknown. Our lemon cake guide and marble cake guide explain how each is made.
• Cookies, 14 to 18 AED. The Oats & Cranberry Cookie, 16 AED, is chewy rather than gritty, and our tasting notes pair it with tea. The Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookie, 18 AED, has a thick soft centre and a crisp rim. Our cookie guide sorts all six by texture.
• Sandwiches, 12 AED. The White Bread Smoked Turkey Sandwich carries smoked turkey, crisp lettuce and cucumber in soft white bread with a thin crust. The White Bread Smoked Chicken Sandwich takes smoked chicken, cheese, cherry tomatoes and arugula. Both are short-window sandwiches, for eating soon after they arrive; our sandwich guide explains why.
• Croissants, 14 to 19 AED. A plain Croissant, 14 AED, is torn in half rather than cut, because a knife compresses the crumb. The Pistachio Croissant, 19 AED, lists unsweetened tea among its pairings, and the Almond Cream Croissant, 18 AED, lists plain tea.

Which delivery window works for afternoon tea?

Tomorrow's 3–6 pm window, if your tea starts at 6 pm or later; for an earlier tea, or one more than a day away, a morning window on the day. The order can arrive at any point inside a window, so plan around its end.

Checkout offers four windows, each three hours long: tomorrow 7–10 am, tomorrow 3–6 pm, the day after tomorrow 7–10 am, and next Saturday 9 am–12 pm.

• A tea at 6 pm or later tomorrow. Choose the 3–6 pm window, so the short-window white bread sandwiches arrive close to serving.
• A tea that starts before 6 pm. Choose 7–10 am on the day and swap the white bread sandwiches for focaccia cut into fingers: kept for the afternoon, even chilled, white bread takes on moisture and softens noticeably.
• A tea further ahead. The afternoon window exists only for tomorrow, so a later tea takes a morning window, the day after tomorrow 7–10 am or next Saturday 9 am–12 pm, with the same focaccia swap.

There is no same-day delivery. The earliest window is preselected, so check which is ticked before you pay; orders placed after our evening cut-off move to the next baking day, and checkout shows the date. In Abu Dhabi, the earliest delivery is two days after ordering, between 2 and 8 pm. Someone must be home to receive the order, because we cannot replace fresh items left uncollected or unrefrigerated; see our delivery page.

How much should you order per guest for afternoon tea?

One cookie per guest, one sandwich between two, and one cake loaf for four, plus a second flavour of loaf for six to eight. A loaf sliced thin absorbs a late guest or an absence, and what is left keeps for three to four days.

Worked orders at today's prices:

• Tea for four, tomorrow 3–6 pm: a Classic Lemon Butter Cake Loaf (35 AED), two White Bread Smoked Turkey Sandwiches (24 AED), two Oats & Cranberry Cookies (32 AED), two Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies (36 AED) and two Croissants (28 AED) come to 155 AED, so delivery is free. Without the croissants the bag would be 127 AED plus the 20 AED fee, 147 AED in all, so the croissants cost only 8 AED more than the fee.
• Tea for six to eight, tomorrow 3–6 pm: a Classic Lemon Butter Cake Loaf and a Marble Cake Loaf (70 AED), two White Bread Smoked Turkey and two White Bread Smoked Chicken Sandwiches (48 AED), four Oats & Cranberry Cookies (64 AED) and four Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies (72 AED) come to 254 AED, with free delivery.
• The same teas before 6 pm, on the 7–10 am window: swap each sandwich for a focaccia at 12 AED, such as the Focaccia · Rosemary & Olive Oil or the Focaccia · Cherry Tomato. The totals stay 155 AED and 254 AED.

Put the whole tea into one order to one address. Payment is on PayPal's page, where a credit or debit card works, usually without a PayPal account.

How do you keep sandwiches right for afternoon tea?

Into the fridge whole on arrival, out ten to fifteen minutes before serving so the crumb relaxes and the flavour comes back, then cut into fingers. Every sandwich we make has meat or cheese in it, which is why it goes cold.

1. Leave them whole until serving. As the notes on our focaccia sandwich put it, cutting early only exposes more crumb.
2. Cut into fingers as they go on the plate, and label the plate with the meat in each.
3. Watch the clock. Standard food-safety guidance is no more than two hours out of the fridge in total, or one hour above 32°C. For a long tea, put half the fingers out and keep the rest whole in the fridge for a second round.

How should you slice cake and serve the sweet plates?

Slice the cake loaf as people take it, thinner than you would for dessert; keep the rest whole with cling film pressed against the cut face, and keep everything sweet out of the fridge, where cold stales the crumb.

• Cake loaves. Store what is left in an airtight box at room temperature for three to four days. If the lemon loaf has been kept somewhere cool, leave it out for 30 to 40 minutes before serving, so the butter softens and the citrus comes back.
• Cookies. Keep them in an airtight container at room temperature until the table is set.
• Croissants. Keep them in a paper bag, not a sealed plastic box, which turns the crust leathery, and eat them the day they arrive.
• Focaccia, for a morning delivery. Keep it in paper or under a cloth, never in the fridge. To bring the rosemary one back, put a few drops of water on top and give it about four to six minutes at 200°C, then cut it into fingers.

How do you plan an afternoon tea around allergies?

Ask guests about allergies when you invite them, then tell us before you order and we will tell you honestly whether we can serve them safely. Our kitchen handles wheat, gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts, peanuts, soy, sesame and seeds, and we cannot guarantee that any item is free from traces of these.

Three of the bakes above name nuts in their descriptions: the Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookie, the Pistachio Croissant and the Almond Cream Croissant. Give them their own plate and tongs. That does not make the other plates safe for a nut allergy, and our descriptions are not full ingredient lists, so do not copy them onto labels.

Every sandwich in our shop contains meat: chicken, turkey or ham. Nothing in our shop is labelled vegetarian or vegan, so if some guests do not eat meat, ask us before you order rather than relying on the descriptions.

When is a tea better treated as an event?

When it has grown into a party, or when you want the food set up for you. For a party you still lay out yourself, our small event catering guide works through larger orders. For food baked that morning, delivered and set up, use the Bring Farah to your event form, which lists private gatherings among its occasions.

Give the date, guest numbers, venue, arrival time and any allergies. We reply within one working day. There is no package list or per-person price, and no published notice period, so enquire early.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you deliver afternoon tea in Dubai?

Not as a set afternoon tea. We do not bake scones, and we do not sell tea or other drinks. We deliver the bakes to build one yourself: cake loaves, cookies, sandwiches and croissants, baked to order and delivered across Dubai.

Can I order afternoon tea for delivery today?

No. There is no same-day delivery, and everything is baked to order for the day it is due. The earliest window is tomorrow 7–10 am and the afternoon window is tomorrow 3–6 pm, so order no later than the day before your tea.

How much does afternoon tea for four cost from Farah Bakery?

From our shop it is the sum of the item prices. A Classic Lemon Butter Cake Loaf, two White Bread Smoked Turkey Sandwiches, two Oats & Cranberry Cookies, two Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies and two Croissants come to 155 AED, so delivery is free. Below 150 AED, delivery is 20 AED.

Which of your cakes goes with tea?

The Classic Lemon Butter Cake Loaf at 35 AED, which our tasting notes pair with tea. It slices with a clean edge rather than crumbling and is better on day two. For a table with unknown tastes, add the Marble Cake Loaf, also 35 AED.

How far ahead can I cut the sandwiches into fingers?

Do not cut them ahead. Keep them whole in the fridge from the moment they arrive, take them out ten to fifteen minutes before serving and cut them then, because cutting early only exposes more crumb. Do not leave them out more than two hours in total, or one hour above 32°C.

Order your afternoon tea

Count who is coming, pick the window that lands before you sit down and order no later than the day before: a Classic Lemon Butter Cake Loaf to slice thin, a cookie each from our cookies and bars collection, and a White Bread Smoked Turkey Sandwich for every two guests. The rest is in the shop; the tea is yours to brew.