Wimbledon is back on our tellies! I don’t know about you but the sound of subdued applause, grunts of exertion and low-tone commentary on a point system that has no reason or rhyme is the nostalgic sound of summers gone by.
As a travel blogger who has been grounded by the pandemic for 15 months (at the time of publishing) I’ve had to think outside of the Royal box (laugh at my tennis joke!) so here I am, serving up (laugh again) ideas for your Wimbledon-at-home experience this and every summer that Wimbledon is on, or any tennis championship for that matter.
Whoever you’re watching the tennis with this year, these drink and snack ideas will help level up your experience whilst watching Wimbledon at home.
To be as inclusive as possible all of my suggestions below are suitable for vegetarians and can also be made vegan, and to make things easy for you I’ve also put a shopping list together at the end of this post.
Here are the drinks and snacks you need to serve up the perfect spread for a Wimbledon viewing party.
Wimbledon viewing party drinks
Pimm’s No1 Fruit Cup
Drinking Pimm’s in the summer is synonymous with watching Wimbledon.
Pimm’s is a spiced and fruity gin-based spirit served as a long drink with lemonade or ginger ale.
Learn more about the origin of Pimm’s No1 here.
What you need to make a simple glass of Pimm’s
50ml Pimm’s No1
150ml lemonade
1 sliced strawberry
3 slices of cucumber (1 for garnishing)
1 sprig of fresh mint
Ice
If you want to make the perfect pitcher of Pimm’s then take a look at my popular summer recipe blog post.
Gin & tonic
The G&T is the most classic English cocktail of all time. Celebrate the Wimbledon Championships being back on our TV sets with official gin of Wimbledon: Sipsmith. Serve an ace (see what I did there) and make your gin and tonics with Sipsmith’s Strawberry Smash gin, their special edition Wimbledon themed gin.
Sipsmith’s Strawberry Smash gin has been distilled with Hugh Lowe’s (the official strawberry supplier for Wimbledon) 2020 strawberry harvest.
Serve Sipsmith’s Strawberry Smash with tonic and strawberry slices or take a look here at Sipsmith’s suggested cocktail recipes.
Robinsons squash
Robinsons is the official soft drink of Wimbledon and is perfect for those who won’t be drinking alcohol.
Robinsons make concentrated squashes and cordials ready for you to dilute with water into a refreshing drink to quench your thirst whilst watching the tennis. Robinsons has turned almost every fruit into one of their squashes so there’s one to please everyone (who likes fruit).
PFH Fun Fact: Robinsons squash was created at The Championships, Wimbledon in 1935. Their first flavour was Lemon Barley Water for the players to keep them hydrated during their matches.
Get double strength to reduce the amount of plastic you purchase as you only need half the amount and recycle your bottle responsibly if you don’t plan on upcycling it.
Wimbledon viewing party snacks
Strawberries and cream
Strawberries and cream were first combined during the reign of Henry VIII in the 1500s, since then it has been a firm British favourite during the summer.
The tradition of serving strawberries and cream at the Wimbledon tennis championships originated in 1877 but no one really knows why. Popular beliefs are that strawberries were in season during the tournament and that eating strawberries was very popular during the Victorian Period. Consider them the Victorian equivalent of a grande Starbucks cup that appears all across your social media feeds (please try to use reusable cups).
PFH Fun Fact: the strawberries sold at Wimbledon are picked on the Hugh Lowe farm at 4am on the day that they are to be served.
A serving of strawberries and cream at Wimbledon includes at least 10 strawberries. Serve them with oat cream for a vegan alternative.
Scones served with clotted cream and homemade strawberry jam
Few sweet treats are as quintessentially British as a scone served with clotted cream and jam. As it’s a Wimbledon themed spread you’re putting together I suggest serving strawberry jam, or to make things really special why not try your hand at making fresh strawberry jam with my homemade jam recipe blog post. I made a jar of strawberry jam for this blog post in under one hour and it tastes better than any strawberry jam I’ve ever had. To speed up your jam making process, blend your strawberries in a smoothie maker or food processor before adding them to the sugar.
As for your clotted cream, it can’t be anything other than Rodda’s, made in Cornwall. In saying that I am aware that if you’re reading this in North America and want to put this tennis themed spread together you won’t be able to get your hands on the best cream in the world. For you I suggest whipping up some double cream.
Learn to make freshly baked scones with my recipe blog post here. To make vegan scones simply swap out the egg for 3tbsp of chickpea water, the butter for margarine and the milk for any milk alternative.
Tennis ball sugar cookies
My sugar cookies take less than an hour to make and once cool you can decorate them in under half an hour. They only take 8-10 minutes to bake, require very little baking skills, are easy to decorate and really pull the theme together. Click here for the recipe.
If you’re not vegan don’t worry, my sugar cookie recipe wasn’t originally vegan. Where I use egg replacement use 1 egg and you can use dairy butter instead of margarine.
To make tennis ball sugar cookies, use a round cookie cutter and find a yellow fondant icing. Mix up some icing sugar into a thick consistency and pipe on the white curves or you can purchase pre packaged piping icing if you don’t have your own bag at home.
English cheese and crackers
For your savoury accompaniment to all of these sweet treats serve up some crackers and classic English cheeses such as cheddar, Wensleydale and Double Gloucester. Take a look in your local deli to support a small business.
Compliment your cheese and crackers with a pickle. For a crowd pleaser go for Branston pickle – it’s a sweet pickle chutney and for a British classic serve Piccalilli – it’s a mustard pickle that was inspired by south asian pickle – or, if you feeling like something different why not give my Mauritian spiced vegetable pickle a go, I’ve linked the recipe here.
Wimbledon viewing party shopping list
Strawberries (at least x2 punnets, one for making jam and one for serving with strawberries)
Cucumber
Lemon
Mint
Cheddar cheese
Double Gloucester cheese
Wensleydale cheese
Clotted cream
Cream or oat cream
Milk or milk alternative
Margarine
Pickle
Tin of chickpeas (for the water as egg replacement or buy eggs)
Crackers
Caster sugar
Plain flour
Self raising flour
Baking powder
Fondant icing
Icing sugar
Caster sugar
Vanilla extract
Currants
Robinsons Squash
Lemonade
Indian tonic
Pimm’s No1 Cup
Sipsmith Strawberry Smash gin
Don’t understand the rules of tennis and want to grasp it quickly? Take a listen to the Calm app’s sleep story “But seriously, The Rules of Tennis” read by the legend himself John McEnroe.
Game, set, match and snack!
Do more on & for the planet,
Gabriella
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