Benedictine Sandwich Spread

Invented near the end of the 19th century, Benedictine Sandwich Spread is made with finely grated cucumbers, cream cheese, mayonnaise, and fresh dill. It’s delicious when spread liberally on tea sandwiches, but can also be used as a dip.

Benedictine Sandwich Spread is a spread made with cucumbers and cream cheese. It was invented near the end of the 19th century, where it was originally – and still is – used for making sandwiches. It can also be used as a dip or combined with meat in a sandwich. Such a hit in the state of Kentucky, the spread can often be found in some local grocery stores there!

Invented around the end of the 19th century by Jennie Carter Benedict, who died in 1928, Jennie was a caterer, restaurateur, and cookbook author in Louisville, Kentucky. She opened a kitchen providing catering services in 1893, and in 1900 opened a restaurant and tea room called, Benedict’s. It was potentially during her catering period when she developed and originally served the Benedictine Sandwich

Over time, the sandwich has been featured on Food Network television shows such as Paula’s Home Cooking. It was also featured in Southern Living Magazine, Garden Magazine, PopSugar, and in the Smithsonian’s Folklife Magazine.

TEA PARTY SANDWICHES

I like to refer to a Benedictine Sandwich as a Tea Party Sandwich. These are so easy to prepare, so make a bunch and invite some friends over for afternoon tea. They will be so grateful! The goal of an afternoon tea party should be this – delicious finger foods, a hot beverage, and good company.

When it comes to hot beverages, you can serve tea or coffee. To be honest, even though this is all about a tea party, I’m a coffee drinker and that’s exactly what I had in my cup. If you have a tea set, dig it out and dust it off. Use the sugar bowl and the creamer too. Set it all up and make it look fancy!

Prepare enough sandwiches so that each person at your party can have at least three or four. They are small, so you will want to make sure everyone has their fill. The goal of a tea party is to relax with some nibbles and tea, while you chat with your favourite people. Everyone can put down their phones and put away any other devices or electronics for an hour or so. Sit together and talk about whatever you feel like talking about. Just enjoy each other’s company for a little while.

CHOOSING SANDWICHES

There are hundreds of tea party sandwich ideas out there. But, of course, you can’t make them all. Pick a few of them – the ones that you know your family will enjoy and prepare only those. Start with this Benedictine Sandwich and then maybe one or two others. You can’t go wrong with a classic egg salad sandwich. In terms of egg salad, I have an Irish version that is so good, but also this jalapeno popper version if you’re feeling adventurous. Lastly, prepare one sandwich with meat. How about this Deviled Ham on a Croissant? It’s very easy and very delicious too!

All of these sandwich recipes are prepared pretty much the same way. Choose a bread that you like. It might be a good idea to use different loaves of bread for variety. Try a baguette, thinly sliced white bread, and dark rye for different flavours and textures.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Cucumbers – One large cucumber is all you need. You will need to get as much of the moisture out as possible. I’ll tell you how to do that in the next section.
• Cream Cheese – For this recipe, it is best to use brick style rather than whipped or cream cheese in a tub.  The brick style is firmer and more condensed, therefore, it will create a firmer spread. 
• Green Onions – For flavour and freshness.
• Fresh Dill – You must use fresh dill in this recipe! The dill is one of the main flavours, so it just makes sense to use fresh instead of dried. Dried dill is much stronger and even though it tastes good, it will not have a freshness to it.
• Mayonnaise – Please use mayonnaise and not salad dressing. Mayo is thick and salty, while salad dressing is thinner and tangy.
• Ground Black Pepper & Salt – No salt is needed for the pinwheel because the mayonnaise has salt and so does the cream cheese.
• Bread

HOW TO PREPARE THE CUCUMBER

This is the only part of the recipe that requires a little bit of explanation. You see, Dear Reader, cucumber is full of water, in fact, cucumbers are made up of about 96% water. We really don’t need all of that in our mixture, because it will water it down. A watery cucumber and cream cheese mixture means that your sandwiches are going to get soggy; nobody wants that.

Wash the cucumber well. Trim off the ends and discard. Next, slice the cucumber in half lengthwise. Hold one-half of the cucumber firmly in your hand and use a spoon to scrape the seeds out. Discard the seeds. Most of the water content is stored in the seeds. Once you’ve done that to both halves, use a box grater to shred the cucumber using the side with the smaller holes. Once shredded, salt the cucumber and mix it through with your fingertips.

Transfer the cucumber to a clean kitchen towel. Pile it up neatly in the middle of the towel so that you can easily gather up the sides. Let it sit for five minutes. Now, gather up the ends of the towel and twist firmly, holding the ball of cucumber tightly. Squeeze as much of the liquid out as you possibly can. Discard it; you will not need it for the remainder of this recipe.

HOW TO MAKE BENEDICTINE SANDWICH SPREAD

Wash the cucumber well. Trim off the ends and discard. Next, slice the cucumber in half lengthwise and use a spoon to scrape out and discard the seeds. Use a box grater to shred the cucumber using the side with the smaller holes. Next, add the salt to the cucumber and mix it though with your fingertips. Transfer the cucumber to a clean kitchen towel. Pile it up neatly in the middle of the towel so that you can easily gather up the sides. Let it sit for five minutes. Gather up the ends of the towel and twist firmly, holding the ball of cucumber tightly. Squeeze as much of the liquid out as you possibly can. Discard it.

In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, and ground black pepper until creamy and smooth. Next, stir in the cucumber, sliced green onions, and chopped fresh dill.

Lay half of the sliced bread out into a single layer onto a clean table or countertop Evenly share the cucumber mixture over the bread. Spread the mixture as evenly as possible over the entire surface of each slices of bread. Top each with a second slice of bread and press down gently. Slice into triangles or rectangles. (It is up to you if you would like to trim away the crusts of leave them on – I removed them.)

Plate, garnish with fresh dill, and serve immediately, or cover with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated. Benedictine Sandwiches will keep in the fridge for 3-5 hours. After that time, the bread will soak up some of the moisture from the cucumber mixture. They are still delicious and edible, but might not be as presentable if you are serving these to anyone other than your family or friends. Enjoy!

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!