Celebrated pastry chef Will Torrent recently launched his third recipe book, Afternoon Tea at Home, and British Baker went along to find out more.

The book features 80 recipes covering everything from classics such as vanilla shortbread to more adventurous offerings including friands made with matcha tea, a powdered green tea from China and Japan. Published by Ryland Peters & Small for an RRP of £19.99, it follows Torrent’s previous titles Patisserie at Home and Chocolate at Home.

British Baker caught up with Torrent at the launch event at St George’s Church, Holborn, London to talk about the book and what inspires him.

To celebrate the launch of the book, Torrent created two limited-edition patisserie treats with The Tea Room at Harrods.

He also recently gave a tutorial on YouTube in which he demonstrated two sandwich recipes from the book and showed some key tips bakers can use to give their own wares a classy twist:

1: Flavour your butter.

For his smoked salmon sandwich, Torrent added lemon to his butter for a fresh kick. Meanwhile, to his cucumber sandwich butter he added Yuzu, a Japanese citrus fruit he described as a cross between a lemon, a grapefruit and a lime, which lends the sandwiches an earthy flavour.

2: Pickle your cucumber.

If you are bored by the taste of regular cucumber, Torrent advises lightly pickling wafer thin slices in cider vinegar. He warns against leaving the cucumber in the vinegar for too long, however, and over-pickling it.

3: Presentation is everything.

To get a professional, afternoon tea-style finish, Torrent says the crusts must be removed from the sandwiches before they are sliced into elegant fingers.