Have you ever had a secret that you were just dying to tell? I had a surprise phone call on Friday and I would love to tell you all about it! Unfortunately I am not sure if I am allowed to share… so I am going to have to settle for a slice of strawberry tea cake and a pot of tea instead.
On Monday I will update this story with the news, if I can get permission to share the gossip….
In the meantime a story of another kind; When I first started cooking as a teenager I always though tea cake sounded rather nice. When I baked my first tea cake I was disappointed to find that the cake didn’t actually have tea as an ingredient. It was merely a cake which was served with tea. I guess this has played on my mind at times because when I ripped open a bag of the Dilmah Rose with French Vanilla tea my thought immediately went to tea cake! Only, I wanted this heavenly scented tea in the cake itself!
These cute little mini loaves are the result of a bit of experimentation with the Dilmah Tea. I wanted to ensure that the flavour came through well.
The results are a delicious “real” tea cake with a distinct rose flavour and the subtle flavour of the Ceylon tea. Perfect for afternoon tea or perhaps high tea??? …although my family had theirs as a dessert and served warmed with homemade custard.
Enough of the hints and excitement, I don’t want to get myself disqualified! So here is the recipe for these little treats, and I hope I can update the story on Monday with my news.
Ingredients:
200g unsalted butter
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup strong tea (4 bags of Dilmah Rose w French Vanilla Tea in 250mls hot water)
Topping
1/3 cup strawberry Jam
4 strawberries halved
Method:
Add the cup of boiled water to a 2 cup capacity jug or teapot. Remove the paper tags from four Dilmah Rose w French Vanilla tea bags and place into the boiled water. Set the tea aside and allow it to steep.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Butter the base of individual mini loaf pans.
Cream the butter and sugar together using an electric mixer in the small bowl. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well.
Transfer the mixture to a larger bowl. Add half the flour and tea to the cake mix and fold in gently. Repeat with the remaining flour and tea.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and top with the halved strawberries.
Bake for approx 15-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the largest cake comes out clean.
Warm the jam in the microwave for 40 seconds or until smooth.
Turn the cakes onto a wire rack. Reverse the cakes so that the strawberries are on top. Use the jam and a basting brush to glaze the tea cake whilst it is still hot.
I hope you enjoy these little cakes. See you again on Monday 😉