Earl Grey Tea Cake

I like tea cakes.  They aren’t too sweet, they aren’t hard to make, and they aren’t impressive, they are just comfortable to have around.

Sort of like reading a book that does not challenge you in the least but satisfies you deep inside, you know?

Tea cakes.  A really good tea cake should look nice enough to put on a tea table but be plain enough that you can serve leftovers for breakfast next to some eggs and bacon.  Right?

This one will do it.

I made this with the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter baking sticks I was reviewing.  You can use those or you can certainly use real unsalted butter.

This cake is not too sweet, with a subtle lemon and Earl Grey flavor.  Really nice for tea or with breakfast, or a snack, or even dessert with maybe some fruit.  It goes together easily, keeps for a long time, and makes the house smell nice.

Can you really ask for more than that?

The original recipe is out of a very old cookbook that I have.  It is based on a recipe called Thrifty Poundcake, from the 1930s.  I changed ingredients and flavors but it is still thrifty, and still really good.

Earl Grey Tea Cake

• 3 cups cake flour, sifted
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter or I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter baking sticks  (1 cup)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 eggs beaten
• 1/2 cup Earl Grey tea
• Juice of 1 lemon
• zest of 1 lemon

1. Sift dry ingredients together, stir in lemon peel
2. Cream butter with sugar and vanilla until fluffy.  Add eggs and beat well.
3. Mix tea and lemon juice
4. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternatingly with tea mixture.  Beat well after each addition.
5. Grease a bundt pan and flour it.  Pour in batter
6. Bake at 350 for 1 hour
7. Cool for five minutes and then turn pan upside down
8. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar or glaze with lemon glaze

Lemon Glaze

• 1/4 cup butter melted
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• Enough confectioner’s to make a thick glaze

Mix together and drizzle over cake.  Grate lemon zest over top.

As you can see I tend to glaze mine and then sprinkle with a little confectioner’s from a shaker.  It just looks prettier that way!

Images:Marye Audet