Earl Grey Tea Cake

I found this recipe today in the Toronto Star and thought it would be a great addition to our Recipe Section:

1-1/4 cups boiling water

3/4 cup loose-leaf Earl Grey tea leaves

8 tbsp unsalted butter, softened + more for greasing

1-1/2 cups demerara sugar

3 large eggs

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup ground almonds

2 to 4 cups Thompson raisins

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Crème fraîche for serving (optional)

Grease a non-stick loaf pan or line with parchment paper, then grease.

Pour water over tea leaves in medium bowl; let stand at least 1 hour. Strain tea, discarding leaves. Set tea (about 3/4 cup) aside to cool.

In large mixing bowl using electric mixer, cream 8 tablespoons butter and sugar until light and smooth. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Using wooden spoon, fold in flour and almonds, followed by raisins and walnuts, if using. Add reserved tea; mix well.

Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake in centre of preheated 350F oven 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool cake in pan set on cooling rack at least 1 hour. Unmould cake, discarding parchment, if using.

Serve cake sliced and topped with crème fraîche, if using.

Store leftovers wrapped in plastic and refrigerated.

Makes 12 servings.

"Earl Grey is the most-often served tea at Buckingham Palace," notes Darren McGrady in Eating Royalty. "It is a black tea flavored with oil of Bergamot – a fragrant citrus fruit – and named after the second Earl Grey in 1830.

"Needless to say, it also makes a wonderful scented tea cake that stays moist for weeks."

I made this twice, once with 4 cups raisins (as the recipe called for) and once with 2 cups. The first version was too dense with raisins for my taste. I used a 9 inch by 5.75 inch non-stick loaf pan.

Have fun and enjoy!

Although this is made with Earl Grey, I think this would be a great cake to make with left over tea.  For example, if you have left over black tea, then you could add some lemon juice or orange juice (or both) to make up the 3/4 cup.  Rooibos tea would be a good choice too.  Just a thought....