Month: September 2013

There. I said it. I absolutely love the stuff. Lady Grey will do in a pinch, but the Earl is my preference. Last year, my friend Stephanie asked me to come up with a pound cake flavored with tea. I had never attempted this, so there was quite a bit of messaging going on between me and another baking friend — Sunshine. We decided I had to either steep the tea in warm milk or melt the butter and steep the tea in the melted butter. I tried it both ways and found that the butter picked up the flavor better for baking. Steeping it in the milk created a lighter flavor and thus worked for the glaze.

Obviously you can use whatever your favorite tea is for this cake. But for me…. Earl Grey all the way

Earl Grey Pound Cake

2.5 sticks unsalted butter
8 Tablespoons loose Earl Grey tea (this does not mean emptying out tea bags. This is buying the loose tea)
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups flour
1 cup milk (you can substitute soy milk)

Heat the butter until it is just melted. Turn the stove down to low and stir the loose tea into the butter. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove butter from stove and let sit for 5 minutes before pouring the mixture thru a fine sieve. You will have to press on the tea leaves to get as much butter out as possible. The goal is to end up with 1 cup of butter. Allow the butter to cool down to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 325*. Butter and flour a bundt pan and set aside.

Combine butter, shortening and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Beat well after adding each egg. Add in vanilla.

In another bowl, sift together the salt, baking powder and flour.

Add milk in thirds, alternating with flour mixture, to the butter mixture.

Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake at 325 for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Test cake for doneness. When the cake is done, remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before inverting the cake onto a cake plate.

White Chocolate Glaze

3 bags of Earl Grey tea
1/2 cup cream, heated
4 oz white chocolate

Put tea bags into heated cream and steep until cream has cooled to room temp. Finely chop the white chocolate and place in small bowl. Remove and discard the tea bags. Reheat cream in microwave and pour over the white chocolate. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then stir until creamy. Drizzle over warm pound cake.

My son Gavin has discovered he likes chai tea. I adore the stuff too. He suggested I make him a chai pound cake. Poor thing is away at college. I’ve been making these way too often, and he has yet to have a bite. I feel kind of guilty.

Nah.

Chai Pound Cake

2 sticks butter, room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups flour
1 cup Tazo’s chai latte concentrate

Cream together butter, shortening and sugar. Add vanilla extract. Add eggs, beating in one at a time. Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in 1-cup chai latte divided into thirds alternating with flour so you end with chai latte. Bake in a well-greased and floured large tube pan at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let cake stand in pan for 10 minutes before inverting.

I have all these friends who bake. It’s a lovely thing. We bounce ideas off of each other, offer to test each others recipes and give detailed feedback. We even tweak each others recipes before giving feedback sometimes — just to make sure that our advice is on the right track.

This recipe was inspired by a conversation between my friends Sunshine, Stacy (aka cowgazer) and me. Reading the recipe, you might ask yourself if maybe there are too many elements to this pound cake. I have to say no. They all blend and yet stay distinct and are able to support each other… kind of like my group of baking friends.

This is for them.

Sungazer Pound Cake

3/4 cup shelled pistachios
2 sticks butter, room temp
1/2 cup sour cream
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour
1/4 cup creme de cacao
3/4 cup milk
8 oz white chocolate, melted
2 cups raspberries

Preheat oven to 325*F. Butter and flour a large bundt pan (I also ended up with a half dozen cupcakes… just so you know)

Finely grind the pistachios and set aside.

Cream together the butter and sour cream and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Beat well between each addition (if you don’t, your cake will be denser and the texture will be heavy.) Add the vanilla. Add the flour in thirds alternating with the creme de cacao and milk. End with the milk. Add the pistachios then the white chocolate. Stir in the raspberries.

Pour into the bundt pan. Bake for 75 to 90 minutes. Let cool on the counter for 10 to 15 minutes before inverting.