High Tea Cake Food

BLACK FOLKS SOUTHERN TEA CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a medium-size bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar for about 2 minutes until creamy.
• Add the egg, lemon zest, sour cream, mayonnaise, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract.
• Mix until well blended to make the tea cake batter.
• Sift together the remaining dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg over a sheet of parchment paper large enough to fit your baking sheet.
• Fold the parchment paper to pour the sifted flour mixture into the tea cake batter and then mix again.
• Add the batter to a lightly floured surface and roll the dough to approx ¼ inch thickness. This is where the extra cup of flour will come in handy to help with rolling because the dough is sticky!
• Cut out the tea cakes with a 2 ½" up to 3″ biscuit cutter. (I used a 2 ¾" biscuit cutter.)
• Place the rounds onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet about one inch apart. (You may need to bake more than 1 batch if all your rounds don't fit on your baking sheet.)
• Bake until light brown (but don't let them get too brown!). 5-6 minutes in the conventional oven and 3-4 minutes in the Instant Pot Omni Plus oven. (Tea cakes don't take long to bake, so keep a close eye on them to avoid burning! Like a biscuit, you want them firm on the outside and fluffy on the inside.)
• Optional: When the tea cakes are finished baking and cooling, optionally make the lemon glaze frosting by combining the powdered sugar and lemon juice.
• Mix well with a whisk to remove any lumps from the powdered sugar.
• Use a small spatula or spoon to drop a dollop of icing onto each cooled tea cake. The icing will harden in about 5 minutes.
• Optionally, garnish this Southern Black folk tea cake recipe with a sprinkle of lemon zest, then serve and enjoy!

TEACAKES

Steps:

• Warm the milk with the butter in a pan until the butter has melted, then add 100ml water to cool the mixture to room temp. Tip the flour, yeast, sugar, spice and 1 tsp salt into a bowl, making sure the yeast is on the other side of the bowl to the salt. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour the milk and butter in, mixing until it forms big flakes, then bring together with your hands. Tip on a surface and knead until smooth (about 5 mins). Put the dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave until doubled in size, so about 1-1 ½ hours.
• Line a tray with baking paper. Tip the mixed dried fruits into the dough and knead them in, trying to disperse them evenly throughout the dough. Cut your dough into 6 even-sized balls, take each ball and, using the cup of your hand, and pressing down a little with your palm, roll the ball in a circular motion on the surface to create tension across the top of the bun and a neat round shape. Place onto a tray about 5cm away from each other and press down with your palm to flatten the dough down a little, creating the teacake shape. Cover loosely with an oiled sheet of cling film, for a further 45 mins, or until they have doubled in size.
• Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6. Brush the top of each bun liberally with the egg wash, then bake for 20 mins on the top shelf of the oven, until the buns are golden and well risen. Allow to cool on a wire rack, then slice in half, toast and slather with butter if you like.

HIGH TEA CAKE

Steps:

• Set oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit or Mark 3.
• Place the butter, syrup, fruit, lemon rind and milk in a saucepan and heat until the butter is melted. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring gently. Allow to cool.
• Sieve together the flour, salt and spices into a bowl and make a well in the center.
• Beat the eggs lightly together, pour into the well, but do not stir in just yet.
• Add the soda to the butter mixture; pour into the well over the eggs and mix thoroughly.
• Turn into a 7 or 8 inch cake tin lined with buttered greaseproof paper and smooth over the top.
• Bake for 1 3/4 to 2 hours, covering the top with kitchen foil if it appears to be browning too quickly.
• Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack.
• Remove the paper when the cake is cold.