It is an adventure to cook with tea because sometimes you just don’t know what you will get or if the person making the recipe understands how to use loose leaf tea well . Below is a recipe by Samantha Seneviratne that ran recently in the The New York Times Cooking section. One of the Dominion Tea staff, Anngelica Soto, took on this recipe and has included in her notes on how to use the tea better and what she learned in the process

Ingredients

For Frosting:

¾ cup/180 milliliters heavy cream

2 teaspoons loose Earl Grey tea

¼ cup/30 grams confectioners’ sugar

For Cake:

½ cup/115 grams mascarpone or softened cream cheese

½ cup/115 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan

1 ½ cups/190 grams all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon loose leaf Earl Grey tea (I recommend you put through a grinder to turn into powder, the tea leaves are big and chewy.)

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar

2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest (from 1 large orange) (Feel free to substitute a Blood Orange- very aromatic)

2 large eggs, at room temperature

½ cup/120 milliliters whole milk, at room temperature

¼ cup/45 grams chopped dark chocolate (70% added a good depth of flavor)

Steps to Prepare Cake

1. Prepare the frosting: In a small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup/120 milliliters heavy cream to a simmer over medium-high heat. Stir in the tea, remove from the heat, cover and let stand for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Strain the tea through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding the solids, and chill the remaining cream until completely cold, at least 1 hour.
2. Prepare the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, tea, baking powder and salt.
3. In large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the orange zest and beat to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the flour mixture on low, until just combined, then beat in the milk. (Don’t overmix.) Add the chocolate and fold it in using a spatula. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake just until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool for about 15 minutes. Then tip the cake out onto the rack to cool completely.
4. To finish the frosting, add the remaining 1/4 cup/60 milliliters cream and the confectioners’ sugar to the tea cream. With an electric mixer on medium, beat the cream mixture until medium-stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the mascarpone and beat just until stiff peaks form. (Do not overmix.) Top the cake with the frosting to serve. Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 3 days; let come to room temperature before serving.

This is a great recipe that I plan on making again.

By: Anngelica Soto