Have you craved the idea of baked goods with hints of earl grey, oolong or chamomile? This post is going to prep you to satisfy this craving of yours.

Recipes & Pairing tea flavour ,

Have you craved the idea of baked goods with hints of earl grey, oolong or chamomile? This post is going to prep you to satisfy this craving of yours.

Firstly, many have tried their ways of infusing tea to add to their baked delights, some got it while many missed it. From adding tea leaves as is in the batter, to infusing with tea bags. Good news for you is – you don’t have to experiment! The right method to get that perfectly slice of cake oozing with aroma of tea is here for you.

What not to do EVER::

Directly using tea leaves (grinded) in the batter. There is no tea flavour that is added to the cake and to make it worse – one can find leaf bits in their cakes which can be a big bummer, especially when you are really looking forward to that experience to entice you.

Steep tea bags in milk and adding this infused milk to the recipe. While, it may seem that milk and tea are an obvious combination. This does not alter the flavour strongly enough to add that rich tea fragrance and strength. One even ends up with bits of disintegrated tea bags in the cake.

The secret is to baking well with tea is:

UNSALTED BUTTER AND STRONG, LOOSE LEAF TEA.

Using the two, you can make a tea-infused butter to use in your recipe in place of plain butter.

Here is a recipe for you to begin your baking with tea.

VANILLA EARL GREY POUND CAKE

Total Time: 1 hour 15 mins

Prep: 15 mins

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

- 1 cup tea infused butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

- 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan

- 1 cup sugar

- 4 large eggs

- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

Tea-infused butter

How much butter: 1.25 cup of unsalted butter. Please note that when you make the tea-infused butter some of the butter will get stuck on the tea leaves and you'll end up with less usable butter than you started with. How much more butter should you use? You'll have to experiment. It will vary depending on the type of tea that you use and how good you are at pressing the butter out of the wet tea leaves.

How much tea: Approximately 2 grams per tablespoon of butter (1 cup has 16 tablespoon). The key to this is to use fresh, aromatic loose leaf tea only.

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter until just liquid.

2. Add the tea leaves.

3. Continue heating the mixture for about 5 minutes on low heat.

4. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for another 5 minutes or until the butter is discernibly tinted by the tea leaves.

5. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve, pressing hard on the tea leaves and then discarding them. This is the part where you will undoubtedly end up with some butter that you can't get off of the leaves.

6. Let the butter come to room temperature and then use it as you would regular butter in your baked goods.

Cake

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 6-cup (8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch) loaf pan; set aside.

2. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat tea infused butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; add vanilla and salt. With mixer on low, gradually add flour, beating just until combined (do not overmix).

3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour (tent with aluminum foil if browning too quickly). Let cool in pan 15 minutes. Invert onto a wire rack, and turn upright to cool completely.

FAQ's:

• Can you bake with tea?
  Baking with tea adds unique flavor as well as a touch of intrigue and elegance to nearly any baked good recipe. When baking with tea it's important to think of the tea just like any other spice, whether you plan on using it as a drink or in cooking and baking.