Easter Cake Recipes Using Tea

Easter is just around the corner and so we’ve curated these recipes for you to enjoy. We think that a piece of cake and a good cup of tea can make all the difference to our wellbeing.

Who doesn’t love a chocolate mini egg or 6 over Easter? This cake is all of your mini egg dreams come true…

Rooibos, honey and vanilla Easter cake with cream-cheese icing

Serves 8-10

Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• butter/cooking spray, to grease
• 8g of Rooibos tea
• 300ml boiling water
• 600g self-raising flour, sifted
• pinch salt
• 2.5ml (½ tsp) bicarbonate of soda
• 250g caster sugar
• 100g honey
• 250ml sunflower oil
• 4 large eggs
• 180ml buttermilk
• 15ml (1 tbsp) vanilla essence
• zest of 2 oranges
• zest of 1 lemon

Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients:

• 1 x 250g cream cheese, at room temperature
• 50g butter, softened
• 450g icing sugar, sifted
• zest of 1 lemon
• 3 x 400g packets of chocolate mini eggs

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease 2 round springform cake tins of 18cm diameter each and line the bases and sides with baking paper. Place the rooibos tea in the boiling water and allow to infuse for 15 minutes, then discard the leaves.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda, and set aside until needed.
3. Using a free-standing mixer or an electric hand-held beater, beat the caster sugar, honey, sunflower oil, Rooibos tea and eggs together in a mixing bowl until well combined. Stir in the buttermilk, vanilla essence and zests. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared tins, smooth out the surface with a spatula and bake in the preheated oven, about 30 – 40 minutes. Check if the sponges are baked through by inserting a skewer through the centre of each sponge – the skewer should come out clean. Remove the sponges from the tins, with the baking paper facing upwards, and place on the cutting board. Cool completely.
5. For the icing, beat the cream cheese and 50g soft butter using a freestanding mixer or hand-held electric beater, about 1 minute, until the mixture is pale. Add the icing sugar and beat until smooth and thoroughly combined, then add the lemon zest.
6. Once the cake sponges are completely cooled, peel off the baking paper. Ice the top of one of the sponges and sandwich with the other sponge. Apply a thin layer of icing over the whole cake to seal in the crumbs, then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
7. Remove the cake from the fridge and apply a final layer of icing all over the sides of the cake, using a palette knife.
8. Starting from the top of the cake, press the speckled eggs into the icing all around the side of the cake in your desired sequence of colour. Repeat the rows, in your desired pattern, until the sides of the cake are covered by mini eggs.
9. Decorate the top of the cake with the remaining mini eggs and serve!

Scones are a delight any time of the year and are always enhanced when enjoyed with your favourite brew. They are perfect for freezing too, so you can make large batches and enjoy over time…

Mixed Berry and Jasmine Tea Scones

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon of jasmine tea leaves
• 180g of plain flour
• 60g of almond flour
• 50g of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 6 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 113g of either fresh or frozen blackberries
• 113g of either fresh or frozen raspberries
• 200g of double cream
• Sugar to top

Method:

1. Heat oven to 190°c. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Place jasmine tea leaves in a grinder or food processor, or use pestle and mortar to process to a fine grind. Combine finely ground jasmine tea leaves, flour, almond flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a food processor bowl. Pulse 4 times in three second bursts to blend all dry ingredients. Add in the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand. Pour 180g cup of the double cream over the mixture and pulse another 3 to 4 times in 3-second bursts or until dough starts to come together. Turn dough into a bowl and fold in berries.
3. Transfer the dough to a heavily-floured work surface and pat it into 1-inch-thick square. Using a knife, cut dough into 3-inch x 4-inch rectangles and then halve each rectangle diagonally. Transfer triangles to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. When ready to bake, remove the scones from refrigerator, brush the tops with the remaining double cream, and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
4. Transfer to oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until tops and bottom edge start to turn golden. Cool scones on a wire rack before serving.

 RECIPE NOTES:

• Berry Mix: Use any mix of berries you have on hand, just keep the total ratio of berries to 226g. Frozen or fresh berries will work. Keep in mind if you use fresh berries, they will break in the process of folding and colour the dough. Fresh berries will also require a bit more flour on your work surface while you shape the dough into triangles.
• Freezing Scones: To freeze, wrap the shaped, unbaked scones in a layer of foil and another layer of plastic wrap. Scones can be baked from frozen, but add 5 to 7 minutes on to the baking time.

Photo by Bonnie Eng.

These Easter bunny matcha cupcakes look beautiful and taste even more delicious…

Matcha and Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Makes 14-16 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• • 3 peeled & grated medium carrots
  • 100g of soft light brown sugar
  • 80g of softened unsalted butter
  • 80g of golden syrup
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 135g self-raising flour
  • 1/2 tsp of bicarb of soda
  • 1 tsp of ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt

For the icing:

• • 50g of softened unsalted butter
  • 110g cream cheese
  • 225g of icing sugar
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract

For the Matcha “moss”:

• • 115g of desiccated coconut
  • 2 tsps of Matcha Green Tea
  • 1 large slice of bread crumbs

Method:

For the cake:

• 1.  Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Put the tea in a blender until it is a fine powder.
  3. Put the flour, grated carrot, salt, bicarb, cinnamon and eggs into a mixing bowl.
  4. Put the butter, sugar & golden syrup into a saucepan on a medium heat, stir until melted.
  5. Take the sugary buttery mixture off the heat and slowly pour into the mixing bowl.
  6. Mix until the batter is smooth then spoon into cake cases.
  7. Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen. To double check that they’re properly cooked, stick a cocktail stick into one and if it comes out clean, they’re good to go!
  8. One removed from the oven, leave to cool on a wire rack.

 For the icing:

• 1. Combine the softened butter, cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl.
  2. Use an electric whisk to whisk the mixture until completely smooth.

For the Matcha “moss”:

• 1. In a bowl, mix all the moss ingredients together.
  2. Frost the cupcakes with a thin layer of icing, using a spoon.
  3. Dip the top of the cupcakes in the matcha Let the cupcake sit for a few minutes, then dip it in the moss mix a second time. Repeat for all the cupcakes.
  4. Add any additional decorations that you want, for example; mini chocolate bunnies, mini eggs, dried petals or buds from herbals like rose buds, lavender, osmanthus, amaranth, or chrysanthemum.

We wish you a happy Easter and remember to tag us is in your Easter creations – @theteahouseltd