Herbal Tea Infused Cake
After trying the fantastic Adagio Teas Berry Blast herbal tea we knew we just had to try and incorporate it into a recipe. We have come up with a herbal tea infused cake recipe which uses the tea in both the cake and the frosting and don’t worry, no tea bits in the cake! You can use any herbal or fruit tea for this recipe but the flavour of the Adagio Tea is superior to any others we tried.
The Ingredients:
The Cake:
250g Butter
250g Caster Sugar
250g NEILL’S® Self Raising Flour
4 Eggs
120ml Boiling Water
4tbsp Berry Blast Loose Leaf Tea (or other)
The Frosting:
180ml Boiling Water
400g Caster Sugar
4 Egg Whites
3tbsp Berry Blast Loose Leaf Tea (or other)
0.5tsp Cream of Tartar
The How-To:
In a small bowl add the boiling water and tea leaves.
Allow these to brew for 10 mins stirring occasionally to ensure the tea infuses as much as possible.
Sieve out the tea leaves.
Place in the fridge to cool while continuing with the recipe.
Preheat the oven to 170c and prepare two approx 20cm round cake tins.
In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together until pale.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
In a separate bowl sieve the flour.
Add the flour into the creamed sugar mixture alternating with the cooled tea. Don’t worry if the vibrant colour of the tea disappears when you add it to the cake mix, the subtle fruity flavour remains. If you want to add a few drops of food colouring this is optional.
Pour the mixture evenly into the two prepared cake tins levelling out the cake batter.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 30-35 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the cake tins for 10 mins before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Now we need to make the frosting. This is type of frosting has a marshmallow like texture which works wonderfully with the fruity flavour of the tea.
In a small bowl add the boiling water and loose leaf tea leaves. Allow these to brew for 10 mins stirring occasionally.
Sieve out the tea leaves and measure out exactly 160ml of the tea (the ingredient list asks for 180ml of water as the tea absorbs some of the water when brewing), drink the rest (you wouldn’t want to waste it!).
Add the 160ml of tea to a heavy bottomed saucepan and add the sugar and cream of tartar. Try not to splash any of the sugar grains up the side of the saucepan as these may burn.
Place the saucepan over a medium heat and slowly bring to a gentle boil.
Continue heating until the temperature reaches 115c then remove from the heat straight away.
In a large bowl beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
While continuing to beat the egg whites on a low speed slowly start adding the tea/sugar syrup. Careful not to let it splash as it will be very very warm.
Continue until you have added all the tea/sugar syrup.
Continue beating for about 10-15 mins until the frosting thickens. It will thicken as it cools, beating helps speed up this process.
Immediately spread the frosting on the bottom half of the cake, you wont want to add too much frosting in the middle of the cake as it makes cutting it later a little messy.
Place the top half of the cake on top of the bottom half. Add the remaining frosting to the top and sides of the cake and decorate how you wish. The frosting will continue to set as it cools, you can place in the fridge to speed this up if you wish.
You’re Done!
