As a child, I’d see my mother cooking some amazing dishes, many quite multi-cultural (my parents were from Darjeeling but my mother spent some time in Bhutan.) She attended cooking classes and everyday when I returned from school, she’d have made these wonderful dishes. It’s probably why I love food today. After she passed away, food has become my way of connecting with her. At first, it was a way to remember her by but over the years, I’ve grown to love cooking and baking. Guess my mum’s genes have rubbed off on me. I have her handwritten recipes with me and go to it often. Here’s one for the tea cake that I’ve adapted, influenced by the tea I’ve enjoyed at Teabox.
Photographs by Tanay Saha of Pix de Amor
Vanilla Pistachio Tea cake with a Wine Tea Liquor
2017-01-17 06:16:47
Tea and cake come together in this classic recipe adapted for the tea lover.
Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
1 hr 30 min
Ingredients
- For the cake
- 1.5 cups all purpose flour
- 400 g or 1 can of condensed milk
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3 tsp Vanilla Pistachio Tuile tea
- 1 cup water
- 100 g melted butter
- For the liquor
- Wine Tea Liquor
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup fruit wine (I used peach wine here for its flavor)
- 4 tbsp Vanilla Pistachio Tuile Tea
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
To make the cake
- 1. Boil water in a pan, add Vanilla Pistachio Tea and let it simmer for 2 minutes (You need this time to enhance the flavour). Once done, let it rest.
- 2. Sieve the flour, sugar baking powder and baking soda together and set aside.
- 3. In a bowl, mix the condensed milk and butter. Whisk till smooth and add ¾ cup of the tea.
- 4. Slowly add the flour mixture into the bowl and beat until no lumps are seen.
- 5. Pre-heat the oven for 10 minutes at 180 degree Celsius. Transfer the mixture in a greased baking pan and bake at 170 degrees for 45 minutes or till skewer comes clean.
- Set aside to cool.
To make the liquor
- 1. Bring the water to boil, add the tea leaves and let it simmer till the liquid reduces to half.
- 2. Filter the tea leaves, add the wine and sugar.
- 3. Boil the mixture again and let it reduce for 5 to 7 minutes.
- Once done, let it rest.
- Pour the liquor over the cake slice and serve. Tastes best when hot.
Tea Stories - Still Steeping: Teabox Blog https://blog.teabox.com/
