Chai Poundcake

I put some of the chai concentrate to use in this poundcake (I also made ice cream). I've already made a second batch of concentrate as Danny has been having some mixed into a glass of milk for elevenses. I've been joining him, though I pour mine over a glass of ice and add a bit of milk, rather than adding the concentrate to a glass of milk.

This is a "keeping" cake. Make it, wrap it tightly, and let it mellow several days in the fridge before serving. Be sure to serve the slices at room temperature. I served it with pickled/spiced peaches and a bit of whipped cream.

You Will Need:

1 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening (this helps it keep and stay soft-don't skip it)
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (or a teaspoon ground cinnamon mixed in granulated)
5 large eggs
3 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chai concentrate
1/2 cup heavy cream

Grease and flour a large tube pan, and set aside. Do Not preheat the oven (trust me on this one). Cream the butter and shortening until light. Slowly add the sugar until incorporated. Beat in eggs one at a time. Sift together the dry ingredients. Mix together the chai concentrate, vanilla extract, and cream. Add, alternating with the creamed ingredients. Pour evenly into pan. Place pan on a baking sheet, and place in cold oven. Set to 325 degrees F. and bake about 1 1/2 hours or until cake tests done. Cool in pan on a rack twenty minutes. Carefully unmould, and cool completely on rack before wrapping tightly to store. They call it a "pound* cake, but mine weighed in at four-this is a substantial cake.

*Yes, I do know that has to do with the original weights of the ingredients.

Because you were a good reader, and read to the bottom of the post, I'm going to reward you with a beautiful early 20th Century photograph of the painter Gustav Klimt who looks like he was the sort of man that would have enjoyed a good poundcake-and a comfortable smock.

Chai Concentrate

This is the best thing I've made in...well, ages really. I used some of the concentrate to make ice cream. I used to say I didn't really care for ice cream-that was before I made chai ice cream. Good heavens, that was good.

The recipe comes from Flavors of the Sun. I'm going to insist you go over there for the recipe because it is a lovely blog, and you should be reading it. Yes, you should-now scram!

Oh, and make this concentrate because it is wonderful.

A New Drink

I'm not really a board game sort of person, but the boys are. I understand most games work better with a few players, so to get through hours of mind-numbing advancing of pieces across a board, I like to have a cocktail. Last evening, I invented a new one.

I had some iced tea made with Earl Grey (that's sort of a double abomination, the icing of tea, and the vile bergamot blend, but the child likes it, and as my only child, what the hell, I indulge him with whatever sickening tea he prefers. Me? I'm more of a PG Tips woman, and I prefer it hot, but OK, I'm not seven) and some Mexican brandy. I added a generous splash of lime juice, and some ice. I call it a, "Pissed Up the Earl." It was excellent.

I tried the second round with rum, which I didn't like as well, but that one I called, "Rummy Earl."

I know you can just pour a bunch of different booze in it, and call it a Long Island Iced Tea, but that seems a waste of perfectly good gin, and vodka.

Obviously, I wasn't too pissed up the Earl as I still had houses on Boardwalk, and Park place when we finally called it quits well-past bedtime.

Earl Grey Chocolate Ice Cream

I used four teabags to infuse 2 cups of milk/cream. That's probably strong, but I needed it to stand up to the dark chocolate-which it did. If you despise Earl Grey (which I do) this ice cream won't change your opinion. If however, you have a youngster at home that simply adores the vile, vile brew-you can win points towards your Mother of the Year award by making a batch of this during a heatwave. It will also use up that box of tea that has been stinking up your cabinet for the last month.

You Will Need:

4 Earl Grey tea bags (or about 2 tablespoons loose tea)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder, sifted

Heat the milk, cream and tea until steaming. In a heatproof bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar. Slowly whisk in the milk. Return to pan and cook to 175 degrees F. Strain into heatproof bowl. Whisk in cocoa. Cool. Process in machine or freezer tray. Makes a bit more than a pint.

Tea

I was so excited to find Barry's Gold Blend tea at the Baker's in Omaha. Today, I brewed a pot. The tea tastes exactly the same as I remember it, though I always bought it loose, not in bags. Looks the same, tastes the same as it did when I drank it twenty years ago...and truthfully, I think I prefer PG Tips. My palate must have adjusted over the years.

Gah. I just spent $8.00 on a box of tea I no longer like. I still like cream crackers-bought about five packets of those. Well, that was an expensive stroll down memory lane.

I guess I'll shove it in the cabinet with the other orphaned products like bitters, pomegranate molasses, and Earl Grey. Someone will want it...someday.



This is my teapot that I use everyday. I actually felt a twinge of discomfort brewing Irish tea in this pot, though it does depict the Battle of Waterloo, not the Battle of the Boyne. That would be much, much, worse.

Sure, I could have used this teapot, but it is so fragile I'm terrified of breaking it. It sits in my china cabinet along with a matching creamer, sugar bowl and jam pot. I doubt very much I'll ever use it.
Anyone want a box of expensive, not very interesting tea?

Tea Bread-Gourmet Magazine June 1972

The recipe was originally for jasmine tea. I still have half a tin of Earl Grey left from another recipe and since no one will drink it (understandable) I used it in this bread. Good call, actually. The original recipe also called for nuts which I omitted without any substitution. The bergamot goes well with the lemon and orange (it is an orange, or some sort of citrus, isn't it?) and when baking with butter, and zest it almost smells good-almost. You can probably guess I'm not a fan of Earl Grey.

You Will Need:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter (I used unsalted)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
3 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (I used ginger instead)
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup strongly brewed tea (recipe called for jasmine, I used Earl Grey)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I omitted)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan very well. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the grated peels and egg. Mix well. Add the tea to the orange juice and mix. Combine dry ingredients and sift well. Add, alternating with juice/tea mixture. If using nuts, fold it at the last.

Here's the odd bit-let the batter rest in the pan 20 minutes before baking it.

Bake 45-50 minutes or until it tests done (mine took 55). Cool ten minutes in pan, on rack, then cool completely on rack. If you have any citrus curd on hand, this would be a good opportunity to use it.

Makes one large loaf.

Earl Grey Caramels

I still had a box of Earl Grey left from making the brownies. Danny is happy enough to drink it, but I was eager to get it out of my cabinet. I can't drink it-I get the sensation of drinking a bar of soap. Thankfully, the taste (and scent) is less intense when made into candy. I ask you, is there anything caramel can't do?

This recipe makes quite a bit, as you can see. Make friends by sharing. No really, you should give away as much as you can because having a giant bag of wrapped caramels sitting on your counter is just asking to gain a few pounds.


You Will Need:

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup butter
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 bags Earl Grey tea

Infuse the cream gently over low heat with the teabags for 10 minutes. Remove bags and proceed with recipe.

In a large, heavy pot, combine everything, and stir constantly to prevent scorching. Have a buttered, 8x8 pan ready for the candy.

Cook the caramel until it reaches 248 degrees F. Carefully pour into prepared pan. Let cool. Remove from pan, cut into squares, and wrap in waxed paper. You now have two less bags of that ungodly tea in your cabinet. Get your six year old to drink the rest.

Earl Grey Brownies

I bookmarked this recipe three years ago-today I finally made it.

Danny loved them. I mean he really loved them. That's actually too bad, because these are much fussier, and time consuming than my usual brownie recipe. I guess these can be special occasion brownies. I did not use the expensive chocolate recommended (we need all our extra cash for accordion lessons), but got great results anyway.

The recipe may be found HERE.

Queen Cakes-Gourmet, April 1972

These small muffins come from a James Beard article on tea-time treats. He suggests baking them as mini-muffins, which will yield 24. I did a dozen larger ones. You'll need to test for doneness more often for the large ones.

I also improvised and added cut-up maraschino cherries rather than glaceed fruit. After the holidays, we've had all the glaceed fruit we can stand. These will be individually wrapped, and frozen for breakfasts and (duh) tea. At our home tea is called "This and That", due to the nature of what I drag out of the pantry. As Danny selected this recipe, he's looking forward to his 4 PM This and That.

These are somewhat drier than what passes for muffins today, but nowhere near the dryness of say, white cupcakes. The method is a bit strange, but it does actually work. Adapt as you see fit.

You Will Need:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins dredged in a bit of flour
2 tablespoons glaceed fruit
1 tablespoon milk
1 1/3 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line muffin tins (either 24 mini or 12 regular) with paper cups.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla extract. Add fruit and milk. Gently mix. Fold in dry ingredients. Fill cups and bake about 20 minutes for small cakes, 35 minutes for large ones, checking for doneness with a toothpick. Cool out of pan, on rack.

Ginger Tea Gelatin Squares

I figured out a way to use fresh ginger with gelatin that doesn't kill the setting properties-soak the ginger in boiling water. I'm sure it wouldn't work if you left it in the actual mould, but this infused with enough flavour that it did the trick.

The squares are not terribly sweet as I am serving them with a five-spice pot de creme (I know, there's a special place in hell for people like me) but you could increase the sweetness by a few tablespoons of honey without much harm.

Photos of the complete dessert later.

You Will Need:

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely minced
1/2 cups boiling water
2 tea bags (I used good old Red Rose, because that's what I drink)
5 tablespoons honey
2 packets Knox gelatin
1/2 cup cold water

Soften the gelatin in 1/2 cup cold water by sprinkling it on top in a small bowl and setting aside.

Pour boiling water over ginger and tea and steep five minutes. Stir in the honey. Strain through a fine sieve. Stir the gelatin, and add to the strained tea. Mix well. Pour into a shallow pan (8x10 works well) and chill until solid-mine took about an hour. Cut into squares.