Recipe: Earl Grey Tea Cake

Now that fall is here, it's finally getting cool enough for us to resume one of our favorite hobbies: baking.  This tea cake is a great option, since it can be eaten as a breakfast, dessert, or afternoon snack, and it has just enough spice to taste slightly autumnal before we get too pumpkin crazy.  This recipe has been adapted for US bakers from the UK edition of Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Great Britain.

Ingredients:

6 bags of good quality Earl Grey tea
1/2 cup each of raisins, currants, and sultanas - or whatever dried fruit/berries you prefer
1.5 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg 
1 orange
1 lemon
1/2 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Boil about two cups of water, then place 4 of the tea bags into a glass measuring cup, and fill it to 1 1/3 cups with the hot water.  Add the dried fruits and orange zest, then cover and refrigerate it, leaving it to soak overnight, or up to 3 days.

When you're ready to bake, line a loaf pan with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350°F.

Mix the re-hydrated fruit with a whisked egg and a cup of sugar.  Add the flour, baking powder, all spice, nutmeg, salt, and juice from the orange.  Combine until well blended into a dough-like consistency, place into the loaf pan, and bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until cooked through.  You should test it with a skewer after about 55 minutes, and the cake is done when the skewer comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, boil the other 2 tea bags in a cup of water with juice and zest of the lemon.  Once boiling, add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, and bring the water back to a boil, never stirring.  After about 10-15 minutes, the ingredients should reduce into a syrup. 

Once the cake comes out, use skewers to poke holes all over the top, and then pour over the syrup.  Once it absorbs, allow the cake to cool completely, and serve with a mild cheese such as Wensleydale (Jamie's pick) or Nicasio Valley's Foggy Morning (our pick).