Mary L, Author at topictea.com

Having tea time with your family is a great experience and the perfect time to bond with your loved ones. Tea is one of the oldest and most popular drinks in the world and people are enjoying it every day all over the world. It’s a delicious drink that has been consumed for centuries by millions of people all over the world. People drink tea as a way to refresh themselves, to relax, and also to enhance their mood. Tea is also widely known as a popular alternative medicine used by many people all over the world. When it comes to English tea time, people will drink tea in the afternoon, in the evening, and also as a break time during the day. However, they will always serve tea to their loved ones as a way to show their love and affection. British people also have a tendency to serve their tea with cakes. These cakes are made of sugar, butter, and flour. They are soft and tasty and are perfect for the afternoon tea. There are many different types of cakes that people can serve for their tea time. Some people prefer to eat these cakes with tea while others like to eat them with coffee. What is an English Tea Cake? Hot cross buns are made from moist buns filled with flavored spices and topped with chopped and dried currants. They are very similar to a warm bun, and they are delicious when topped with lots of butter. Currants are also very popular when served with other sweet treats. It would be very tasty to serve these with cranberries or sultanas (or any other kind of berries that you want to use). Teacakes are also often put in sandwiches in England, but in some parts, like Yorkshire, it is very common not to use any fruit. This is as yummy as a hot and delicious bun that you can have with lots of butter. There are several wonderful recipes for making tea cakes that use a variety of spices that will warm you up, such as cinnamon, ginger and allspice, and that will give you a great taste. Some people think of Scottish tea cakes as traditional cakes but in reality, they are actually baked biscuits with cookie dough and a chocolate layer on the top. This is very different from tea cakes. Why People Have Cakes with Tea Most teacakes consist of a very soft, slightly yeasty, bun with a thick, cheesy interior. The flavor of the sultanas and currants are very distinctive. They are usually sliced and eaten warm, with lots of butter, as part of a lovely afternoon tea. A hot cross bun is a pastry similar to English teacake, and is often eaten at Easter. Those big, fluffy cake-like things that go well with good-tasting brewed asian or asian-style hot drinks are a great partner for good food. Cakes that have strong flavors like chocolate or orange, sultanas, or sencha match very nicely with teas that have strong notes of orange or raisin. When you bite into a spice and raisin cake, it tastes very sweet; after that, it tastes like a light, sweet loaf of bread. How to Make English Tea Cakes Heat the milk, butter, and flour in the microwave for 10 minutes, then add cold water to bring it up to room temperature. When the liquid mixture is warm enough to touch, start mixing up the dry ingredients. If you are able to get liquid from the stove, and it is not boiling to death, add the yeast to a well in the flour mixture. Mix thoroughly. Using a whisk or a spoon, knead the dough with a fork or a dough hook or whisk attachment and gently turn it out into balls. Allow the dough to rest for about an hour or so. Basically, it is as simple as getting a big lump of flour in a bowl and kneading it with your hands to form a nice soft ball. It can be very difficult to make the rolled dough come to a smooth ball if you do not wet the hands before you start mixing the ingredients. You'll need to oil a large bowl, put a towel on it, then wait to let the mixture rise for about an hour. Then move your bowl to a warmer spot in the kitchen and allow it to sit while you work on the filling. It will take you at least an extra hour to finish. It will depend on how hot it is in where you are cooking. Mounds of yeast-based ingredients for making tea cakes are placed on a clean work surface. Using a sharp knife or a simple scraper, you can easily make six very small pieces from the dough. After the dough is doubled in size, transfer it to a large plate or cutting board and spread it out evenly. Now that you are ready to put the filling in the buns. It's easy to add the filling to the dough by kneading it gently with the palm of a hand. Make sure that it is distributed well on the surface. This allows you to shape the balls of dough to be more flexible. You can then shape the balls to resemble a babka or jelly roll. Cut the dough rectangle in half with a serif knife, or scrape the pan with a heavy skimmer. You can also gently press down on the balls of softened butter by rolling them in the middle with one hand and a little pressure by rolling them out flat. After you have covered the dough with a clean towel, add some milk and leave it to cool. Let the dough rest for an additional 45 minutes. Preferred temperature for making tea cakes: 375 F. You can also use an egg wash to give the tops of the cakes a nice sheen. Bake the cakes for around 20 minutes, or at least for the first three minutes of baking. This is a dough that will take you a bit of time and patience but not very long. It is best to spend some time allowing the dough to relax and proof, rather than shaping it. It's surprisingly easy and fun to make. It's good to do it while you read a book or while you binge watch a show. Some leftovers will stay good in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to three days. It will stay good in the fridge for several days.