Hello Lovelies!!
With spring just around the corner, I felt a light yet vibrant cake was in order. I also wanted to make something without a recipe… to sort of experiment.
I've had this idea to make a black tea cake for some time now - it might have a little something to do with my missing England and wishing I could move back… so instead I'll just infuse a chocolate cake with black tea. For the frosting, I wanted something light and subtle, that would make you think, "This must be what a sophisticated, English spring tastes like!" (not really, but just go with it anyways)
So here is my Black Tea Infused Chocolate Cake with Lemon Buttercream!
I know I'm not the first person to ever make a black tea infused chocolate cake, but I am happy to say this recipe is my very own… I didn't follow or reference any other recipes. I'm not boasting, but this is a very exciting thing for me as a baker. And it turned out wonderfully!!
Ohhhh, the feels…. my heart is pretty stoked.
Recipe time!!
Since I have readers from all over the world, I decided I'm going to convert the measurements for my recipes to the metric system so you don't have to if you decide to make any of my recipes :) hope it helps a bit!
Chocolate Black Tea Cake:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C or Gas Mark 4
2 cups (300g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon (5g) baking soda
1 1/2 cups (338g) granulated/caster sugar
1 cup (115g) cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup (360ml) black tea (make about 5-10 minutes before starting on your cake batter)
1 cup (240ml) vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon (3ml) vanilla extract
a pinch of sea salt
In a medium bowl, combine and mix all the dry ingredients, set aside. In a separate bowl (small/medium size) combine eggs, oil, black tea, and vanilla extract, whisk with a fork (or whisk) until the wet ingredients are completely mixed. Create a bit of a crater in the dry ingredients, pour wet mixture into the dry mixture bowl…. mix together until you have a lovely chocolate/black tea cake batter. Grease your pan (or pans) of choice with either butter, oil, or a spray like Pam - I used a 9x3 springform pan.
Pour your batter into your pan, make sure not to exceed 3/4 full if putting all your batter into one pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick/skewer comes out with just a few crumbs (not gooey batter). Let cool completely, then frost away to your hearts content… and try not to eat it all instantly :)
In a medium bowl, combine and mix all the dry ingredients, set aside. In a separate bowl (small/medium size) combine eggs, oil, black tea, and vanilla extract, whisk with a fork (or whisk) until the wet ingredients are completely mixed. Create a bit of a crater in the dry ingredients, pour wet mixture into the dry mixture bowl…. mix together until you have a lovely chocolate/black tea cake batter. Grease your pan (or pans) of choice with either butter, oil, or a spray like Pam - I used a 9x3 springform pan.
Pour your batter into your pan, make sure not to exceed 3/4 full if putting all your batter into one pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick/skewer comes out with just a few crumbs (not gooey batter). Let cool completely, then frost away to your hearts content… and try not to eat it all instantly :)
Lemon Buttercream:
8 egg whites
2 cups (450g) granulated/caster sugar
1 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened + cubed
2 medium lemons - use 1tbs. + 1tsp. of the [squeezed] lemon juice, save the rest for soaking the cake
In a clean, dry mixer bowl add egg whites and granulated sugar and place over a pot of previously boiled water (meaning, I boiled the water while putting egg whites/sugar in my bowl, then turned the heat down to the lowest setting before placing my bowl on the pot). Whisk the sugar and egg whites gently but constantly until temperature reaches 160 degrees F/71 degrees C, or (if you don't have a candy thermometer) until the egg whites are hot and the sugar is completely dissolved.
With a whisk attachment of a mixer, whip until the meringue is thick, glossy and the bottom of the bowl is neutral/cool, and not warm to the touch.
Switch to a paddle attachment, and with the mixer on low, add butter cubes one at a time until completely incorporated… at this point, your buttercream will break and curdle and you'll be tempted to think you failed or to just toss it and start over… don't do it!! Just keep mixing, the buttercream will come back together and eventually reach a silky smooth texture. If your buttercream is too runny, refrigerate for about 15 minutes and then continue to mix with a paddle attachment until it comes together.
Zest your lemons and squeeze out all the juice into a bowl. Add the zest and juice to the buttercream and mix on low until it's completely incorporated.
If any of you try this recipe out, I'd love to know! Commenting below, or post a photo on twitter (@kraeshaew) or instagram (@kylieraecakes) and tag me in the photo!
xoxo
kylie rae