Make these tea cakes with your evening tea or coffee if you want a sweet, buttery snack.
And I bet you’ll never buy dry or tea cake from the local bakeries!
I have been waiting to share this tea cake recipe with you guys. Though this cake does not have any frosting, this cake is the Best Tea Cake I have ever made!
With its buttery richness and soft and fluffy texture, golden crust, and tender crumbs, it’s pure happiness in mini cake form.
I added fresh blueberries on top to give it a fruity flavour.
It is made with brown butter, giving the cake a beautiful, mouth-watering, nutty flavour.
Tea cakes date back more than 250 years and were often baked by the enslaved people in South America, trying to recreate European tea cakes made for white plantation owners and their people. And as time passed, even after the people were freed from enslavement, they carried the tradition of making tea cakes.
You can pair these cakes with any fruit jam, sweet cream cheese dip, or ganache dip. Making these requires no fancy ingredients, and making the batter and baking them takes very little time.
Why You Will Love This Recipe?
- Flavor: The flavor of these mini cakes is rich, buttery, and nutty from the brown butter and a bit of fruity flavour from the fresh blueberries. And no matter how they turn out, they will disappear from your kitchen after they are baked.
- Texture: The egg whites give these tea cakes a spongy and airy texture. They will melt in your mouth right after you bite them.
- Easy: Making these tea cakes is quite easy. No icing or frosting is required. The only tricky part is making the brown butter, but through the steps in this blog post, you can master it without any issues.
- Crowd pleaser: These cute little cakes are a total crowd-pleaser. The cake’s rich, buttery, nutty and fluffy texture can please any crowd.
- Versatile: These cakes can be made in a wide variety of flavours. It can be paired with tea, coffee or jam for any occasion, making it a versatile cake recipe.
Important Ingredients Used in the Recipe
- Brown butter: Brown butter has a rich, nutty aroma and flavour due to the caramelisation of milk solids in butter. It also contributes to the cake’s more tender and softer crumbs.
- Almond flour and brown butter: These ingredients add a mild nutty flavour to the cake. It adds a subtle almond flavour that complements the vanilla and berry flavour of the cake.
- Lemon zest: Lemon zest adds a bright, tangy, and citrusy flavour and a fresh and vibrant aroma to the cake, making it more refreshing and enjoyable.
- Egg white: Egg white helps achieve the cake’s fluffy and airy texture. It works as one of the rising agents along with baking powder that helps raise the cake.
How To Make Blueberry Tea Cake
Preparation: Gather all the ingredients that are needed for the recipe. Also, grease the cupcake or muffin tray with butter and preheat your oven to 180° C or 350° F (lower rod + upper rod + fan) before starting the recipe.
Make brown butter: To make brown butter, over medium heat, in a saucepan, let unsalted butter melt, whisking frequently to cook the butter. The melted butter will start to sizzle from the edge. It starts to turn golden brown, and the milk solids at the bottom of the pan will turn toasty brown. Also, it will start smelling buttery and nutty. After you see brown specs at the bottom of the pan, remove it from the heat and transfer it into a bowl to prevent the butter from further cooking and burning. Let it cool down completely.
Make the meringue: Meanwhile, the brown butter is cooling down, make the meringue. Beat egg whites in a clean bowl and with an electric hand beater until foamy. Then, gradually add in sugar in parts while continuously beating it until you have a soft, peaked meringue with a glossy finish. Do not overbeat the meringue, or it will collapse, and the cakes won’t be fluffy and airy.
Sift dry ingredients: Now, over the meringue, sift in the dry ingredients, which are all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt. After sifting, add in lemon zest as well. Mix everything gently using the cut-and-fold method. Refrain from mixing vigorously to prevent over-mixing and the air entrapped in the meringue from collapsing.
Make the batter: After folding in the dry ingredients, add the now-cooled brown butter and vanilla essence and mix gently to incorporate everything together and make a smooth, fluffy, lump-free batter.
Bake: Pour the batter into the greased cupcake or muffin tray equally. Lastly, place fresh blueberries on top of the cake batter. I have placed 2 or 3 in each cavity. Bake them at 180° C or 350° (OTG mode: lower rod mode only) for 15 – 20 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
De-moulding: After the tea cakes are baked properly, let them cool down completely, then carefully de-mould them with a knife or a bent palette knife. And lastly, dust icing sugar on top of each tea cake lightly.
Chef’s Tips for the Recipe
For Brown Butter
Use unsalted butter to make brown butter, as it gives better control over the salt. You can add salt later if you want to.
Cook the butter over medium heat and swirl the saucepan while melting butter to prevent it from burning.
Remove from heat immediately after it has turned into the desired brown colour to stop further cooking of the butter.
For Meringue
Use fresh eggs and clan equipment for the best result. Also, separate egg whites and egg yolk carefully. Even a small amount of yolk can hinder the whipping process of the meringue.
For Batter
Once the meringue is whipped, use the cut-and-fold method only to mix the rest of the ingredients, or it may collapse.
How To Store Blueberry Tea Cake
These mini cakes are dry and can be stored at room temperature for 1 week if kept in an air-tight container.
And it can be stored in the freezer for at least 20 to 25 days.
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Frequently Asked Questions
You can use both unsalted and salted butter. But using unsalted butter gives you control over the saltiness.
You can store brown butter in the fridge or the freezer in an air-tight container.
No, clarified butter and brown butter provides different flavour and texture to the cake. Clarified butter is pure butter fat, while brown butter is cooked until the milk solids turn brown.
Although you can use your hand and whisk to make the meringue, using an electric hand beater or sand mixer will be much faster and easier.
The meringue is whipped enough when there is a soft peak when you lift the beater, and it holds the shape and does not flop down in the bowl.
