I guess at some point, I did have to succumb to the heart shape! I’ve been long known to hate anything resembling a heart – heart-shaped jewelry, cookies and cakes. But, for some ridiculous reason I do own a heart shaped tin and for the life of me I do not know why. I use it now and then for my baby niece, but that’s about it. But since I have it, I thought let me break out of my shell and use it for just myself – for some self-loving. I always crave a cake, but not always a decadent chocolate cake; my weakness is a good old-fashioned tea cake – the kind with just the right amount of sweetness, a rich flavour component and a texture that complements a cup of tea or coffee.
This is a cake that was made entirely from scratch, using my own calculations and tweaking as a combined and mixed – I wanted some sweetness but not too much, so I went to the honey jar and brown sugar canister. An old-fashioned tea cake was in my head, so in came the butter and eggs (none of that vegan brouhaha here!). I added a heavy mug of very, very strong black tea (Darjeeling) – imagine all the tannins in there, THAT strong! When I tasted the batter, I tasted some of the slight bittersweet-ness of the tea, and found it not too sweet. So, when the cake came out of the oven, I spread a spoonful of honey over it for that extra gloss and sweet loving. The buttercream frosting has some more tea, sugar and honey, and of course butter – that bit of salty contrast to sweetness of honey!
Trust me with this one, and go make an extra cup of strong black tea so you got an excuse to make this cake!
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