Curiously enough, I have never attempted to bake a tea cake, that Southern specialty that is basically a light, fluffy, not-overly-sweet cookie. So when my friend Deberah asked the other day if I would mind sampling hers and offering an opinion (she's trying to perfect her mother's old recipe), I did what any helpful friend would do and said yes.
And a few hours later, a plateful of yummy tea cakes arrived at my door.
Such a deluxe snack was certainly worthy of pulling out one of my Royal Winton snack sets, and oh, were these tea cakes good! Even though I've never made them, I've eaten them plenty of times, and I recalled they were supposed to be light, not too sweet, and perfect with a cup of tea (thus the name). Alex agreed and said the flavor and texture were just right. I put some of them in the freezer so we wouldn't be tempted to gobble them all up.
Deberah also brought me a bag containing other delightful treats, including this print of a teatime painting by her mother!
And this charming vintage Japanese tea bag holder was her mother's, too, and I am so honored to have it. Now I'm just trying to work up the nerve to ask my friend if she'll share her mother's tea cake recipe! (Do you make tea cakes? If so, do you have a family recipe for them? I didn't grow up with tea cakes, so this was a new treat for me.)
Hmmm, I recently got a recipe that came from an older relative, that might work. (I'll send it to you.) I remember her making Tea Cakes - in fact, they were served at the reception following her memorial service. And I also remember my mother having a teabag holder just like that one. I wonder what happened to it!
ReplyDeleteNo, I've never had tea cakes before. Those look very nice, though, especially on your pretty snack set!
ReplyDeleteI've only made my family's recipe once, but my mother made them every Christmas.The recipe makes a lot of tea cakes. They are not very sweet with a touch of nutmeg
ReplyDeleteLovely gifts to cherish along with delicious tea cakes is a wonderful gift. I’ve never eaten tea cakes, and would love a recipe.
ReplyDeleteNancy Carr
The story goes that my great grandmother made the best tea cakes. One of her daughters took up tea cake backing after her mother passed. When we would visit she would always send a big box home because she remembered how much my Dad and Uncle enjoyed their grandmother's tea cakes. The only problem was the great aunt way way over baked her tea cakes. They were dark brown and very very hard. You could not eat them. My Dad and Uncle used to joke that they could use them as skeet.
ReplyDeleteAngela, love your snack set! I'm a huge fan of snack sets. At the risk of seeming spammy, I'm going to put a link here to one of my posts that shows a sweet little snack set that belonged to my honorary grandmother. https://www.delightfulrepast.com/2017/09/parkin-classic-northern-england-cake.html Beautiful violets, and I have just the one.
ReplyDeleteI am curious what makes it a tea cake and not just a cookie?
ReplyDeleteNow why am I showing up as Anonymous?
ReplyDelete