Chocolate Tea Cake Recipes

EARL GREY TEA CAKE WITH DARK CHOCOLATE AND ORANGE ZEST

Steps:

• Prepare the frosting: In a small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup/120 milliliters heavy cream to a simmer over medium-high heat. Stir in the tea, remove from the heat, cover and let stand for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Strain the tea through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding the solids, and chill the remaining cream until completely cold, at least 1 hour.
• Prepare the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, tea, baking powder and salt.
• In large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the orange zest and beat to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the flour mixture on low, until just combined, then beat in the milk. (Don't overmix.) Add the chocolate and fold it in using a spatula. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake just until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool for about 15 minutes. Then tip the cake out onto the rack to cool completely.
• To finish the frosting, add the remaining 1/4 cup/60 milliliters cream and the confectioners' sugar to the tea cream. With an electric mixer on medium, beat the cream mixture until medium-stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the mascarpone and beat just until stiff peaks form. (Do not overmix.) Top the cake with the frosting to serve. Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 3 days; let come to room temperature before serving.

CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOW TEA CAKES

Steps:

• With a wooden spoon or mixer, mix together the butter and sugar. Add the cocoa powder, salt, vanilla and flour. Rub the ingredients together with the tips of your fingers until it comes together into a dough. Roll it into a ball, wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for half an hour.
• Meanwhile, prepare your silicone dome moulds with chocolate. Melt 300g of your chocolate either in the microwave in short bursts or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, and then spoon around a tablespoon of melted chocolate into each mould. Use the back of the spoon to spread it around each dome, ensuring that you bring the chocolate right up to the edge.
• Put domes in the fridge for a few minutes to allow the thinnest part of the chocolate to harden, then using a pastry brush, spread any pooled chocolate in the centre around the dome. Return to the fridge until ready to assemble.
• Remove dough from the fridge and roll onto a lightly floured worktop until it is around 3/4 cm thick. Use a small circular cutter to cut out 12 biscuits. Place the biscuit circles on a lined baking tray and return to the fridge for around another 20 minutes. Meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 190ºC (170ºC Fan).
• To make the coffee marshmallows, add the egg whites, coffee powder, sugar, salt and golden syrup in a large mixing bowl, giving it a light whisk. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water without letting the bottom touch the water and let the mixture reach 71ºC so the eggs are pasteurised, ensuring you stir/whisk so that you don't let the mixture cook and get scrambled eggs. Once it has reached this temperature, transfer to a standing mixer, or use a hand held mixer to whisk for around 7 or 8 minutes, until the marshmallow is completely cool and it has reached stiff peaks. Once it is ready, transfer to a piping bag, ready to assemble!
• Remove biscuits from the fridge and bake for around 10minutes, or until slightly darker around the edges and allow them to cook fully. They will seem very soft when they come out the oven but the with crisp up as they cool.
• To assemble, melt the remaining 100g of chocolate and leave to cool slightly so it is not too hot. Pipe the coffee marshmallow into the chocolate moulds, leaving enough room for the biscuits. Carefully place a biscuit on top of the marshmallow in each mould. Cover each biscuit in a layer of chocolate, and fill in any gaps so that the marshmallow and biscuit are completely sealed in the moulds. Try to ensure there is not too much excess chocolate around the sides of the moulds as this will make them neater when you pop them out! Place in the fridge until set. Once set, carefully pop the teacakes out of their moulds and tuck in!

CHOCOLATE ENGLISH TEA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a standing mixer, mix all ingredients except for the chocolate on high speed until creamy and combined. Fold in the chopped chocolate. Fill a greased and floured cake pan and bake for 40 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

CHOCOLATE BLACK TEA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 360 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch Bundt pan.
• In a large bowl, cream together the egg yolks, butter and white sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the black tea. Toss together the flour, baking powder, bread crumbs, cocoa powder, and hazelnuts; fold into the tea mixture until just incorporated.
• In a large clean glass or metal bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the tea batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 60 to 70 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center, comes out clean. Cool cake in the pan for at least 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

CHOCOLATE-GLAZED TEA-CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the muffin tin with cupcake liners.
• Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
• In another medium bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until light and foamy, about 2 minutes. While beating, gradually pour in the butter and then the vanilla.
• While mixing slowly, add half the dry ingredients, then add all the milk, and follow with the rest of the dry ingredients. Take care not to over mix the batter. Divide the batter evenly in the prepared tin.
• Bake until a tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove. Cool on the rack completely.
• To assemble the cakes: Slice a small layer off the top of the domed side of each cupcake to make a flat surface. Peel cupcake liners off and place cakes upside down on a rack.
• To make the glaze: Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream, water and corn syrup to a simmer. Pour hot cream over the chocolate and shake bowl gently so cream settles around the chocolate. Set mixture aside soft, about 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth, taking care not to incorporate too many air bubbles.
• To Decorate: While still warm and loose, pour a thin layer of glaze (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup per cake) over each cake. If desired, set aside for about one hour before serving; if pressed for time, slip the cakes into the freezer to set.
• Decorate mini cakes with fresh berries or candies. If using candies to decorate, press into still slightly wet glaze before it sets.

RASPBERRY & DARK CHOCOLATE TEACAKES

Steps:

• First, make the chocolate biscuit bases. Put the butter and icing sugar in a large bowl, mash together with a wooden spoon then beat for 1-2 mins or 2 until smooth. Add the egg yolk, vanilla, milk, flour, cocoa and a pinch of salt, and mix again. Tip onto your work surface and knead briefly until evenly coloured. Wrap in cling film, pat into a disc and chill for 20 mins.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment. Dust the surface with a little flour, unwrap the dough and roll to the thickness of a £1 coin. Use a 5cm cookie cutter to stamp out as many discs as you can, then re-roll the trimmings to cut out more - you should get about 35 in total. Place on the baking sheets and bake for 10-12 mins, swapping the trays over halfway through. Cool on a wire rack.
• Next, make the marshmallow filling. Put the gelatine in a bowl of cold water and set aside to soften. Put the egg whites, sugar, 1 tbsp water and a good pinch of salt in a heatproof bowl. Place over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water, and whisk until thick and leaving a prominent trail from the beaters - this will take about 5 mins. When the meringue is thick, remove the bowl from the heat and continue whisking while you add the gelatine leaves, one at a time. Keep whisking for another 3-5 mins until the meringue has cooled slightly and is really stiff. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle (mine was 1.5cm).
• Flip each biscuit over so the bottom is facing upwards. Spoon 1/2 tsp jam onto the middle of each biscuit. Holding the piping bag above the jam, pipe a blob of meringue to fill the surface of the biscuit, quickly pulling away to make a spike. Leave to set for 30 mins.
• Melt the chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 20 secs or so to ensure it doesn't burn. To cover the teacakes in chocolate, hold each one above the bowl at an angle and drizzle over the chocolate, letting it run back into the bowl, turning the teacake until completely covered. Place on a wire rack suspended over a baking tray. After every 5-10 teacakes, sprinkle over a little freeze-dried raspberry, if using. Will keep for 3 days in a sealed container.