Chris Cranberry Tea Cake Recipes

CRANBERRY ORANGE TEA CAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325° F. In small bowl, toss cranberries and 1 teaspoon flour; set aside.
• In large bowl, beat margarine and granulated sugar with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon, until well blended. Beat in egg, sour cream, orange peel and orange extract until smooth.
• Beat in 2 cups flour, the baking soda and salt on low speed until well blended. Stir in cranberry mixture. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until bottoms are light golden. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Sprinkle tops with powdered sugar. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

CREAM-FILLED CRANBERRY TEA CAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Prepare dough from Easy Cut-Out Cookies recipe. Divide dough in half; shape each half into ball.
• Roll out 1 ball of dough on lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness; cut into 24 (1-1/2-inch) squares, re-rolling dough scraps as necessary. Place dough squares, 1 inch apart, on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
• Repeat on second prepared baking sheet with remaining dough.
• Bake 10 to 12 min. or until edges of cookies are lightly browned. Cool 3 min. Remove cookies to wire racks; cool completely.
• Place 24 cookies, top sides down, on baking sheet; spread each with about 1/2 tsp. cream cheese spread. Top evenly with cranberries.
• Spread remaining cream cheese onto bottom sides of remaining cookies; place, cream cheese sides down, over topped cookies on baking sheet to make 24 sandwiches.
• Refrigerate overnight. (Cookie sandwiches will soften slightly.)
• Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar before serving.

TEACAKES

Steps:

• Warm the milk with the butter in a pan until the butter has melted, then add 100ml water to cool the mixture to room temp. Tip the flour, yeast, sugar, spice and 1 tsp salt into a bowl, making sure the yeast is on the other side of the bowl to the salt. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour the milk and butter in, mixing until it forms big flakes, then bring together with your hands. Tip on a surface and knead until smooth (about 5 mins). Put the dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave until doubled in size, so about 1-1 ½ hours.
• Line a tray with baking paper. Tip the mixed dried fruits into the dough and knead them in, trying to disperse them evenly throughout the dough. Cut your dough into 6 even-sized balls, take each ball and, using the cup of your hand, and pressing down a little with your palm, roll the ball in a circular motion on the surface to create tension across the top of the bun and a neat round shape. Place onto a tray about 5cm away from each other and press down with your palm to flatten the dough down a little, creating the teacake shape. Cover loosely with an oiled sheet of cling film, for a further 45 mins, or until they have doubled in size.
• Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6. Brush the top of each bun liberally with the egg wash, then bake for 20 mins on the top shelf of the oven, until the buns are golden and well risen. Allow to cool on a wire rack, then slice in half, toast and slather with butter if you like.

FRESH CRANBERRY TEA CAKE

Steps:

• Place racks in the center of the oven, and preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare 2 loaf pans (1.5lb loaf pans measuring 10″x5″x3″) by lightly coating with baking spray (or butter), and lining with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt, and set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together. Add vanilla and egg, mix well.
• Add the buttermilk and flour mixture in batches, alternating. Stir in the cranberries.
• Divide the batter into two loaf pans. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden. Depending on your oven and the size of your loaf pans, this may need more time; check the cakes at the 30 minute mark, and continue baking, if necessary, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake is springy to the touch.

TART CRANBERRY CAKE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until slightly thickened and lemon-colored, about 5 minutes. Add butter and extract; beat 2 minutes. Gradually stir in flour just until combined. Stir in cranberries and pecans. Spread in a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. , Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream if desired.

CHAMOMILE TEA CAKE WITH STRAWBERRY ICING

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon chamomile to a large mixing bowl. Pour the hot melted butter over the chamomile and stir. Set aside to steep and cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Use the same saucepan (without washing it out) to bring the milk to a simmer over medium-high heat, keeping watch so it doesn't boil over. Remove from the heat, and stir the remaining 1 tablespoon chamomile into the hot milk. Set aside to steep and cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with the nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment paper so the long sides of the pan have a couple of inches of overhang to make lifting the finished cake out easier.
• Add the sugar and salt to the bowl with the butter, and whisk until smooth and thick, about 1 minute. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, vigorously whisking to combine after each addition. Zest the lemon into the bowl; add the baking powder and vanilla, and whisk until incorporated. Add the flour and stream in the milk mixture while whisking continuously until no streaks of flour remain.
• Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until a skewer or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean (a few crumbs are OK, but you should see no wet batter), 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes.
• While the cake cools, make the icing: Into a medium bowl, squeeze 2 tablespoons juice from the zested lemon, then add the confectioners' sugar. Place the dehydrated strawberries in a fine-mesh sieve set over the bowl and, using your fingers, crush the brittle berries and press the red-pink powder through the sieve and into the sugar. (The more you do this, the redder your icing will be.) Whisk until smooth.
• If needed, run a knife along the edges of the cake to release it from the pan. Holding the 2 sides of overhanging parchment, lift the cake out and place it on a plate, cake stand or cutting board. Discard the parchment. Pour the icing over the cake, using a spoon to push the icing to the edges of the cake to encourage the icing to drip down the sides dramatically. Cool the cake completely and let the icing set.

CRANBERRY TEA CAKE

Steps:

• Coarsely chop cranberries.
• Combine cranberries with brown sugar, almonds, cinnamon and nutmeg; set to the side.
• Cream butter and sugar.
• Add vanilla, sour cream, and eggs; mix thoroughly.
• Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
• Stir into egg mixture just until moistened.
• Pour 1/2 of batter into greased Bundt pan or 8" round cake pan.
• Spread 1/2 of cranberry mixture over the top.
• Repeat with remaining batter and cranberries.
• Bake 50-60 min at 350.
• Remove from pan and cool on rack.
• Dust with powdered sugar.