This blog needs a pick-me-up.
There have been one too many posts on goodbyes and on baking as a palliative. True, with things in such flux these days, baking has served as a nurturing activity in a lot of ways. But at the very end of the day, baking is all about good food and good times. And that means things are going to get a little happier around here from now on.
What better way to signal a turnaround in this blog’s tenor than this chocolate tea cake with earl grey icing? The notes of earl grey and subtle chocolate bounce off each other, heightening the entire flavor profile.
Come over sometime. I’ll bake this for you. And we’ll jig together … icing in our hair and chocolate smeared at the corners of our lips.
This is a photo of the cake all dressed-up for a dinner party. But to be honest, my favorite way to enjoy the cake is like this …
… messy. gooey. oozing. with a cup of … tea!
Chocolate Earl Grey Tea Cake with Icing
Barely adapted from Food Network Magazine
For the cake
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 sticks unsalted butter, diced and brought to room temperature (~65 degrees)
1 1/2 c sugar
3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 tspn salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 tspn vanilla extract
For the Icing
1 c sugar
4 large day-old egg whites, room temperature
1 1/2 tspn cream of tartar
pinch of salt
2 bags Earl Grey tea
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Prepare the cupcakes
1. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double-boiler and whisk until smooth
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar, flour, and salt
3. Mix the dry ingredients into the melted chocolate and butter
4. Whisk in the vanilla and one egg at a time until the mixture is smooth
5. Pour the batter into greased muffin tins or mini cake pans and fill up to about 3/4
6. Bake muffins for 15-18 minutes and mini cakes for 20-25 minutes. They are ready when the tops are slightly cracked and the centers of the cakes spring back when you press down gently using your finger.
7. Cool completely on a cooling rack
Prepare the icing
1. Whisk the sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt
2. Cut the tea bags and whisk the loose tea from the tea bags into the egg whites
3. Set the bowl over a simmering pot of water and whisk until the mixture is hot and the sugar has completely dissolved
4. Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk until the icing holds stiff peaks (~5 min)
5. Transfer to an icing bag (setting the bag into a tall cup helps if you don’t have an extra set of hands in the kitchen) and pipe onto cakes once they have cooled