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5 from 1 vote

Chamomile Tea Cake With Strawberry Icing

From Eric KIm, tea cake flavored with Chamomile Tea that is as delicious as it is easy to make!
Prep Time1 hour 25 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Course: Cake, Dessert
Cuisine: American, Asian-American
Keyword: chamomile tea, ERic KIm, Strawberry, tea cake

Equipment

  • 1 9x5 loaf pan

Ingredients

  • Nonstick cooking spray To prep loaf pan

Steep 2 Tea Blends: butter + tea and milk + tea and set aside

  • 2 tablespoons (6 grams) chamomile tea, divided in half approximately 4 to 6 tea bags, crushed fine if coarse
  • 1⁄2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter
  • 1 cup (240 milliliters) whole milk

Cream Tea + Butter Mixture

  • 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs

Add to Creamed Tea-Butter Mixture

  • 1 tbsp lemon zest (original recipe calls for zest of 1 large lemon) You can increase or decrease zest to your taste or use combination of orange and lemon zest 1.5 teaspoons of each. Keep the lemon, yiu will use the juice in the icing
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon Morton's coarse kosher salt or increase to 3/4 tsp if using Diamond Kosher Salt
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1⁄2 cups (192 grams) all-purpose flour

Icing

  • 2 tbsp Lemon juice from zested lemon
  • 1 cup (124 grams) confectioners’ sugar
  • 1⁄2 cup (8 grams) freeze-dried strawberries

Instructions

  • In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat (or microwave until melted). 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 cool
  • 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.