I've been determined to work my through The Greyston Bakery Cookbook over time to perfect my baking skills. I'm generally an impatient (although I prefer to call it innovative) cook and so baking has been a particular challenge. Faced with a few hours to kill and an abundance of eggs from our CSA (which has spurred so many of my recipe choices these days), I dug out the book and got to work.
I decided to attempt the Earl Grey Tea Cake on a Sunday afternoon. This recipe combines a not-so-obscene amount of eggs, butter, and sugar with the usual characters of salt, baking powder, flour, etc. The secret to its greatness comes in the four bags of Earl Grey tea which get crushed into the batter giving off a beautiful aroma of bergamot and smoky tea.
Even with my commitment to diligent recipe following, I made one minor adjustment which was to use Stash Premium Double Bergamot Earl Grey in place of your run-of-the-mill Lady Grey. I was fairly confident that this tweak could not result in a change of chemistry. And in fact, my gamble paid off. The citrusy smokiness was gorgeous and made for a sweetly satisfying cake and removed the need for the brewed tea icing that the recipe also calls for (okay, that's two tweaks). These adjustments also made the cake less indulgent when eaten over the next few mornings.
