WHAT YOU NEED
For the cake
- 250ml milk
- 150g of your favourite Madura black tea leaves (or the leaves from teabags)
- 180g unsalted butter
- 420g caster sugar
- 3 eggs, large
- 485g plain flour
- 45g cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice/white wine vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons white wine vinegar
For the syrup
- 100g sugar
- 150ml water
- Handful of Madura black tea leaves
For the icing
- 100g unsalted butter, room temp
- 600g icing sugar
- 250g full fat cream cheese
- Handful of blueberries and toasted coconut shavings to decorate
TO MAKE
Place milk in heavy bottomed saucepan with tea leaves, let simmer on a low heat for five minutes. Remove from heat and leave to cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight to further steep the milk, strain the milk to remove the tea leaves. Line two 6 inch cake tins with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 160C. Add lemon juice to tea milk and stir and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, around 4 minutes. While mixing, add one egg at a time. In a bowl, sieve together cocoa and flour. On medium speed, add a third of the flour, then a third of the strained tea milk, alternating between both until everything is smoothly blended. Take care not to over-mix!
In a small bowl, add the baking soda, then the white wine vinegar. It will immediately froth up, add it straight into the cake batter and gently fold in using a spatula. Divide among pans and bake for 35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean and the cake is coming away from the sides of the pan. Let the cakes cool to room temperature then cover in cling film and refrigerate for a few hours/overnight. Slice both cakes horizontally with a serrated knife so that you have four equal layers.
To make the syrup, add all of the ingredients into a saucepan and let simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes. Take off the heat, strain the tea leaves and pour into a jug and set aside. Poke several holes (with a skewer) into the cakes and gently pour the slightly cooled syrup into the cakes – be sparing with the syrup – over soaking causes the cakes to tear.
Beat the icing sugar, butter and just a tablespoon of the cream cheese together on high speed until light, fluffy and pale – around 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rest of the cream cheese and beat on medium speed until smooth and thick. Fill a piping bag fitted with a closed star tip (Wilton 2D) with a third of the icing. Build the cake layers by piping rosettes around the edges of each layer. Squeeze a dollop of icing in the middle of each layer and smooth off with a spatula before adding the next layer. Finish the top layer with the same effect and sprinkle with the toasted coconut and blueberries.
Cake will keep for three days if kept covered and refrigerated.
Note: There are a few lengthy steps in this recipe, like steeping milk and letting the cakes rest in the fridge before slicing, so it’s best to start making the cake layers and milk tea a day ahead.
Enjoy with your favourite
Madura Black Tea
Buy Madura Black Tea
Recipe and cover image Inspired by ‘mbakes’
