Black Tea Pound Cake

The recipe for pound cake dates back to the 1700s, where it was originally made with a pound each of flour, sugar, butter and eggs – hence the name. We’ve updated this crowd-pleasing cake by infusing it with aromatic black tea and topping it with a zesty honey lime icing, but it still results in an extremely moist loaf cake so serve at teatime (and any other time of day!).

INGREDIENTS (BLACK TEA POUND CAKE)

• 1 cup (250ml) milk
• 3 Nerada Black Tea Bags
• 170g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp fine salt

INGREDIENTS (HONEY LIME ICING)

• 125ml thickened cream, cold
• 2 tbs sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tbs honey
• Finely grated zest of 1 lime

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC.
2. Bring milk to a simmer over medium heat, add teabags, then remove from heat and allow to infuse until room-temperature. Discard tea bags.
3. Beat the butter and sugar using a stand-mixer for 3-4 minutes or until thick and pale. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until mixture is fluffy. Add 1/3 cup honey and vanilla, beat until smooth and combined.
4. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Beat half the flour-mixture into the creamed butter, followed by half the tea-infused milk. Repeat until just combined.
5. Grease a loaf pan and line with baking paper. Pour the batter into the pan, then bake for 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool slightly in pan.
6. Meanwhile, whisk cream, sweetened condensed milk and honey together until soft peaks form. Spread over the cooled cake, then sprinkle with lime zest and serve.

Serves 8-10

Enjoy with a cup of Nerada Black Tea