A Golden Moment of Calm

I was sipping some Twinings herbal tea at work the other day and began to wonder what would happen if I added a strong infusion of it to a sponge cake; and hey presto I had the recipe formulated. It is a very good job I’m never without pen and notepad to jot all my ideas down really isn’t it

The tea in question was Camomile, Vanilla & Honey; a lovely calming blend that is soothing and the ideal tonic for settling the stress levels during a busy day. 

I don’t drink the herbal teas all that much really, I’m more of a ‘traditonal’ tea drinker but sometimes they make a great change and in an effort to be healthy and not drink buckets of tea I do try and drink more of the herbal sorts when I’m at work … well that’s two out of seven days a week covered then

The cake covered a few areas of interest, I didn’t just want a basic sponge cake with the tea flavour added, rather something very unusual. So after being prompted by the lovely Shyvas over on Violets Pantry I decided to use Khorosan flour in place of the regular white flour normally used in baking. 

Khorosan flour (trademarked under the name of Kamut flour) is an ancient form of wheat believed to have either originated in Egypt or Iran. The trademark name of Kamut was actually chosen by Bob Quinn because it is an ancient Egyptian word for wheat. Khorosan flour is a very fine, almost grainy flour of the most spectacular golden shade. Compared to common wheat, kamut is richer in protein (by between 15% and 40%), minerals such as magnesium and zinc, Vitamin Bs and Vitamin E and unsaturated fatty acids, but contains a little less dietary fibre, making it occasionally tolerable by people with a wheat intolerance. It also has a slightly nutty flavour making it fabulous for breads too, for a recipe idea look here.

I was a little concerned that it would make cake too heavy or too grainy but it didn’t, the cake was light and soft, although not as tender and airy as a regular sponge cake.

The tea really added a gentle note of flavour which worked so well against the nutty khorosan flour. 

For an added extra I decided to give the cake a cheesecake style topping and by that I don’t mean the actual cheesecake mix but the topping most regularly seen on top of cheesecakes, the sour cream bit; are you still following me here? By doing this I added a creaminess to the cake which due to its denseness may otherwise have been a little dry and cloying; of course you could omit the topping and just add pouring cream on serving instead.

Somehow some of the topping worked its way down into the cake centre, not intentional, but it worked well, giving a nice surprise on cutting the cake. Now I’m wondering if it was a one of event or if it will happen again, only one way to find out I suppose and that is to bake another cake.

Snuggle up on the sofa with a slice of this and relax. Sweet honey and rich vanilla combine to work alongside the delicate floral flavour of camomile. All encased in the nuttiness of Khorosan flour. The cake version of a comfort blanket. 

The Recipe:

Cake:

• 100g soft butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 60ml of camomile, vanilla and honey tea (made from one tea bag in 60ml boiling water left to stand for 2 minutes)
• 140g khorosan flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Topping:

• 300ml sour cream
• 25g honey
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Line or grease an 8 inch cake tin and preheat the oven to 180C or the equivalent.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until very pale and fluffy.
3. Gradually beat in the eggs
4. Fold in half the flour and then stir in the tea before folding in the rest of the flour.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for around 20 minutes or until the cake is firm and a cake tester comes out just moist.
6. Meanwhile beat the sour cream with the egg, honey and vanilla until smooth.
7. When the cake is ready (i.e after stage 6) pour the sour cream mix over the cake and return to the oven for another 10 minutes or until the topping is just set and tinged with a golden colour.
8. Leave the cake to cool in the tin before un-moulding and serving.