Okay, so, today I tried making an oolong tea cake. I love oolong tea, always have, and I thought, why not try it in a cake?
First, I gathered all the stuff I needed. I got some oolong tea leaves, good ones – I didn’t want to skimp on the tea. I also grabbed flour, sugar, butter, eggs, you know, the usual cake ingredients. I also used some milk. The thing with oolong tea is, it’s kinda in between black and green tea, right? It’s all about how much it’s oxidized. And the shape! Oolong tea leaves are usually rolled or twisted, which I think is pretty cool.
I started by brewing a strong cup of oolong tea. I let it steep for a while to get all that flavor out. While the tea was brewing, I creamed together the butter and sugar. It smelled so good already! Then, I cracked in the eggs one by one, mixing well after each. I added the dry ingredients – flour, and a bit of baking powder, just to make sure the cake would rise nicely.
- Brewed oolong tea
- Creamed butter and sugar
- Eggs mixed in
- Flour and baking powder
My Mix:
Once the tea cooled down a bit, I poured it into the batter. Mixed everything until it was just combined. I didn’t want to overmix. You gotta be careful with that, you know? The batter looked a little different because of the tea, kinda darker. And the smell, oh man, it was amazing. Like, you could smell the tea and the sweetness of the cake batter all at once.
I greased a cake pan and dusted it with flour. Then, I poured the batter into the pan and popped it in the oven. I baked it at 350 degrees, like you do with most cakes. The waiting was the hardest part. I kept checking on it, sticking a toothpick in to see if it was done. It took a bit longer than I expected, maybe because of the tea.
Finally, it was done! I took it out of the oven and let it cool. The cake looked so good. It had risen nicely, and the color was this beautiful golden brown. I made a simple glaze with some powdered sugar and a little bit of milk to drizzle on top. Just a little something extra, you know? Some people use tea in desserts like jelly, but I wanted a real cake.
I cut a slice, and it was perfect. Moist, flavorful, and you could really taste the oolong. It wasn’t too strong, just right. Like, you knew it was there, but it wasn’t overpowering. It is kind of like a traditional teacake, which I read is a big cookie, but this was definitely a cake. I heard they’re popular in the Southeastern US, especially in the African-American community. This is my oolong version.
I’m definitely making this again. Maybe next time I’ll try a different type of oolong, or add some fruit or something. The possibilities are endless!
