Irish Tea Cakes
This quick bread makes a fantastic snack or dessert. It's light and delicate and the lemon flavor provides the perfect contrast to the currents and sweet bread.
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Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 338kcal
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 2 eggs
- 3 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dried currants
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a 9 inch loaf pan by greasing and flouring it.
- In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.3/4 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup sugar, zest of 1 lemon, 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste, 2 eggs
- Add cream cheese and mix until fully incorporated. Add the baking powder and salt and mix until combined.3 ounces cream cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Place the currants in small bowl and add 1/4 cup flour to currants. Stir currants by hand until well-coated and none stick together.1 3/4 cups cake flour, 1 cup dried currants
- Add 1 cup of remaining flour to butter mixture. Slowly stir until mostly incorporated. Add buttermilk and mix until an even consistency. Add remaining flour and stir until most of the white streaks are gone. Use a spatula to carefully stir in currants.2/3 cup buttermilk
- Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake at 325 degrees for an hour and a half. You want the cake to crack on top and your cake tester to come out with crumbs.
- Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Prepare the glaze by mixing the lemon juice with the powdered sugar, using a fork. Once the tea cake cools, carefully remove from pan to cooling rack. Use a toothpick, poke holes all over the top of the cake.2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- Slowly drizzle glaze all over the cake. Let tea cake cool completely before you cut it. You can keep this cake for 3 days (if it lasts that long) on the counter wrapped in tin foil.
Notes
- As delicious as this cake it, use European butter to give it an extra oomph. This really adds to the flavor for this particular recipe. If you cannot find currants, you can substitute raisins. They are larger and the cake it more likely to split as you cut it, but you retain the same flavor style.
- For more tips and tricks, be sure to read the full article above.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 338kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 69mg | Sodium: 221mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 31g
This site uses an online source to provide nutrition estimates as a courtesy. If you need exact values, please calculate yourself.