"Tea" Cakes and some inspiration from across the pond!

As you know I love reading other blogs and being inspired to bake things I've never have dreamt of.

Two of my favourite blogs are written by Americans.  I love that they take a different stance on food and that they use ingredients in a variety of ways that I may not have considered.

Elizabeth at Pine Cones and Acorns, published a lovely recipe the other day, Cinnamon Roll Pancakes for the Weekend, you can find her post here.  I made them, but had left my camera in my husband's car, so didn't get a chance to photograph them.  Do give them a go, they are scrummy, and while you are at it do have a look at her other posts, some feature beautiful photographs and others are very insightful and thought provoking.

One of my other favourite blogs is written by Sue who you can find at The view from Great Island.  Back in February she published an interesting recipe, Mini Lady Grey Tea Cakes with Honey Frosting, which you can find here.

I thought they sounded and looked gorgeous and so had a go at my own version.  The photographs were taken, and even uploaded (or downloaded - I never know the correct techie speak!) to my blog, but I had to dash, so the post sat, incomplete in draft form, until today.

I didn't have any Lady Grey Tea, so I used Twinning's Rose Garden Tea and Lavender Earl Grey Tea.

I made two standard (2 egg) Victoria Sponge mixture, which produced  12 "tea" cakes in each variety.

When the cakes had been baked, I decorated them with glace icing.  The Rose Garden Tea cakes had a white icing made with a few drops of Rosewater, and then a dried rose petal on top of each.

I used a lemon flavoured glace icing on the Lavender Earl Grey Tea cakes, and then sprinkled a few petals of lavender on top.


These cakes were delicious, with a slightly adult taste (ie they are not too sweet).   I sampled one of each and to remove the temptation to eat them all, sent the  rest into my daughter's teachers, asking them to guess the ingredients.  Some of them detected the rose and lavender from the tea, they couldn't work out the  actual tea itself, when you taste something with a completely unexpected ingredient it can be impossible!

I will be baking these again, and as Sue suggests, I'll be trying a variety of teas to flavour them.

Thank you Elizabeth and Sue for your delightful blogs.  I love to read them and although I don't always comment they are a source of inspiration and joy.

Lovely little 'tea' cakes

Simply decorated

Good old Victoria Sponge mixture

I cut the tea bags, and emptied the contents into the flour

The ingredients were mixed

And divided into cake cases

You can almost see the rose in this tea

I made sure it was completely incorporated into the flour

Just out of the oven

I really could eat them all

But two will have to do

I love the speckledy look when they are cut in half

Lavender in one tin

And Rose in the other!

There is another bonus of having saved this post in draft.  I'll be able to link it with Kate (What Kate Baked)  and Karen (Lavender and Lovage)'s monthly Teatime Treats, as May's  theme is Floral Flavours and Flowers!  

You can find the details on Karen's blog, here,  as she is hosting this month's challenge.

I think these fit the bill perfectly, as they contain flower flavoured tea! And have a floral decoration on top.