RECIPE | Cinnamon Teacake
Sam and I were in the supermarket getting groceries for dinner and decided we needed dessert. And in full Sam fashion he pulls up his recipe app and picks this recipe to make. All we needed to add to our shopping trolley was the milk and butter to make this cinnamon teacake.
The recipe calls for unsalted butter, but we bought salted butter instead, not by accident. Earlier that day Sam went to a cooking class and was told that whenever a recipe calls for unsalted butter, the chef always uses salted butter because she likes salty things.
To be honest, when we ate the cake I completely forgot that we’d done this. The teacake tasted so freaking good. And definitely didn’t taste salty. So don’t let the fact that you only have salted butter stop you from making dessert that requires unsalted butter.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 10
Topping:
60g caster (or rapadura or demerara) sugar
45g plain flour
1 ¼ tablespoons ground cinnamon
45g cold unsalted butter, in small chunks
Extra butter, to serve
1 ½ cups (225g) self-raising flour
¼ teaspoon salt
4 eggs, at room temperatures
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
200g unsalted butter, cut into small chunks, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup (125mls) milk
METHOD
1. Preheat your oven to 180C. Butter 23cm springform tin, press a circle of buttered baking paper into the base, then dust the tin lightly with flour.
For the topping, put the sugar, flour and cinnamon into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and whiz them briefly until they’re well combined. Dot the cold butter over the top, and pulse it in until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Scoop the mixture into a small bowl, and tuck it in the fridge while you get on with the cake batter.
Combine the self-raising flour and salt in a bowl, and whisk them together with a balloon whisk until they’re thoroughly mixed.
Put the eggs and sugar into the processor and whiz them for 1 minute. Dot the butter chunks over the top and process everything for another minute. (The mixture may look a bit curdled at this stage, but don’t worry, it will be fine.) Now add the vanilla, half the flour and half the milk, and pulse the processor with quick on/off bursts just to mix them in. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. Add the remaining flour and milk and again mix them in with quick bursts, until the batter is just combined (don’t overdo it or the cake will be tough.) Scoop the batter into the prepared tin and smooth it out. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the top. (If you’d like to add apple slices or a swirl of extra cinnamon sugar, do this before sprinkling on the topping.)
Pop the cake in the oven and bake it for 40 – 45 minutes, or until a fine skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes, then release and remove the sides. You can leave the cake to cool completely or serve it warm (although not traditional, a dollop of softly whipped cream doesn’t go amiss!) One interesting thing I’ve noticed about this cake is that the cinnamon flavour becomes more pronounced as the topping softens a bit. Serve with butter.
Leftover cake keeps well for up to three days in a tightly sealed container at cool room temperature, or can be frozen for a couple of weeks.
NOTES
Used unsalted butter instead of salted butter
The original recipe is from Belinda Jefferey "My mum’s cinnamon teacake"
I’d love to know if you make this recipe!