teacakes

The longer the dough for this sweet fruit bread stays in the fridge the better the flavour - perfect with a cup of tea

Sticky date buns

tsp caster sugar

sachets fast-action dried yeast

00 flour, sponge flour

milk

melted, remainder very soft

egg,

date

light soft brown sugar

icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

Up to 3 days before you want to bake, mix the caster sugar, yeast, 400g of the flour and 1 tsp salt in a big bowl. Whisk together the milk, melted butter and egg, then tip into the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon. Cover with buttered cling film and put in the fridge at least overnight or for up to 3 days.

When you’re ready to make the buns, put the dates in a bowl and pour over just enough boiling water to cover. Leave to soak for 15-20 mins. Drain, pat dry, stone and chop.

Mix the remaining flour into the dough. Use your hands to bring the dough together, then tip out onto a lightly floured surface and lightly knead. Roll out with a little more flour to a large rectangle, about 50 x 30cm, with one of the short sides facing you. Spread over three-quarters of the soft butter, then sprinkle over three-quarters of the brown sugar. Fold the bottom third of the dough up and over the middle third, then the top third down over the other two.

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Rotate the dough 90 degrees, or a quarter turn one way. Roll out again to a similar-sized rectangle as before, this time with one of the long edges facing you. Spread over all but 1 heaped tsp of the remaining butter, scatter over the remaining brown sugar, and sprinkle over the dates. Roll up tightly like a Swiss roll from one of the long edges. Trim the ends a tiny bit, and slice into 12 roughly even portions. Lightly butter the holes of a muffin tin with the reserved butter, then push a roll, cut-side up, into each hole.

Bake for 50 mins until golden and risen. Remove from the tin while warm, so they don’t stick. Dust tops with icing sugar, if you like, or serve sticky-bottom up.

Make the most of the long Easter weekend and fill the house with the smell of spiced buns baking

Spiced hot cross buns

strong white flour

sachets easy-blend yeast

caster sugar

unsalted butter

cinnamon

½ tsp mixed spice

nutmeg

currant

tbsp plain flour

sugar

Put the flour, yeast, caster sugar and 1 tsp salt into a large mixing bowl with the spices and dried fruit and mix well. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm milk, 50ml warm water, the beaten egg and the melted butter. Mix everything together to form a dough – start with a wooden spoon and finish with your hands. If the dough is too dry, add a little more warm water; if it’s too wet, add more flour.

Knead in the bowl or on a floured surface until the dough becomes smooth and springy. Transfer to a clean, lightly greased bowl and cover loosely with a clean, damp tea towel. Leave in a warm place to rise until roughly doubled in size – this will take about 1 hr depending on how warm the room is.

Tip the risen dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for a few secs, then divide into 12 even portions – I roll my dough into a long sausage shape, then quarter and divide each quarter into 3 pieces. Shape each portion into a smooth round and place on a baking sheet greased with butter, leaving some room between each bun for it to rise.

Use a small, sharp knife to score a cross on the top of each bun, then cover with the damp tea towel again and leave in a warm place to prove for 20 mins until almost doubled in size again. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

When the buns are ready to bake, mix the plain flour with just enough water to give you a thick paste. Spoon into a piping bag (or into a plastic food bag and snip the corner off) and pipe a white cross into the crosses you cut earlier. Bake for 12-15 mins until the buns are golden and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. While still warm, melt the granulated sugar with 1 tbsp water in a small pan, then brush over the buns.

These gorgeous mini shortbread teacakes go perfectly with a pot of tea on Mother's Day.

Mini shortbread teacakes

butter, softened

187.50 gm pure icing sugar, sifted

250.00 ml plain flour, plus extra for dusting

corn flour

tsp rosewater essence

Pink, yellow, green, blue and purple food colouring gels

Mini icing flowers, to decorate

Heart and star sprinkles, to decorate

Rainbow pearls, to decorate

Mini jazzies (see notes), to decorate

white icing

Old Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes is a classic, vintage recipe. A cross between a cookie and cake, not too sweet, and utterly delicious.

Old Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes

butter (softened (2 sticks))

eggs (room temperature)

buttermilk

all-purpose flour

baking soda

vanilla

Using a hand or stand mixer, cream the butter until soft and pale yellow in color.

Gradually add the sugar to the butter, beating well.

Next, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the buttermilk and beat well again.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour and soda.

Turn the mixer down to the slowest speed and gradually add the flour and soda mixture into the creamed mixture.

Add in the vanilla.

Shape the dough into a round or rectangle, cover with plastic wrap, and chill several hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease two cookie sheets.

If you chill your dough overnight, remove it from the fridge about 15 minutes before rolling.

Working with 1/4 to 1/3 of the dough at a time, roll dough to 1/4” thickness on a lightly floured surface.

Cut the dough into rounds using a large biscuit cutter or a drinking glass dipped into flour. Gather the scraps together, re-roll, and cut until all dough is used.

Place the rounds 1 inch apart on lightly greased cookie sheets.

Sprinkle lightly with additional sugar.

Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the edges are very lightly browned.

Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and allow tea cakes to cool for several minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/t_original/v1643820335/n2gfbfzdfcn2c9zjednl.mp4

My Old Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes is a classic, vintage recipe. A cross between a cookie and cake, not too sweet, and utterly delicious.

Top 4 teacakes recipes from across the web

The most viewed teacakes recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Sticky date buns

Spiced hot cross buns

Mini shortbread teacakes

Old Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes

Top 4 teacakes recipes from across the web

The most viewed teacakes recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Sticky date buns

Spiced hot cross buns

Mini shortbread teacakes

Old Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes

The most viewed teacakes recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine