This months CelebriTEA is Lydia Bates, the creative force behind new online vintage magazine and directory Ivy Dee. She can also be found making pudding on The Pudding Blog, talking communications on That’s What She Said, and getting opinionated at Ninehundred Months, or you can follow her on Twitter @lydiajo
Mention cake these days, and, for many people, the image of a bright, fondant-covered cupcake will spring to mind. But that wasn’t always the case, there was a time when cake was something more substantial, something that you could really get your teeth into. Cupcakes were for children, and grown-ups had proper cake. I have a particular fondness for the sort of cake that doesn’t require any icing or frosting, and isn’t filled with whipped cream and fresh fruit. The sort of cake that you can cut a generous slice from, and wrap the remainder in greaseproof paper for later - Cake as food, not as luxury.
So, let me share with you my top five proper cakes to have with your daily cuppa.
Fruit Cake
You can’t get much more traditional than good old fashioned fruit cake - many families have recipes that have been passed down through generations, each with their own special ingredients. My version is a little newer than that, and has been cobbled together by looking at 3 or 4 other recipes, and I’m still playing with it. The trick with this cake is to soak the dried fruit overnight in tea – I just throw in a handful of ordinary teabags. It leaves you with lovely plump fruit, and a cake with a little more depth of flavour.
Recommended Tea – Yorkshire Tea, a good strong blend of black teas. No messing around here.
Recommended Tea – Yorkshire Tea, a good strong blend of black teas. No messing around here.
Banana, Pecan and Chocolate
The best way to describe this cake is to say that it is ‘almost sweet’. The banana, pecan and dark chocolate undoubtedly have their sweet sides, but they also have a warming comforting taste to them. It’s an uncomplicated reassuring kind of cake that works just as well as a breakfast on the go as for a snack in the afternoon.
Recommended Tea –
Date and Walnut
In many ways, this is very similar to the banana cake above, indeed it still contains a couple of bananas, but the addition of the dates gives it a completely different character. If I tell you that it’s dates that provide the sticky in sticky toffee pudding, then it won’t surprise you to discover that throwing a load of them into a cake turns it into something really quite gooey and gorgeous. This cake really is an indulgence, but its sweetness is balanced by the slightly bitter taste from the walnut, making it altogether more grown-up than sticky toffee pudding.
Recommended Tea – Russian Caravan, smoky and a little sophisticated.
Honey and Caraway
Seed cake is another traditional English cake, and features in Mrs Beeton’s Cookbook. Some varieties include some citrus peel, or the juice of a fresh orange, but the version I quite like contains a couple of teaspoons of honey. This is a light and delicate cake, with a distinctive flavour, which would be right at home on a tray with some cucumber sandwiches and scones, taken in the garden on a summer’s day (under a willow tree or large parasol in order to protect the complexion, of course).
Recommended Tea – Earl Grey, with lemon, not milk (obviously)
Ginger and Spice
This is a heck of a cake, dark and full of intense flavours. Ground ginger, stem ginger (with a bit of syrup), all spice, dark sugar and half a tin of black treacle - this isn’t a cake for the faint hearted. It also takes a bit of courage to bake, because it’s the sort of cake that is liable to sink on you if you bring it out of the oven too soon. That being said, if you do suffer from total cake collapse, you can always dig it out of the tin and make wickedly grown up trifles in individual glasses, or just eat it and forget about what it looks like, and get out the ingredients to try again if you really need one that looks as good as it tastes.
Recommended Tea – You need something powerful to compete with the flavours here, and what could be better than some Gunpowder to complement the oriental vibe of the ginger.
So, over to you – what sort of cake do you find yourself reaching for over and over again? Do you have memories of parents or grandparents making a certain cake that fill you with nostalgia? Or are you more of a biscuit person?
This month's CelebriTEA post comes from Helen of the delightful Candy Handfuls Boutique Bakery here she writes about her love of old recipe books.
A Slice of History
I learned to bake the old fashioned way, in the kitchen with my Mother and Grandmothers. I don’t actually remember too many recipe books from this time aside from a very well loved copy of the Bero recipe book from the early 60’s which was passed from my Gran to my Mam and is now mine, a giant Good Housekeeping encyclopaedia of recipes that my Mam used on a regular basis and a handwritten recipe book that my Mam made during her Home Economics Lessons in school. There were other recipe books of course, but it’s those ones that I remember the most. As well as that old faithful Bero book, I now have my own handwritten recipe book filled with recipes I’ve collected over the years, I even have an updated version of the giant recipe book I remember so well. But, the recipe books that I pour over the most are the vintage ones that I’ve found in charity shops and antiques markets over the years. I just can’t resist the allure of a well loved recipe book and the long forgotten tips, recipes and ideas it may hold. I love the way the way that these books address the lady of the house and the tone they adopt, one of my favourite quotes is on how to tell when a cake is cooked and its from “The Creda Housecraft Manual” 1958
“When cooked, cakes shrink very slightly from the side of the tin. Experienced cooks 'listen' to a cake which makes a singing noise when done; and they can tell by the feel of the top whether it is cooked through. Beginners are advised to thrust a hatpin or knitting needle into the cake; it should draw out perfectly clean with no trace or grease. Don't use a knife for this purpose as it leaves an unsightly gash in the cake."
I'm not entirely sure why, but it always makes me smile.
What attracts me the most is the promise that I might just find a gem hidden amongst those pages, a recipe or flavour combination that makes me want to dash to the kitchen and get to work. This happened recently as I was curled up on the sofa looking for inspiration. My 1930s Raisley recipe book by Brown and Polson Ltd was the first to grab my attention with a seed cake recipe. I seemed to recall this being a favourite of my Gran and her friends as well as being the cake of choice for Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple. Having done a bit of googling, it would seem that this cake was going out of fashion even at the time that the Miss Marple books were set. Once I had spotted it in a few more books, my resolve was set, I was determined to make a seed cake, in fact not only to make a seed cake but to reinvent seed cake for modern times.
Good Old Fashioned Seed Cake
adapted from The Creda Housecraft Manual (1958) and Light Fare Recipes (1932)
8oz Plain flour
1tsp Baking powder
a pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon Allspice
6oz Sugar
6oz Margarine
3 Eggs
2 teaspoons of Caraway seeds
Sift the flour baking powder and salt into a bowl and add the fat, rub the fat gently through the flour gently until it resembles bread crumbs and there are no lumps.
Add the rest of the dry ingredients and distribute through the mix with your fingers.
Beat the eggs, add these to the mix and mix thoroughly.
Place in a large greased tin, I used a 6.5 inch round tin, but feel free to use what you have.
Bake at 180 gas mark 4
(the vintage recipes both state the cake will take over an hour to cook, mine took around 45 minutes as modern ovens are hotter...remember, if in doubt thrust in a hatpin and if it draws out clean your cake is cooked!)
I have to say I can't understand why the popularity of this cake waned, it went beautifully with a cup of tea. As it is made using the rubbed in method, it has a slightly heavier texture making it satisfying to eat, you only need a small slice so a relatively small cake goes a long way. It has a spiced and slightly aniseed flavour, rather than being overly sweet which I think goes perfectly with the sharp zestiness of lemons and would make a lovely treat for breakfast or elevensies.
Thoroughly Modern Mini Seedcakes
Place the mixture in large muffin cases, filling the case about 2/3 of the way. I got 12 large muffins from this mix, but depending on the size of your cake cases you may get more.
Bake at 180 gas mark 4 for around 15 to 20 minutes
Allow these to cool for 5minutes in the muffin tin. While they are cooling in the tin, prepare your lemon syrup
Lemon Syrup
The juice of one lemon
85g Sugar
100ml Water
Place these ingredients into a small pan and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, this should take 2-3minutes.
Use a small skewer (or hatpin) to pierce the cakes, they should still be a little warm and spoon the syrup over them. Decorate with a few caraway seeds and allow to cool fully before enjoying with a nice cup of tea.
So, the next time you're looking for a cake recipe, why not try Seed Cake and do your bit to revive a great British recipe. Alternatively, look for that recipe book thats been in the back of your cupboard for years or even see what you can find in the book section of your local charity shop; you just don't know what long forgotten recipes you might discover.
A Slice of History
“When cooked, cakes shrink very slightly from the side of the tin. Experienced cooks 'listen' to a cake which makes a singing noise when done; and they can tell by the feel of the top whether it is cooked through. Beginners are advised to thrust a hatpin or knitting needle into the cake; it should draw out perfectly clean with no trace or grease. Don't use a knife for this purpose as it leaves an unsightly gash in the cake."
I'm not entirely sure why, but it always makes me smile.
What attracts me the most is the promise that I might just find a gem hidden amongst those pages, a recipe or flavour combination that makes me want to dash to the kitchen and get to work. This happened recently as I was curled up on the sofa looking for inspiration. My 1930s Raisley recipe book by Brown and Polson Ltd was the first to grab my attention with a seed cake recipe. I seemed to recall this being a favourite of my Gran and her friends as well as being the cake of choice for Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple. Having done a bit of googling, it would seem that this cake was going out of fashion even at the time that the Miss Marple books were set. Once I had spotted it in a few more books, my resolve was set, I was determined to make a seed cake, in fact not only to make a seed cake but to reinvent seed cake for modern times.
Good Old Fashioned Seed Cake
adapted from The Creda Housecraft Manual (1958) and Light Fare Recipes (1932)
8oz Plain flour
1tsp Baking powder
a pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon Allspice
6oz Sugar
6oz Margarine
3 Eggs
2 teaspoons of Caraway seeds
Sift the flour baking powder and salt into a bowl and add the fat, rub the fat gently through the flour gently until it resembles bread crumbs and there are no lumps.
Add the rest of the dry ingredients and distribute through the mix with your fingers.
Beat the eggs, add these to the mix and mix thoroughly.
Place in a large greased tin, I used a 6.5 inch round tin, but feel free to use what you have.
Bake at 180 gas mark 4
(the vintage recipes both state the cake will take over an hour to cook, mine took around 45 minutes as modern ovens are hotter...remember, if in doubt thrust in a hatpin and if it draws out clean your cake is cooked!)
I have to say I can't understand why the popularity of this cake waned, it went beautifully with a cup of tea. As it is made using the rubbed in method, it has a slightly heavier texture making it satisfying to eat, you only need a small slice so a relatively small cake goes a long way. It has a spiced and slightly aniseed flavour, rather than being overly sweet which I think goes perfectly with the sharp zestiness of lemons and would make a lovely treat for breakfast or elevensies.
Thoroughly Modern Mini Seedcakes
Use the ingredients and method as above, with the addition of the zest of an unwaxed lemon when you add the eggs.
Place the mixture in large muffin cases, filling the case about 2/3 of the way. I got 12 large muffins from this mix, but depending on the size of your cake cases you may get more.
Bake at 180 gas mark 4 for around 15 to 20 minutes
Allow these to cool for 5minutes in the muffin tin. While they are cooling in the tin, prepare your lemon syrup
Lemon Syrup
The juice of one lemon
85g Sugar
100ml Water
Place these ingredients into a small pan and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, this should take 2-3minutes.
Use a small skewer (or hatpin) to pierce the cakes, they should still be a little warm and spoon the syrup over them. Decorate with a few caraway seeds and allow to cool fully before enjoying with a nice cup of tea.
So, the next time you're looking for a cake recipe, why not try Seed Cake and do your bit to revive a great British recipe. Alternatively, look for that recipe book thats been in the back of your cupboard for years or even see what you can find in the book section of your local charity shop; you just don't know what long forgotten recipes you might discover.
This month's CelebriTEA post comes from Fran of lovely blog Tweens n Twincesses.
As Mothers Day comes around again I instantly think of my grandma.
She has been more like my mother since I can remember; indeed it was under her wing that I developed my love of everything vintage. She taught me how to make a proper cup of tea; always loved a second cup before more water was added to the pot and had lovely tea cosies.
My grandma is now almost 88, I see her several times a week. Having been her carer for almost five years we are still incredibly close. On Mothers Day I will be making her a sandwich cake and the great-grandchildren and I will pile over to see her with flowers and make a huge fuss of her until she gets too tired of us all. The cake will be her own special recipe, am sure she wouldn’t mind my sharing her recipe with you, in fact I think she’d be rather tickled at the thought of being mentioned at all.
Eunice's Sandwich Cake
The Grandest Mother
As Mothers Day comes around again I instantly think of my grandma.
She has been more like my mother since I can remember; indeed it was under her wing that I developed my love of everything vintage. She taught me how to make a proper cup of tea; always loved a second cup before more water was added to the pot and had lovely tea cosies.
I have vivid memories of kneeling on a chair at the worktop, watching her prepare for Sunday teatime. A nice cloth, laid with tea cups and saucers, sandwiches and a freshly baked cake. So when I spotted this sweet little set in our local charity shop I just had to add it to my ever growing collection. It has Royal Vale stamped on the bottom and is English Bone China. I dont think I shall ever use it; for now it sits next to my ribbons on my craft shelf and holds my pincushion.
Another one of my favourite finds is a charming hand embroidered postcard.
The seller assured me it dated from before the first world war. The stitching is so perfect and the sentiment so lovely. Someone clearly has put a great deal of love into this little card.
I have it tucked safely away at the moment as I haven’t found a perfect spot for it and would hate it to be spoilt before I could frame it
The seller assured me it dated from before the first world war. The stitching is so perfect and the sentiment so lovely. Someone clearly has put a great deal of love into this little card.
I have it tucked safely away at the moment as I haven’t found a perfect spot for it and would hate it to be spoilt before I could frame it
My grandma is now almost 88, I see her several times a week. Having been her carer for almost five years we are still incredibly close. On Mothers Day I will be making her a sandwich cake and the great-grandchildren and I will pile over to see her with flowers and make a huge fuss of her until she gets too tired of us all. The cake will be her own special recipe, am sure she wouldn’t mind my sharing her recipe with you, in fact I think she’d be rather tickled at the thought of being mentioned at all. Eunice's Sandwich Cake
For the cake
Method
- Three large eggs (room temperature)
- Self raising flour
- Stork margarine
- Caster sugar
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 25 grams/ 1oz cornflour
- Vanilla essence
- Icing sugar
- Butter
- Vanilla essence
- Dash of milk
Method
- Grease two 7 inch sandwich tins, lining just the bottom with greaseproof paper.
- Preheat oven to 170/180 c.
- Weigh the eggs ( 3 large ones are usually about 8 oz)
- Weigh the same amount of caster sugar and stork and cream together. Beat really well
- to ensure fluffy cake!
- Weigh the flour minus 1oz and substitute with the 1 oz of cornflour. Add the baking powder
- to these.
- Sieve one tablespoon of the flour mixture into the creamed ingredients then break one egg into it, beating quickly to prevent curdling. Repeat with remaining eggs.
- Add a drop of vanilla essence.
- Spoon into the cake tins, spreading with a spatula then shake the tins on the worktop to flatten the mixture really well ( makes a super flat top!)
- Bake at 170-180 (Gas Mark 4/350 F) for about 20 -25 minutes.
- Turn out while still warm onto a rack. Make up the buttercream, adding a small drop of milk to make it really smooth. Once the cake is cool add a thin layer of jam or lemon curd to one side, buttercream on the other and put together.
- To be really authentic to grandma’s recipe, place a paper doily over the top and sieve a small amount of icing sugar over the top to make a lovely pattern ( A tea strainer is perfect for this!)
My lovely grandma, Eunice Meredith
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This article is part of our CelbriTEA slots, monthly guest blogs on the 1st of the month from the cream of the vintage and tea world.
Carol Oldham is the Director of Dormouse and The Teapot. She set the company up in 2008 to bring vintage English china to a wider audience.
Me Ol' China
Photo credit: luciana from morguefile.com
Carol Oldham is the Director of Dormouse and The Teapot. She set the company up in 2008 to bring vintage English china to a wider audience.
Me Ol' China
Photo credit: luciana from morguefile.com
From being quite young I have always had a passion for tea and all things tea related. One of my earliest memories was of my granny, who I can only describe as avid tea drinker, pouring cup after cup of hot golden tea from what seemed to be an endless pot. It was one of her greatest pleasures in life to fill up the teapot and treat herself to a nice cuppa. I was fascinated by the glamour of it all, the rose patterned teacups, the tiny milk jug and the welcoming generous tea pot.
It was only when I was shopping for my own home and was met by a host of plain white mugs and metal teapots that dripped and made the tea taste ‘tinny’. That I came to realise that a whole generation might never get the opportunity to enjoy the quiet ritual of tea making, or know what it was like to sip a cup of loose leaf tea from a beautiful china cup. I wanted to do something to help to resurrect this very British pastime.
I began to collect individual vintage cups and saucers and mismatched them to create new sets. When I saw how delighted my friends and relatives were when I served them tea in a china cup, I started to give them mismatched tea sets for Christmas and birthdays. However, it was only when people began to ask me to put together mismatched vintage sets for their friends and families that I realised that my passion could actually become a business. Dormouse and The Teapot was born.
It was only when I was shopping for my own home and was met by a host of plain white mugs and metal teapots that dripped and made the tea taste ‘tinny’. That I came to realise that a whole generation might never get the opportunity to enjoy the quiet ritual of tea making, or know what it was like to sip a cup of loose leaf tea from a beautiful china cup. I wanted to do something to help to resurrect this very British pastime.
I began to collect individual vintage cups and saucers and mismatched them to create new sets. When I saw how delighted my friends and relatives were when I served them tea in a china cup, I started to give them mismatched tea sets for Christmas and birthdays. However, it was only when people began to ask me to put together mismatched vintage sets for their friends and families that I realised that my passion could actually become a business. Dormouse and The Teapot was born.
I think tea drinking today is less about how many cups you can get out of a pot and more about the quality and presentation of that tea. People want to inject some glamour into their lives. Many of our cups and saucers are beautiful works of art lovingly painted by hand by craftspeople who took real pride in their work. They have stood the test of time simply because they were well made and well cared for. People like to buy vintage because it allows them to reminisce. It might remind them of their childhood and allow them to recreate their grandmothers Sunday tea set for example or they want to imagine what it was like in the past when everything stopped for tea and the best china was brought out.
In the current climate people are also recognising that we have lived in a throwaway culture for far too long, that we should reuse and preserve what we have. As well as being beautiful vintage china is also very functional so is still an acceptable item to purchase. The credit crunch has meant that many people are not going out to eat as often, and I imagine people having tea parties in their own home. However people still want to spoil themselves and have the experience and the luxury of a traditional tea and that’s where vintage china will come in. Our range of tea pots, cake stands and tea sets mean they can still afford to treat themselves, even if that’s just to tea for one.
You can purchase a wide range of vintage china from www.dormouseandtheteapot.com
This is the first in our new series of CelbriTEA slots, monthly guest blogs on the 1st of the month from the cream of the vintage and tea world.
This Aynsley teacup, decorated with gold line drawings of little birdies is an absolute favourite, partly because I adore birds and bird motifs. My husband and I are keen birdwatchers and this whole mantelpiece in our front room is currently dedicated to the little feathered fellows. I’ve owned the papier-mâché robin for years, but he’s only just taken to perching on the little bird cage.
We own a beautiful cream painted, tall, glass fronted cabinet which used to belong in the premises that now contains my vintage boutique, and dates back to the building’s d
The darling little pink cup which sits on the mantelpiece in our bedroom is hand painted with gold flourishes and delicate flowers. It has been signed with ‘CL’ and a curious gold logo. I kn
This Royal Doulton rose-bud decorated teacup, sitting on a set of Victorian scales on a shelf in our hallway, was the piece that started my collection. The cup was all on its own some, no saucer, no sugar bowl, just the one dinky cup. What a sweet, sad sight. Months later I found a couple of Royal Doulton rose-bud saucers, and even though the makers’ marks show that they’re different ages, I matched up one of the saucers with my rosebud cup and us
We are excited to introduce Caroline Brown shopkeeper, artist & vintage doyenne. She is the Owner of The House of Rose & Brown, vintage boutique in Saltaire, West Yorkshire
and online boutique www.roseandbrownvintage.co.uk also the organiser of the Saltaire Vintage Home & Fashion Fairs, and Saltaire Antiques & Collectables Markets, plus vintage fairs and fashion shows in Yorkshire and beyond…
The lonesome teacups
by Caroline Brown
by Caroline Brown
What are the makings of a vintage doyenne? A vintage doyenne is a strange mixed brew. Consisting of a simple true love of old objects, a curiosity about traces of history, an innate inability to stop rescuing things, an appreciation of old-fashioned craftsmanship and a childish wonder at the delightful tableaux lurking in mismatched vintage treasures.
Of course there is also the demon magpie within all vintage fanatics – hoarding away precious and peculiar objects,wanting to discover, own and accumulate the pieces of the past that gives us the most pleasure.
Teacups are my own personal downfall. They have to be single teacups, either with or without their saucers. It is almost impossible for me to resist rescuing a lonely teacup – why has it come so adrift from its original compatriots, what happened to the rest of the tea set? Solitary works of art, perfect in form and function, I take them home and pop them on a shelf or mantelpiece or bookcase, where they immediately help to create a charming still life alongside my unfettered mix of vintage bits and pieces.
I thought that I’d share a number of my favourite lonesome teacups with you. Not so lonesome now that I've given them a home.
This Aynsley teacup, decorated with gold line drawings of little birdies is an absolute favourite, partly because I adore birds and bird motifs. My husband and I are keen birdwatchers and this whole mantelpiece in our front room is currently dedicated to the little feathered fellows. I’ve owned the papier-mâché robin for years, but he’s only just taken to perching on the little bird cage.
We own a beautiful cream painted, tall, glass fronted cabinet which used to belong in the premises that now contains my vintage boutique, and dates back to the building’s d
ays as a sweetshop run by the Quarmbys. When we got the cabinet home I decided to use it to showcase some of my favourite treasures, alongside some of the beautiful books that my husband has given me over the years. I fell in love with the delicate green shade of this Colclough cup, with its cheerful rose decoration and it now sits alongside a book on the architecture of Mexico
The darling little pink cup which sits on the mantelpiece in our bedroom is hand painted with gold flourishes and delicate flowers. It has been signed with ‘CL’ and a curious gold logo. I kn
ow that this is a quality piece even though I can’t distinguish the maker’s mark, and it is extra precious because it contains the earrings I wore for my wedding, and an old ring of my mum’s. The teacup sits next to a beehive-shaped musical powder puff pot, uncovered at a vintage fair and treasured for years, even though it doesn't always want to play its tune.
This Royal Doulton rose-bud decorated teacup, sitting on a set of Victorian scales on a shelf in our hallway, was the piece that started my collection. The cup was all on its own some, no saucer, no sugar bowl, just the one dinky cup. What a sweet, sad sight. Months later I found a couple of Royal Doulton rose-bud saucers, and even though the makers’ marks show that they’re different ages, I matched up one of the saucers with my rosebud cup and us
ed it to house some peculiar buttons and tokens found on my travels. I still love this little piece of ‘granny chic’ vintage.
I have dozens and dozens of other rescued teacups, and stories to go with each one. That’s the beauty of vintage – it’s all about the tales that you can tell, and the stories that the vintage pieces could share, if only they could speak.
If you enjoyed this article you can visit Carolines blog at www.roseandbrownvintage.wordpress.com
Mismatched vintage teacups and saucers can be purchased at www.dormouseandtheteapot.com
LOVE February Competition - Fourteen days of fabulous prizes!
Tell the team at Dormouse and The Teapot in no more than 50 words why you LOVE tea. Post your answer in the comments section by clicking comment at the bottom of the page, make sure you leave a contact email or twitter name otherwise if you win we won't be able to send you your prize!
Today's lucky winner will win a set of Spons kindly supplied by The Spon Co. A Spon is a derivation of the spoon - only better. When it comes to stirring your soup, or stew, or cake mix, or porridge, or...... whatever, the spon eliminates all that "clogging" where the soup, mix etc fills the bowl and has to be scraped out. Ideal for you home bakers.
All winners will go in a draw on 14 February to win a fantastic vintage tea set for two from www.dormouseandtheteapot.com
Remember there will be fourteen days of competitions, you may enter as many times as you wish over the fortnight but you may only win one prize.
Sorry UK entrants only.
Dormouse and The Teapot use a randomiser to select the winner.
Dormouse and The Teapot use a randomiser to select the winner.
Competition is now closed.