Cinnamon Tea Cake

Back in the days of yore, we had Home Ec.(onomics) classes in High School.   Remember those?  The boys got to do woodworking while we girls had to learn how to cook and sew - oh the joy!  Anyway, one of the things we had to master was the cinnamon tea cake.  I haven't made one in many a year, but I had fun making Nagi's version from her book RecipeTin Eats:Tonight.

Even though the recipe looks kinda long, it's really very easy to make, and it is bloody delicious!  Come to think of it, our tea cakes are like an American coffee cake - you have it with tea, rather than it being made with tea - just like those American coffee cakes, which are made to eat with coffee rather than a cake made with coffee flavouring of some sort, which is what we Aussies and English refer to when we say coffee cake.  Phew, have I cleared that up now? :=)

sweet, spicy and delicious

Serves 8-12:

ingredients:

For the cake:

300g./10.5 oz plain flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp sea salt or cooking salt

125g./4.5 oz butter, softened to room temp.

150g./5.3 oz caster sugar

2 large eggs, at room temp.

2 tsp vanilla paste or extract

170 mL/5.8 oz milk, at room temp.

Cinnamon Butter Swirl:

150g./5.3 oz brown sugar

1 Tbs ground cinnamon

75g./2.7 oz butter, melted

Vanilla Glaze:

125g./4.5 oz soft icing sugar, sifted (or whisked)

5-6 tsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract or paste

cinnamon-y!

you guessed it!

vanilla paste

full-cream, cow's milk

Method:

Turn on your oven to 180C/350F to heat up

Grab your 23cm/9 inch springform tin, grease with butter and line with baking paper

Make the cinnamon swirl by placing the sugar, cinnamon and butter into a small mixing bowl and give it a good mix to combine

Now for the cake:

Flour, baking powder and salt combined, in a bowl

Grab another bowl, and beat the butter and sugar on medium-high for 1 minute, or till smooth and fluffy, says Nagi

In go the eggs, one at a time, and beat 'em in

And in goes the vanilla, then half the flour and half the milk

Beat a bit more with your electric beaters, until juuuust mixed in - don't worry about the lumpage, if any

And now for the other half of the flour, and the milk till lump-free, but no longer than 15 seconds! Nagi instructs us

Into the cake tin goes half the batter, which you spread evenly

Then you're going to dollop half the cinnamon butter across the batter - and swirl with a knife

And yep, you pour/spoon in the rest of the cake batter, and on goes the rest of the cinnamon butter, which you also swirl gently thru the batter

And now you bake for 40 minutes, or till the skewer in the middle of the cake comes out clean - the top will be golden and have cracks

Cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then pour over the glaze, which you have made by adding milk in increments of a teaspoon or 2 to the icing sugar, then the vanilla is stirred in

Let the cake cool for another 15 minutes in the tin, then take it out and serve warm

Nagi says you can store in the fridge (in an airtight container, I say) for 5 days

ground cinnamon (even tho it's probably really cassia)

Just a wee side note to cinnamon - we mostly see Dutch cinnamon, which is in fact cassia rather than true cinnamon.  So I bought some real cinnamon recently, and I have to say, it had less pizzazz than the pseudo stuff.  Less flavour, and less aroma, so I guess I'll stick with the Dutch cinnamon (cassia) instead.

Notes:

Notes?  Do I have any for this?  Mmm ... nope

ingredients gathered

make the cake batter

adding that swirl thru the batter

golden-brown and crackly on top

mix together the glaze

pour the glaze over the cake, and leave for 15 mins.

yep, it's disappearing fast :=)

into the hungry mouths of family and friends