Earl Grey Cake with Honey Buttercream

Remember that time I said I was going to lessen the food and just up the overall happy? Well food makes me happy and lately I've been baking up a storm so here's another recipe! Believe it or not I've actually been baking more than both the blog and Instagram might suggest - which really means I've been going baking crazy because there has been no shortage of food posts on either. 

The Pastry Affair is probably the best food blog out there. All the recipes I've tried are easy and delicious. She always has cute quotes to accompany the gorgeous food pictures and the ingredients are usually already in my cupboard - A++! That being said whenever I need some baking inspiration the Pastry Affair is where I go. Within a couple clicks I'm guaranteed to feel the creative juices flowing. Last week I really wanted to make cake but wanted it to be a bit "jazzier" than regular ol' chocolate or vanilla. Enter tea cake. A simple cake recipe with a deliciously light tea flavour, and honey buttercream frosting on top combine to give you one of the best ideas ever - tea you can eat!

Here's the recipe (adapted from the Pastry Affair): 

Ingredients

1 cup 2% milk

2 tablespoons Earl Grey Tea
(I used David's Tea 'The Earl's Garden')

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F and lightly grease two 9-inch round cake pans.

In a small saucepan, warm the milk until simmering and stir in the Earl Grey tea. Remove from heat and allow to cool. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, until well incorporated. Add in the vegetable oil and vanilla until fully combined. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually mix into the butter mixture until combined. Finally, stir in the tea and milk until the batter is is smooth (you can choose to leave the tea leaves in or out - I put in about half). Evenly spread the batter into the two cake pans and bake for 20-24 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Allow to cool before icing or serving. 

For the honey buttercream, I completely followed the recipe on the Pastry Affair, with the addition of about 2 tablespoons of milk. 

I love the look of a naked cake, with the icing only in the middle and on top. There's something so rustic and cozy about the simplicity of it. If you're feeling fancy pipe a few designs on the top to make it extra pretty - I attempted some buttercream roses but they're more like swirlies. I just loved this cake, finally I can drink my tea, and eat it too! 

Strawberry Rhubarb Oat Squares

Another trip to the cottage calls for more dessert! Since I had the afternoon off before heading up, I dedicated my time to whipping up some well deserved treats. Knowing I had rhubarb and strawberries in the freezer, I was looking for recipes that weren't pie but would still incorporate both ingredients. Having pinned plenty of strawberry recipes in June (in preparation for the picking season), I found this recipe on a Pastry Affair. Though the recipe calls for strawberry jam, I didn't want to use up my precious supply on squares so I substituted it with my beloved frozen fruits. It turned out great! We ate them as squares with tea, and also warmed with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert. It was the perfect pie replacement for summer - not to heavy, but still sweet-tooth-satisfying.

Ingredients

6 tablespoon salted butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup honey

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup chopped rhubarb

1 cup chopped strawberries

4 tablespoon sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray an 8 inch square pan with cooking oil. In a small saucepan on medium heat, add the rhubarb, strawberries and sugar and reduce until a jam-like consistency, stirring occasionally. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in the egg and honey. Mix in the oats, flour, baking soda and cinnamon until combined. Press approximately 3/4 of the batter into the bottom of the pan until it is covered. Pour the strawberry-rhubarb compote overtop and spread evenly. Crumble the remaining batter on top until it is well covered. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

They are definitely best served warm, and if you're in cottage country hunt down some Kawartha Dairy Ice Cream and you'll be in heaven. I would also try this with blackberries, raspberries or apple - or all three for bumbleberry!

Honey and Oat Chocolate Chip Coookies

If there is one thing to get me in the baking mood it's a thunderstorm. With grey skies, cool winds and rain drizzling outside there were few things left I could do (or even wanted to do) with a day off. After completing some chores I felt a real urge to make cookies - something classically comforting. Another recipe, aside from banana bread (as mentioned in this post), that I nailed in my high school days was oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They're chewy, sweet, dense and just plain good. Since I was also feeling creative I decided to experiment a little bit and make some adjustments to the classic recipe I had grown to love. After swapping in and out a few ingredients I came up with a recipe that out did my previous one with the simple addition of honey. Honey never fails people, honey never fails.

 Ingredients

1 cup white flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup salted butter, softened

1/4 cup full fat greek yogurt

1 cup brown sugar

5 tbsp honey

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Sift together the flours, baking powder and baking soda. Stir in the oats until combined. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter, greek yogurt, brown sugar and honey on medium speed. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Gradually add in the flour mixture until the dough is well mixed and finally stir in the chocolate chips until well combined. Put tablespoons of the dough on a baking sheet, approximately 1 inch apart and bake for 8-10 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown.
Makes approximately 3 dozen.

These are definitely milk dunking cookies. Whether you're drinking whole milk, soy milk or almond milk get on dunking because these cookies deserve it! Baking these cookies made my rainy day off much better and when paired with a good book (I'm currently reading this one) the goodness grows!

Tip: Why not also try a combo made in heaven (peanut butter and honey!) by swapping out the chocolate for some peanut butter chips, sounds perfect right?

Simple Iced Tea

We all know by now that I have a strong obsession love for tea. When I'm not drinking water I am having tea, it's a given. Though as the temperature rises I am no longer looking for the cozy, warm feeling tea gives me and need something a bit more refreshing. Enter iced tea - my summer time staple for cooling off and taking care of my much needed tea fix.

Here's what you'll need:

• Your favourite tea - maybe something fruity (I like David's Tea Pink Flamingo)
• a large tea infuser ball
• honey
• one lemon
• a pitcher
• a wooden spoon for mixing
• a measuring spoon
  
  Oh, and of course water, but I figured that was a given.

1. Measure 4-5 teaspoons of your favourite tea into the tea infuser ball and seal it. 

2. Pour approximately 1L of boiling water into the pitcher (with the infuser hooked on) and let steep for 5-7 minutes.

3. Stir in 2-4 teaspoons of honey, depending on your preferred sweetness.

4. Slice up a lemon for extra flavour and freshness when serving. 

5. Chill for at least 2 hours, or until ready to serve.

This tea is best enjoyed outdoors when the sun is shining. Put your feet up, get comfy and just relax knowing that you'll be refreshed in a matter of sips. Though, that being said, as I was settling in and enjoying mine it started to pour down rain - so it can just as easily be enjoyed indoors with your ceiling fan!

Tip: if you don't have a tea infuser you can use 2-3 regular sized tea bags instead! Green Tea is another one of my favourites - especially with the honey and lemon.

P.S. I am loving the new beautiful mess app!