Dom in the Kitchen Homepage

Recipes from my Lincolnshire kitchen

'we should cocoa' chocolate and PG Tips cake

by

… that’s tea to you and me…

… for this months ‘we should cocoa’ challenge the mystery ingredient was tea! Quite an unusual one, I think you’ll agree but a great challenge… and the more I thought about it the more it seemed to make sense… both tea and dark chocolate have that earthy, heady quality that hits you at the top of your mouth and lingers… I initially wanted to use a light floral tea such as Earl Grey or Jasmine but I felt this was almost too sophisticated for what I wanted to achieve…

… and then a thought struck me about using a third ingredient that would compliment both the tannin in the tea and the bitterness of the chocolate… hello my old friend beetroot… and beetroot needs a strong, kick-in-the-teeth kind of cake-fellow… Beetroot, meet PG Tips.

… for my non-British friends PG Tips is a bog-standard English Breakfast Tea. Not fancy. Not grand. Just good tea with a strong clean, taste. It delivers a reliable cuppa every time. It’s a tea of the people… the builders tea.

The recipe I’ve gone with is a recent favourite and easy to make but I’ve made a bundt shape this time because this was the only cake tin my good friend Jenny had in her cupboard. It was her fathers cake tin and over 60 years old but has turned out as probably one of he best-formed cakes I’ve ever made…

… and if a cake could be both light and fluffy and moist and dense at the same time, then this is it…

the builders tea cake





1/2 cup of boiling water
2 tea bags
250g plain chocolate broken up
3 large free range eggs
200g light muscovado sugar
100ml sunflower oil
1tsp vanilla extract
100g self raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarb
1/2 tsp baking powder
50g ground almonds
250g raw beetroot (finely grated)
– put the kettle on, place the tea bags in a cup and add half a cup of boiling water… let this sit whilst you make the cake,
– melt the chocolate (i did it in a microwave but a double boiler is the traditional way)
– whisk together the egg, sugar and oil until smooth and creamy, stir in the vanilla extract then fold in the flour, bicarb, baking powder and ground almonds
– grate the raw beetroot, squeeze out the liquid and fold it into the cake mix along with the cooled melted chocolate
– add the tea and re-mix the cake mixture… it should be loose but firm, not sloppy.
– pour the mixture into you cake tin (I used a 20cm round bundt tin) and bake on 170 for 50 mins – 1hr.
– cool COMPLETELY on a wire rack




eat and of course, enjoy!

Share this post:

Share on LinkedIn

Reader Interactions

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Comments

  1. Chele says

    I love that you have called this the Builders Tea Cake – if ever there were two words you'd never hear in the same sentence it would have to be builder and cake lol. Looks so good, I want a piece right now!!!

  2. Ocean Breezes and Country Sneezes says

    Dom, you're killing me with these delicious recipes! Please pass a slice!

    Oh, thanks for explaining what PG Tips is! I was thinking “parental guidance” suggested . . . huh I said to myself?

    Have a good one! As usual, a great visit!

    Mary

  3. Michael Toa says

    I've never baked with tea. This cake sounds and looks utterly delicious. I love the colour too from the beetroot. I've got the tea (PG of course) and now just need a slice of the cake…

  4. Please Do Not Feed The Animals. says

    And can you taste the tea in it?
    I have a compulsion – I have to have a cup of tea and some chocolate at least after every meal but about every two hours if I am at home all day. It is something I need to stop especially as I am not nearly so active during the winter months.
    So, part of me is desperate to make this cake and the other part really feels I should be avoiding it just now. But really I know I won't give up cake and having extra tea in my cake along with my tea (!) sounds wonderful.
    Thanks for the recipe.

  10. lovemyhusband says

    Hi Honey
    Well, the cake is still going strong, G and I have a slab each night and it just keeps getting better. That tin of my dads really worked.

    Hope to see you soon, Love to the Viking & Hols

    Love Jenny xxxxxxx

  11. Dom at Belleau Kitchen says

    Thanks all for the cool comments. The cake was really good and as Jenny just said it's one on those cakes that gets better and better with each day.

    How jealous are we all that they get to keep it and eat it!?!?

    And yes BVG I have shares in beetroot farms all over the uk!

  15. Salty says

    Builders tea cake? With PG Tips? I think I've just come over with an attack of the patriotic vapours – brilliant idea!

  16. The Viking says

    I must admit that I'm one of nature's freaks – I don't like cake.

    However, I have family that do love cake, and they love tea, and they have birthdays coming up. I've not baked since I was a child, but I am going to bake this as soon as I can. Looks lovely (even to a non-cake eater!)

  18. Michelle Peters - Jones says

    Isn't it amazing how the mention of tea brings out the patriotic Englishman/woman out in us?

    This cake does look wonderful. Beetroot in cake is such a good trick for keeping it moist and delicious. And the tea would just complement it.

    This theme seems to have really brought out the creative in all of us!

    PS – Does this cake count as one of your five-a-day ;-)?

  21. Susan says

    I love the color of this cake, not wuite red, not quite cocoa brown, not quite golden from the tea, sooo interesting and I agree that the crumb looks fantastic! I also love, Dom that you used that vintage heirloom bundt tin … I truly feel it makes the cake even more special!

  22. Choclette says

    Looks very elegant for builders tea, but it does look grand. And I just love it that you're still using beetroot, no wonder you've achieved such a perfect looking cake. Thanks for entering We Should Cocoa