Mrs Beeton’s Tea Cakes

Tea Cakes Recipe

Visiting family in England when I was a child, one of my favorite things each day when we were out seeing different towns was going to a little cafe and having a hot chocolate with a warm toasted tea cake, preferably one with raisins in it! Mrs Beeton's recipe was written in the 1800's and some of the language is not as common now. I have tried to stay true to her original recipe, whilst making the instructions a little more familiar to modern readers.

This is what we will be having for morning tea today in my house; perfect for home schooling whilst we're in lock down; it covers reading (challenging for Mr 5, but easy for Mr 6 1/2 year old), math (counting, adding, measuring), and science (understanding how yeast rises).

Ingredients

900 grams flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
110 grams butter or margarine
1 egg
3 teaspoons yeast
warm milk

Method

Put the flour and salt into a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles bread crumbs. 
Disolve the yeast in a little warm (not hot!) milk.
Add milk and egg to flour mix. Mix together, adding more warm milk to make it into a smooth paste, then knead it well.
Let the mixture rise in a warm place.
Form into even size balls. Place into greased muffin tins, or just on a tray and allow to rise again.
Bake for 20 mins at 200°C or 180°C fan bake until browned on top.

Can be eaten straight from the oven with butter or jam. Or if eaten later, they’re best cut in half and toasted.

Variations

You could add spices such as cinnamon or mixed spice, plus a little sugar (add at the beginning to the flour).

You could add sultanas, raisins, chopped apricots or any dried fruit to the mixture (add after you have rubbed in the butter)

If you like a more glazed look on top, you can make a egg wash by mixing up an egg with a little milk in a bowl with a fork, then use a pastry brush to brush it over the formed tea cakes, just before they go into the oven.