After getting my cornmeal last week, I finally attempted the Rosemary-Lemon Polenta Cake, chosen by Angela of The Charmed Cupcake. I scaled the recipe down and baked only 1/4 of the cake and ended up with 6 muffins/cupcakes. Unfortunately, no one in the family liked the taste of rosemary in the cake. I have to say that it’s an acquired taste as we don’t usually use herbs in desserts (probably with the exception of mint). But don’t worry, I still had them for the next few days as breakfast as I didn’t want to waste them. 🙂

Not wanting to post a recipe that I wasn’t very fond of, I thought of changing the flavour to one that I like. Unfortunately I don’t have lavender, and suddenly an idea struck me.

How about black tea?

I bought some loose Assam tea (black tea) leaves from Taiwan last year and they’re still lying around in my cupboard. Though Assam tea originates from India, it is a very popular tea of choice in Taiwan and is the main tea used in making bubble teas. The tea has a strong flavour, which I think will impart very well into the cake.

And it was a success!

The cake has a very nice and tender crumb, and every bite is filled with a very light tea flavour (imagine the taste of black tea with milk) and lemon. As I ground the tea leaves very finely in a food processor before infusing them, the tea leaves are all added into the batter, creating a beautifully speckled cake and you won’t get those bites of tea leaves in the cake – a win-win situation! It wasn’t very sweet as I reduced the sugar quite a bit so it’s a perfect treat for breakfast and for tea-time.

Just to clarify between polenta and cornmeal: I’ve found out that polenta is actually ground cornmeal boiled with water or stock into a porridge and eaten directly or baked, fried or grilled (Source). Since the cornmeal in this recipe is immersed in hot milk before adding into the batter, I guess that’s why the author called it a polenta cake. 😉

I went a totally different route with the recipe, but I’m really glad to be able to find one that suits my liking a lot more. 🙂 Off to the step-by-step photos!

Step-by-step Photos
1) Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.	2) Measure milk in a small pot and bring it to a simmer, gently swirling the pot frequently.
3) While the milk is heating up, measure cornmeal and some finely ground tea leaves in a small bowl.	4) Pour the hot milk over the cornmeal and tea leaves, stirring to mix them together.
5) Sugar and softened butter - the usual suspects.	6) After creaming to fluffiness, add in egg, vanilla and lemon zest.
7) Sift in 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat in on slow speed.	8) While the beater is running on low speed, drizzle in 1/2 of the milk mixture.
9) Sift in 1/2 of the remaining flour mixture and beat it in.	10) Add in the remaining milk mixture, remember to scrape in all the tea goodness!
11) Stir in the remaining flour - look at how pretty the batter is!	12) Divide the batter among cupcakes and bake until done!

And serve!

I’m submitting this to:

The Home Bakers – check out all fellow home bakers take on the cake here!

Aspiring Bakers #30: it’s Tea time! (April 2013) hosted by Food Playground

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Black Tea-Lemon Cornmeal Cupcakes (makes 6)

adapted from Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas

60 ml milk / buttermilk (1/4 cup)
1/2 tablespoon finely ground black tea leaves (from 2 tablespoons of loose tea leaves)
30 grams finely ground yellow cornmeal (1/8 cup)
55 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature (1/4 cup)
55 grams caster sugar (1/4 cup)
1 egg, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
130 grams all-purpose flour (1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt

As part of the rules, I’m not going to write down the full recipe here, please head over to Angela @ The Charmed Cupcake for the full recipe!

For the cupcake version, I used 1/4-cup ice cream scoop and divided them into 6 cupcakes. Bake them at 175 degrees Celsius for 15 to 18 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely on the wire rack.

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Happy baking!