The new teacake

The new teacake

· By Oonagh Simms

The new teacake

Teacakes. I love tea. I love a cake. But the concept of teacakes always sounded pretty quaint, almost old fashioned.

But why though?

S’mores are sexy. All that chocolate, marshmallows…gooey, oozing. Why was the teacake not getting as much attention?

When I first fell in love with chocolate it was the shiny, glossy colour pops that did it. Those delicate shells that sparkle as though they’ve been polished, a small nibble and the liquid centre would seep out- a rich caramel or a sharp fruit. The sort of chocolate that’s meant to be admired then devoured. I wanted to mix that creativity and luxury into a teacake – whipping up a treat of soft sponge base, a fresh swirl of marshmallow, oozing soft centre and a delicate layer of hand painted chocolate. The appearance of a high end chocolate but with all the substance of a truly stunning desert- one that cracks under your spoon, one that delivers an ‘ooohh’. So, that’s what I’ve made. A selection of sensory teasing flavours and extravagant flourishes. Yes, a teacake but one that will bring a few fun and thrills to any teatime- ooh err indeed….

We started by painting the inside of each chocolate mold- strokes of deep red and dappled gold here for the Autumn. This is the Spiced Pumpkin flavour. 

Once the moulds are prepped we pipe in glossy folds of Belgian chocolate- I love  Callebaut chocolate- this is their dark chocolate couverture which is an intense cocoa with fruity hints. 

 

The chocolate shell is then filled with delicate whips of soft mallow- the mallow in a teacake needs to be closer to a fluff than our regular marshmallows. Sturdy enough to hold up to the chocolate shell but soft enough to collapse when you tap into it with a spoon. 

 

We then fill the centre with oozing gooey deliciousness- from salted caramels to fresh raspberry jam. I decided to forgo the more traditional crumbly shortbread base in favour of a feather light sponge. Finished off by a last enrobing of chocolate and voilà- the glossiest, sassiest, gooiest teacakes around. 

 

I could sit dreaming up delicious teacake combinations for days and, in fairness, I did. But, at some point you gots to pick your favourites and these are the ones that I think are going to truly blow you away:

Pecan praline mallow, a sprinkle of maldon salt and a delicate coating of Belgian milk chocolate.
Fresh raspberry, rose + lemon mallow with an oozing raspberry middle and a glossy hand painted chocolate finish.
Spiced pumpkin mallow with a gooey roast pumpkin jelly and a twinkly milk chocolate glaze
Zesty passionfruit + ginger mallow, a trickle of passionfruit curd and a slick of Belgian chocolate.

    I’ve popped all four in the most beautiful of gift boxes for you and they are now ready to treat yourself or send to a friend- because it feels like the sort of week where we need a little bit of a cheer up doesn't it? 

     

     

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