Earl Grey Tea and Honey Pound Cake with Walnuts

This Earl Grey Tea and Honey Pound Cake with Walnuts pairs the citrusy flavor of bergamot with the sweetness of honey and the crunch of walnuts.

Not long ago, a friend was gushing to me about a fabulous afternoon tea she had at a local hotel. Not one to miss out, I had to check it out for myself. It was indeed a lovely tea, but I couldn’t help but think that in terms of the food, I’ve had better…and could probably make a few tastier treats myself at home.

We’ve all faced that dilemma, right? Going out to eat is a fun change of scenery and it’s nice to not have to cook or clean up, but usually in terms of food quality, it can’t hold a candle to homemade.

So when I recently remembered afternoon tea, instead of heading out I decided to make a simple version at home. Some kind of cake was definitely in order and this flavorful take on pound cake fit the bill quite nicely.

Here I paired the citrusy flavor of bergamot from Earl Grey tea with honey and walnuts. I called it a pound cake because texture-wise it reminds me of pound cake, but it technically isn’t because it doesn’t have a pound each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar (but if you’re looking for a pound cake recipe based on the traditional proportions, check out my recipe for Vanilla-Almond Pound Cake with Easy Strawberry-Rose Sauce).

Because I like to sweeten my tea with honey, in this recipe I used Tate+Lyle® Honey Granules to sweeten this Earl Grey tea-flavored cake. If you’re not familiar with the product, Tate+Lyle® Honey Granules is a blend of pure cane sugar and honey; it’s a deliciously sweet and easy way to add honey flavor to your recipes. Honey Granules can be used in many different types of baked good recipes as a substitute for some or all of the granulated sugar called for in the recipe, and will add a touch of exquisite honey flavor. Also, Honey Granules can often be substituted for fluid honey by using this conversion: 1 cup liquid honey = 1 cup Tate+Lyle^® Honey Granules + ¼ cup additional liquid (such as water).

With a fresh twist on clotted cream in mind, I made a quick little sweet cream cheese topping for dolloping on this cake. A cup of tea and a slice of this cake makes the perfect afternoon treat.

Earl Grey Tea and Honey Pound Cake with Walnuts

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 50 mins

Total time: 1 hour 5 mins

Yield: 1 (9 by 5-inch) loaf

This Earl Grey Tea and Honey Pound Cake with Walnuts pairs the citrusy flavor of bergamot with the sweetness of honey and the crunch of walnuts.

Ingredients

Cake:

2 cups (255 g) all-purpose flour
2 Earl Grey Tea bags (preferably organic), cut open
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup (115 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (145 g) Tate+Lyle Honey Granules
2 large eggs
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup (240 ml) milk (low-fat is fine)
1 cup (115 g) walnuts, chopped

Cream Cheese Topping:

4 oz (115 g) cream cheese, slightly softened (low-fat is fine)
1 tablespoon Tate+Lyle Honey Granules, dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water

Other:

Butter, for the pan
Flour, for the pan

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F; butter and flour a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.
Whisk together the flour, tea leaves (from the opened tea bags), baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl and set aside.
In another large bowl, beat together the butter and honey granules, and then beat in the eggs, vanilla extract, and milk.
Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and then fold in the walnuts.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes.
Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
For the cream cheese topping, beat together the cream cheese and dissolved honey granules until smooth.
Serve the bread with the cream cheese topping for dolloping on top.