Tea Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix the flour and baking powder together.
Rub in the lard until well combined.
Gradually moisten the mixture with water, kneading until a dough forms.
Shape and bake
Roll the dough on a floured surface until thin.
Cut out round cakes using the edge of a tumbler.
Bake immediately until golden.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the cakes once it is moistened and kneaded.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when moistened and heated, so the cakes rise and lighten.
- Lard
- Coats the flour particles and adds fat, giving the cakes a tender, crumbly texture.
The step that matters
Bake immediately after cutting. Baking powder starts releasing gas as soon as it meets moisture. If the cut cakes wait before going into the oven, some of that lift is lost, so they may bake up flatter and denser.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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