The perfect cake to accompany a tea party! She’s subtle, soft and sweet but not to be underestimated. Once you get to know her, you won’t let go!
INGREDIENTS
CAKE (1 LAYERED CAKE; 12-14 SERVINGS) 750ml cake flour 20ml baking powder 5ml salt 375ml sugar 250g butter, softened 5 large eggs 250ml milk 10ml vanilla essence CUSTARD 500ml milk 4-5 rooibos tea bags 125ml castor sugar 80ml custard powder 2,5ml salt 180g butter, softened 10ml vanilla essence 5ml rosewater (optional) 125ml desiccated coconut, lightly toasted
METHOD
CAKE 1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. 2. Prepare two round cake tins (21-23cm) with baking paper and non-stick spray. 3. In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients. 4. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add all the wet ingredients. 5. Use an electric mixer to thoroughly combine and cream the cake batter (5-6 minutes). 6. Divide the batter between the pans and spread evenly (Tip 1). 7. Bake the cakes for 30-35 minutes in the middle of the oven. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before demoulding onto cooling racks (Tip 2). CUSTARD (Tip 3) 1. In a medium pot, bring the milk and tea bags to boiling point. Remove from the heat and allow to rest for 30 minutes. 2. After the resting period, press the liquid out of the teabags and remove them from the milk. Reheat the flavoured milk to boiling point. 3. In a medium glass bowl, mix the sugar, custard powder and salt. 4. Add the hot milk to the sugar mixture and hand whisk until smooth and lump free. 5. Strain the liquid through a sieve when returning the liquid to the pot. Using a hand whisk, continue whisking until thickened over medium-low heat (3-5 minutes). 6. Pour the thickened custard into a glass bowl to cool down and cover with plastic wrap (Tip 4). 7. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy (± 5 minutes). 8. Add the vanilla and rosewater as well as the cooled custard. Whisk until smooth and creamy (3-5 minutes). ASSEMBLING 1. Cut the cooled cakes in two, using a serrated knife (bread knife). 2. Place the first cake on your cake board and top with a quarter of the custard, followed by a sprinkling of coconut (Tip 5). 3. Continue with all the layers and end off with custard (Tip 6).
TIPS 1. To ensure evenly baked cakes, divide the batter by weight into the cake tins. 2. Allow the cakes to cool face down on the cooling racks. This way you don’t have to cut away too much of the cake dome before layering the cakes. 3. The custard is the most time-consuming step; therefore, I used a super simple cake to balance the effort out. Carefully read the steps and your attention to detail will be rewarded. 4. Place the plastic wrap directly onto the custard to prevent any oxygen from forming a “skin” on top of the custard. 5. To ensure even layering, you can divide the custard by weight. I used a piping bag to evenly cover each cake layer. 6. Don’t top the cake with rooibos tea leaves like I did, it’s not very palatable! Any fresh flowers, honey or even more coconut will do the trick.