Finished dish photo of Black Tea Butter Cake

Black Tea Butter Cake

This is a small cake I obsessed over making for a long time. It's convenient, quick, delicious, and requires zero skills. There's nothing simpler than this—take a look at the process, and you'll marvel just like I did: 'There's nothing simpler than this.' Reference yield: 6 pieces Baking: Middle layer of the oven, 220°C heat from top and bottom, about 8 minutes.

Ingredients

Black tea bag1 bag (2g)
Low-gluten flour50g
Butter50g
Granulated sugar50g
Egg50g
Hot water50g

Steps

1

Brew 1 black tea bag with 50g of hot water for 2 minutes, then remove the tea bag. Set aside the cooled tea bag and tea water (only 5ml of tea water is needed, the rest can be discarded).

undefined 1
Click to enlarge
2

Melt the butter into liquid form, then mix evenly with granulated sugar.

undefined 2
Click to enlarge
3

Add the beaten egg and mix evenly.

undefined 3
Click to enlarge
4

Open the cooled tea bag, pour the tea leaves into the butter mixture, then add 1 small spoonful (5ml) of the cooled tea water and mix evenly. Discard the remaining tea water.

undefined 4
Click to enlarge
5

Finally, add the low-gluten flour and mix with a whisk until it becomes the runny batter shown in the picture.

undefined 5
Click to enlarge
6

Pour the runny batter into molds, filling them 2/3 full. Place in a preheated oven at 220°C and bake for about 8 minutes, until the cakes fully puff up, develop cracks on the surface, and turn golden yellow, then take them out.

undefined 6
Click to enlarge

Cooking Tips

1. This cake is extremely simple. There's no need to whip the butter—just melt it, add the ingredients one by one, and mix into a batter. No technical skills are required, anyone can learn. 2. Can it get any simpler?—Yes, just omit the black tea bag and tea water to make a plain butter cake. Did you notice? Except for the black tea, this cake's ingredients are all 50g each, easy to remember. 3. (This is very important) This cake doesn't require whipped butter or leavening agents such as baking powder. Its rise comes entirely from the steam generated by high-temperature baking. Therefore, it must be made in small molds and baked at 220°C to achieve a good rise. If the mold is too large and the center of the batter heats up too slowly, it won't generate enough steam to rise. 4. The small cakes bake very quickly, so keep an eye on them. If you let the surface bake to a golden brown, they'll have a crispy exterior and soft interior, making them quite tasty.