Tea Cake with Lemon Glaze

I hate tea... I really, really do. I think it's gross. I want to like it... But I just can't. I've tried. So when I got some wonderful smelling mint green tea from Joy the Baker and Lost Crates, I knew I had to figure out something to do with it. I tried grinding the tea up with a food processor... epic fail. Then I tried grinding it up with a mortar and pestle. That seemed to work slightly better... until I actually baked with it... Yeahhhh another epic fail. Bland cookies with bits of grittiness... not so tasty! So I gave up for a while until I decided that I absolutely had to bake with this tea RIGHT AWAY. Apparently, you can infuse butter with tea leaves (should have figured that out myself!). It's super easy. I'm definitely going to be trying this with all different kinds of teas. Locally grown tea with lemon icing? Yesss please!
This cake is about fifty two million times better than I think a cup of tea is... Since the tea I used was mint green tea, it was slightly mint-y. The tea taste isn't super obvious but it's definitely there. Super fabulously delicious! And I made this in about 15 minutes. So worth it!
Also, that little black dot is part of a tea leaf... a few pieces snuck through into the cake. Still delicious!!


Tea Cake with Lemon Glaze
Adapted from
Joy the Baker

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup plus one tablespoons butter
1/4 cup loose leaf tea

Lemon Glaze:
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 and butter and flour a 9" pan.

How to infuse butter with tea:
Melt butter with tea leaves and let cook on low for 5 minutes. Set aside and let cool with tea leaves for five minutes. Pour butter through a sieve, making sure to press out as much butter as possible. Set butter aside and discard leaves.
Whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugars, salt, baking powder and baking soda, set aside.
Whisk together milk, two eggs, vanilla, and butter. Pour into dry ingredients and fold together until just combined. Pour into pan and bake about 30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
Whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice, set aside.
Let cake cool in pan for ten minutes before poking holes in the top with a skewer or fork. With the cake still in the pan, pour on the glaze, making sure the whole top of the cake is covered. Let sit for thirty minutes before eating. Yum! :)