Simply Tea

Chai Cupcakes & Farewell.....

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 04:28:00 +0000

I am the bearer of sad news today.... It's not totally devastating and it probably won't change your life but I will share it anyway!

After much thought and consideration I have decided to discontinue with writing The Simply Tea Shop Blog.

It was a hard call to make but I felt like it was the right thing to do to make better use of my time.

There is good news in this announcement. You see in the blog world I have two personalities - avid Tea Connoisseur & Baker and DIY Project Guru & Renovator. I write two blogs and each on different subjects but I thought to make better use of my time I would combine the two together!

So my dear friends and followers all is not lost. I am not going away forever.... Just moving house to the Diaries Of A Whimsical Wife. There will be a permanent feature called Tasty Tuesday which will showcase what I have been doing here - baking some great recipes, taking some photo's and matching it with my Tea.

So this is my last post here today but I would LOVE for you to come and follow me at my blog Diaries Of A Whimsical Wife and continue to hopefully be inspired in your baking, creating and homemaking endeavours. This is not the end, just the beginning of something great!

I thought I would make something special for my last post. If you haven't already guessed what it is (by the post name) and the picture of the spices... It's Mini Chai Cupcakes with Honey Butter cream!

I was inspired from a friend of mine who has gotten into baking recently and she told me about these Chai Cupcakes she made and how good they were.

Now I know Chai Cupcakes have been around for awhile but I have never had the pleasure of baking a batch.

Until the other day!

The aroma of these little morsels wafting through the house as they cooked in the oven made my mouth water. It was a heady aroma of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, & cardamon perfectly balanced to create a mouthful of pure pleasure. I had to be patient though as I had to let them cool down before I could ice them.

They needed to be dressed completely before I popped one in my mouth!

Mmmm Heaven!

If you averted to the flavour of "Chai", like my dear husband, do not fear these cupcakes are deemed "Chai Hater Safe"! My husband quite liked them, which says something because he is not a Chai man at all.

Chai Cupcakes

With Honey Butter Cream

{Download & Print Recipe}

Makes 12

Ingredients:

5 Tbsp Butter

¼ Cup Castor Sugar

¼ Cup Honey

2 Eggs

¾ Cup Milk

1 ½ Tsp Vanilla Essence

2 Cups SR Flour

¼ Tsp Salt

Chai Spice Mix:

1 Tsp Cinnamon, ground

1 Tsp Ginger, ground

¼ Tsp Cloves, ground (*You can add more if you like the flavour of cloves)

1 Tsp Cardamom, ground

Honey Butter Cream:

125g Unsalted Butter, at room temperature

250g Icing Sugar

2 Tsp Hot Milk

3 Tbsp Honey

Method:

Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 180 Degrees. Place cupcake papers in muffin tin and set aside.

Mix spices together in a small bowl and set aside.

In an electric mixer beat together butter, sugar and honey for 5- 10 min until light and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, vanilla and salt and mix until combined.

Add milk and sifted flour and add alternately into the bowl. Add spice mix and mix slowly until combined and smooth.

Spoon mixture into prepared cupcake papers and bake for 15 -20 min or until golden brown.

Honey Butter Cream:

Beat butter in a bowl until light and fluffy. Sift in icing sugar, milk and honey and beat until smooth.

Place in fridge for 15 min to set slightly before piping onto cooled cupcakes.

Sprinkle a little extra spice on top of piped icing and drizzle with a little honey!

Simply Tea Selection

I will make two suggestions of what you can serve with these cupcakes. If your obsessed with all things Chai then I would recommend our Chai Blend to serve with these cupcakes. It is a strong base of Indian teas, blended with rich warm spices; cinnamon, cloves, cardamon and ginger. Exactly what is in the cupcakes.

Curently 25 % Off - $8.25/100g Pouch or $2.00 for Sample Bag.

Or if that seems a bit much spices in one day I would recommend our Irish Breakfast. It is a strong, rich flavoured, malty blend with a high percentage of fine leaf tea. This tea will stand up to the punchy spices in the cupcakes without overpowering it.

Currently 25% Off - $6.00/100g Pouch or $2.00 for Sample Bag

So friends... until next time at Tasty Tuesday @ The Diaries Of A Whimsical Wife!

Hope to see you there!

Happy Sipping...............

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Childhood Days - Monte Carlos

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 05:23:00 +0000

I remember when I was younger in primary school, I use to love coming home from school and tucking into a BIG glass of *Milo (more milo than milk) and dunking a biscuit into it.

(*NB International Visitors - Milo is a Chocolate Malt type powder you add to milk *)

We use to get those family packets of "assorted" cream biscuits and generally us kids would fight over who got the good ones... like the kingstons, chocolate cream or monte carlos. We use to twist the two biscuits until they came apart and eat the filling by scraping it off with our teeth... it wasn't a pretty sight.... and proceeded to dunk the biscuit in the milo until it was a sloppy mess and in the gob it went.

Oh those were the day's! Not a care in the world, eat what you wanted (without the worry of weight gain, healthy eating, food allergies, low carbs, high protein blah blah blah) and the prospect of a funfilled afternoon to play outside in the sun.

These monte carlo's brought me back to those days. They are a "home made" version of the monte carlo's that were in those Family Assorted biscuit packs but oh do they ever taste like the real thing...... maybe even a bit better??? The crunchy honey flavoured biscuit, and must have two filling layers of the white icing and jam to complete the package!

So maybe now that I have transported myself back into my childhood days maybe my husband will let me have an afternoon playing imaginary games in the sun? Or he may think I have gone mad.... hmmm to late!

Monte Carlo's

{Download & Print Recipe}

Makes 12

Ingredients:

180g Butter

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1 Tsp Vanilla Essence

1 Cup Plain Flour

1 Cup Self Raising Flour

1 Tbsp Honey

Filling:

60g Butter. softened

1 Cup Icing Sugar

Little Warm Water

Strawberry Jam/ or Raspberry Jam

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a cookie tray with baking paper.

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg, honey, vanilla and flour.

Mix until combined and a dough forms.

Roll teaspoons of dough into balls and press down with the palm of your hand to flatten.

Repeat until all dough is used.

Bake in oven for 15 min or until golden brown. Place on cooling rack.

When cold join with icing and jam.

Filling:

In a small bowl sift icing sugar and add softened butter. Mix together with a little warm water until a stiff icing forms.

Simply Tea Selection

My selection to go with these childhood inducing biscuits would be our Cafe Latte blend.

It is a luscious mixture of milk granules, cocoa bits, chocolate chips and fine coffee bean pieces, all blended with black tea. It is an adult version of a "milo" but still SO very good! The combination of coffee, chocolate and black tea may sound strange BUT oh my it is really delicious - think mocha!

Give our Cafe Latte blend a whirl......

We currently have a winter warmer special of 25% off all our 100g pouches of tea!

Pop in and check our store out!

What induces childhood memories for you???

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Winter Warmer Special

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:53:00 +0000

Warm up this winter with your favourite tea!

Come in and join us in our annual winter warmer sale. There is a massive 25% off our 100g Pouches of Gourmet Tea and Tea Making Accessories. It is perfect time to stock up with your favourite blends for the cold nights ahead. So come on down and check it out today!

If we sell out.... you MISS OUT!

(* No voucher code required - prices have already been reduced)

Visit The Simply Tea Shop

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Frangipane Pear & Pecan Trumble....

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 00:37:00 +0000

It's winter here in Australia for all those on the other side of the world enjoying summer time! I am SO jealous.... anyway if it was summer here I wouldn't be able to enjoy desserts like these Frangipane Pear & Pecan Trumble... Phew say that 20 times with your mouthful! Trumble??? You ask.... what the heck is she on?

Well I will let you in on my craziness - this delectable tart combines the best of both dessert worlds - the buttery base of a tart and the crunchy topping of a crumble. The perfect combination on a winter's night served with custard or a drizzle of fresh cream. Ooohhlala! Trumbles are so in... well in my kitchen they are!

With delicious pears being in season right now I could not go pass creating a dessert incorporating this perfect winter fruit! Pecans are a great addition adding a nice crunch and nuttiness. The frangipane filling adds the gooeyness to off set all those crunchy aspects of the crumble and base.

I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon whipping up this Trumble. It was a cold winter's afternoon, windy and frigid outside but I was warm and cosy in my kitchen with our wood fire burning and the oven on and I was up to my elbows in pastry and crumble. No pressing needs, to do list completed, dinner prepared just me and my "Trumble". For me that's my "Me time", sifting, whipping, stirring, baking. The worries of the world left at the door.

Frangipane Pear & Pecan Trumble

{Download & Print Recipe}

Ingredients:

Base:
90g Butter
¼ Cup Sugar
1 Tsp Grated Lemon Rind
1 Egg
1 Cup Plain Flour
2 Tbsp Custard Powder

Frangipane Filling:
40g Butter
1 Tsp Vanilla Essence
2 Tbsp Castor Sugar
1 Egg Yolk
2 Tsp Plain Flour
½ Cup Almond Meal

2 x Large Pears – peeled, cored and sliced into wedges.

Crumble Topping:
½ Cup Plain Flour
½ Cup Shredded Coconut
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar
¼ Cup Chopped Pecans
1 ½ - 2 Tbsp Butter, Softened

Method:

Base:
1.    Preheat oven to 180 degrees
2.    Cream butter and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer. Add rind and egg and beat well until combined.
3.    Stir in flour & custard powder and mix until combined. Press evenly into a lined lamington tin and bake for 10-15 min. Remove and let cool for 10 min.

Frangipane Filling:
1.    Beat butter, extract, sugar and egg yolk in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
2.    Stir in flour and almond meal until combined.
3.    Once base has cooled spread the frangipane filling evenly over the base.
4.    Carefully arrange pear wedges in a line across the frangipane filling.

Crumble:
1.    In a small bowl add flour, sugar and butter. Mix the butter in with your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2.    Stir in pecans and coconut and spread evenly over the pears.
3.    Place in oven to cook for 25 min or until golden brown.

Serve with warm custard or a drizzle of fresh pouring cream.

You could also make this into a summery dessert by replacing the pears with peaches, nectarines or even cherries and the pecans with macadamia's and serve cold with ice cream or a dollop of Greek yogurt!

YUM...............!

What mad creations have you whipped up in your kitchen lately?

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Sneek Peek.....

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 00:58:00 +0000

Mmmmm what could next weeks treat be?? It combines a crumble, pears and pecans into a magnificent dessert! Once all is said and done this is what your plate will look like at the end of it! All gone - cos it's super delicious!

Until next week......

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Trooper Toffee Nut & Oat Squares.....

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 05:32:00 +0000

Are there days that your feet just drag behind you? You can't get into the groove of the day or your energy levels just aren't going above zero? You've woken up on the wrong side of the bed, gone mad looking for your toothbrush, glasses, pen, car keys and it's been in your hand, or on your head, had a bad hair day and you get a BIG zit on the end of your nose!

Day's when nothing seems to go right.... you have a flat tyre before you walk out the door to begin the day, you follow every slow driver when your running late for work and get EVERY red light. Your normal car park is taken and the nearest one is a block away, and as you run that block frantically to work you realised you forgot to bring your lunch........ This is when your in need of a piece of this Trooper Toffee Nut & Oat Square.

Because your going to be "trooping" through the rest of the day after the morning you've just had. A slice of this will boost your energy, it's low GI, gluten free, will give you a sweet hit without the processed sugar and get you through the day! These squares are chocked full of goodness...

Lots of nuts, seeds & oats to keep you full and energized for the day! They would make a good pre-workout snack or even a great snack for the kids in the afternoon to keep there little tummy's full until dinner!

This slice is adapted from Healthy Pursuits recipe which is a bit of a inspirational blog for me at the moment.... you know how it is! You find a good thing , a blog, cookbook etc that inspires you and you have to keep trying, tasting, inventing recipes from that inspiration! So bear with me as I go through this phase! :-)

Trooper Toffee Nut & Oat Squares

{Download & Print Recipe}

*Adapted from Healthy Pursuit Toffee Nut & Seed Squares

Ingredients:

1 Cup Butter
¾ Cup Golden Syrup (Or Honey)
¼ Cup Sunflower Seeds
¼ Cup Pepita Seeds
¼ Cup Almonds
¼ Cup Walnuts
¼ Cup Pecans
4 Tbsp Oats
4 Tbsp Raisins or Sultana’s
¼ Cup Shredded Coconut + extra to garnish
*2 Tbsp Protein Powder
*Optional

Method:

1.    Line a slice pan with baking paper with the excess paper on the edges for easy lifting. Set aside.
2.    Combine all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
3.    Place golden syrup (or honey) in a saucepan over low-medium heat, stirring constantly until it reaches a    simmer. The honey should begin to foam. This is normal. Just don’t stop stirring.
4.    Continue to stir for another 8 minutes. Add butter and turn the heat to the lowest setting. Continue stirring the honey mixture until it begins to thicken, about 2 – 3 minutes.
5.    When it gets hard to stir, add the dry ingredients and mix quickly until combined.
6.    Immediately drop the hot mixture into the prepared pan and smooth with a damp spatula.
7.    Sprinkle some extra shredded coconut on the top to garnish
8.    Place in the fridge to cool for at least an hour.
9.    Lift out of the pan with the baking paper and cut into squares.
10.    Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freezer for up to a month.

Simply Tea Selection

After you've trooped through a bad day another way to relieve the stress and tension of the day is with a good cup of warm tea. That's where Simply Tea can help.... we have an amazing selection of the most wonderful, stress relieving tea's. After a day like the one described above I would most definitely reccomend our Sweet Dreams tea.

It is a delicate infusion of chamomile and spearmint to soothe the nerves, promote relaxation and ease indigestion. Enjoy before retiring.

You can purchase 100g Pouch of this delicious tea for $13.00 or a Sample Bag for $2

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Orange & Date Dessert Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 05:22:00 +0000

Winter time is the time for slow cooked meals, meat melting in your mouth, soups and crusty bread, deliciously warm and sweet desserts slathered in warm custard finished off with a warming pot of tea.

That's winter in a nut shell for me.... food wise anyway! It's also the season for pumpkins and citrus fruits which may sound like a strange combination but go together beautifully in this cake I created this past week.

The pumpkin isn't the real star in this cake... it's the orange. The pumpkin is just needed for it's "moistness" and "colour" properties and is forgotten otherwise (Don't tell the pumpkin that)... BUT it's still important all the same.

Back to our dear friend orange - yes the orange is the STAR attraction in this delicious dessert cake! It cuts through the sweetness of the dates with it's acidity and the zestiness compliments the spices nicely.

How I come up with this recipe was due to my constant need to "healthify" things lately. You see our family is on a sort of a "health" type kick - trying to cook and bake things that will be better for us (and our waist lines) There are members who are trying to lose weight and I didn't want to thwart there hard work with a calorie laden dessert.

The original recipe for this dessert called for something like 2 cups of sugar and 250g of butter and that was just in the cake... there was a sweet sauce poured over it as well which included cream and sugar! To "healthifiy" it I swapped the sugar for honey and dates, the butter for pureed pumpkin and used wholemeal and spelt flour over white flour to improve the GI rating. Now I am not against baking the aforementioned dessert with it's sugar and butter because it probably tastes absolutely devine it just didn't suit what I needed to make at the time!

Orange & Date Dessert Cake

{Download & Print Recipe}

Ingredients:

Dry:

2 Cups Wholemeal Self Raising Flour
½ Cup Wholemeal Spelt Flour
1 Tsp Bicarb Soda
½ Tsp Mixed Spice
1/8 Tsp Nutmeg
½ Cup Walnuts
2 Tbsp Pumpkin Seeds, For topping

Wet:

½ Cup Honey, Warmed
½ Cup Fresh Dates, Chopped Finely
¾ Cup Pureed Pumpkin
Juice of 2 Oranges
Zest of 2 Oranges
½ Cup Milk
2 x Eggs, lightly beaten

Glaze:
1 Tbsp Apricot Jam, (or Marmalade)

Method:

1.    Preheat oven to 160 degrees and line a 20cm cake pan with baking paper.
2.    In a bowl sift flours, Bicarb soda, spices, walnuts and zest, set aside.
3.    In a saucepan add chopped dates and orange juice to the pan and simmer for 5 min until reduced and dates are soft and mushy. Add pumpkin puree, milk and eggs and combine.
4.    Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix to combine thoroughly.
5.    Place mixture into prepared cake tin and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds, cook for 35-45 min until golden brown.
6.    Cool cake for 15-20 min, warm apricot jam in microwave for 10-15 sec until runny. Using a pastry brush, brush mixture over the top of the cake.

Serve with warm homemade or bought custard!

Simply Tea Recommendation:

If your wanting to pair this cake with a good cup of tea for a simply delicious afternoon tea I would recommend serving our Ceylon Orange Pekoe:

The leaves are long, wirey, and beautiful giving an exquisite taste, almost oaky, with body and strength.

Order Today....

You may think by it's name that it has and "orange" flavour but they use this term Oraange Pekoe to describe a basic, medium-grade black tea consisting of many whole tea leaves of a specific size. This tea is a "good" black tea, simple in flavour yet robust and tasteful!

You can purchase 100g Pouches of our Ceylon Orange Pekoe for $7.00 or 10g Sample Bags for $2.00.

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Choc Berry Macaroon Muffin

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 01:44:00 +0000

I had a stressful day last week and I knew I needed to bake and create something, anything even on that particular day!. Baking for me is a great reliever of stress because it's in the measuring of ingredients, sifting, weighing, beating and beater licking that I find some relief and a sense of rightness (if that's a word) again!

Even if I can't solve the problems of the day or make them go away at least I have a window of time that I can concentrate on making something delicious, that looks great, its healthy and gives me a sense of purpose - even for 45 minutes!

I was initally inspired to create something "chocolate" that could also be quite healthy in terms of a cake anyway - from Healthy Pursuits.... Rich Chocolate Quinoa Cake. I didn't have a lot of the ingredients that were called for in this recipe so I decided to make my own "chocolate" muffin recipe that was white sugar and flour free, dairy free and delicious! I started off with a chocolate & berry theme which I thought would work well together.

My next inspiration was coconut and use it as a macaroon topping on the muffin to give it a nice crunchy topping. So born was the Choc Berry Macaroon Muffin. I know I seem to do an awful lot of muffins and cupcakes - but any of these recipes could be easily turned into a cake or slice by simply placing them in a different sized cake tin/slice tin and cooking for a longer period of time.

Choc Berry Macaroon Muffin

{Download & Print Recipe}

Ingredients:

Dry:
2 Cups Wholemeal Self Raising Flour
¼ Cup Cocoa Powder
1 Tsp Baking Powder
½ Tsp Bicarb Soda

Wet:
½ Cup Milk
3 Egg, (1 egg white separated from these)
½ Cup Golden Syrup (or Honey), warmed until runny
1tsp Vanilla Essence
1 Cup Mixed Frozen Berries
1 Tbsp Oil
½ Cup Apple Puree
*Optional: ¼ Cup 70% Dark Chocolate, Chopped

Macaroon Topping:
½ - ¾ Cups Desiccated Coconut
1 Egg White (From Above), Lightly Beaten
2 Tbsp Golden Syrup or Honey, warmed until runny

Method:

1.    Preheat oven to 175 Degrees. Line muffin pan with muffin papers.
2.    In a bowl add 2 whole eggs and left over yolk and beat until frothy. (About 2 min), add warmed golden syrup and beat for another 2 min.
3.    Add sifted dry ingredients and mix briefly and add remaining wet ingredients and mix until combined.
4.    Fold berries into the mixture and spoon into muffin papers.
5.    Combine macaroon ingredients in a bowl (Start with ½ cup of coconut and add more if required for good fluffy consistency) Spoon over the top of the muffins and bake in oven for 15-20 min or until skewer comes our clean.

What do you do when you've had a stressful day to relax?

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Upside Down Apple Cake....... Which is good for you!

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 03:31:00 +0000

I love a good crunchy, sweet apple especially as part of my daily ritual feeding my 3 O'clock munchies. A perfect apple to me must have that loud "crunch", juicy enough to drip off your chin and sweet enough to take away the sugar cravings..... my whole afternoon is a disaster if I bite into one of those floury, dry and rotten apples that are around! I am most disappointed and dissatisfied! My favourite types are the good ole Red Delicious, Pink Ladies, Gala's & Fuji's.... ! Anyway i probably don't need to bore you with the merits of a good apple!

I was able to pick some of these gorgeous Red Delicious apples up at our local farmer's markets this weekend and knew exactly what i wanted to do with them. It was forecasted to be a wet & miserable weekend... which turned out to be half true and wanted to make something warming, spicy and good for you. I was inspired by Healthful Pursuits "Upside Down Apple Pinwheel Cake" and knew i wanted to try something similar with these delightfully delicious apples.

Upside Down Spicy Apple Cake

Free from: Refined White Sugar, White Flour, Dairy

{Download & Print Recipe}

This delicous cake is free from dairy, refined white sugar, white flour and you can change it up and make it gluten free if you wish. It's surprisingly moist, syrupy, sweet - but not sickly and perfect for an afternoon snack and best of all it is surprisingly "healthy" compared to other Upside Down Cakes recipes which call for a massive 2 1/4 Cups of Sugar and 300g of Butter! I know which one I would rather eat. The protein powder beefs up the cake adding some great health benefits but not comprimising flavour, physllium husks add fibre and the apples are the crowning glory full of goodness!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Base:
2 Medium Red Delicious Apples, cored, sliced – Do not peel!
2 Tbsp Sunflower or Rice Bran Oil
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
½ Tsp Cinnamon
¼ Tsp Ground Ginger

Dry:
¾ Cup Wholemeal SR Flour
¼ Cup Chickpea Flour
¼ Cup Palm Sugar (Or Brown Sugar)
1 Tbsp Psyllium Husks (or Flaxseed)
2 Tbsp Protein Powder (I used pea protein isolate – this is optional)
¾ tsp Baking powder
½ Tsp Cinnamon, ground
¼ Tsp Ginger, ground
¼ Tsp Mixed Spice
1/8 Tsp Nutmeg
1/8 Tsp Salt

Wet:
¼ - ½ Cup Non-Dairy Milk* See note
1 Large Egg
½ Cup Apple Puree (Bottles is fine)
1 Tbsp Sunflower or Rice Bran Oil
1 Tsp Vanilla Essence
*Start with ¼ cup of Milk and slowly work your way up until a smooth and silk batter is formed. It shouldn’t be stiff.

Method:

1.    Preheat the oven to 175 Degrees and line the bottom of a spring form cake pan.
2.    Sprinkle the brown sugar and spices evenly over the bottom of the pan and drizzle oil over the top.
3.    Place one of the sliced apples in a fan shape over the spice and sugar mixture on the bottom of the pan. Set remaining apple aside.
4.    In a bowl add dry ingredients, set aside. In a separate bowl add wet ingredients and combine and add to dry ingredients stirring until mixed through.
5.    Add half of the mixture over the top of the fanned apples. Place remaining sliced apple in a fan shape over the mixture and place remaining cake batter on the apples. Smooth the top.
6.    Bake for 40-45 Min, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
7.    Allow to cool for 10-15 min before removing from pan. Invert onto a serving plate.

This cake would make a great dessert served with custard and or ice cream.

Again I implore you to not look at the ingredients list and go...ewww no thanks! Be bold and try something new and know that what your whipping up your body and your families bodies will benefit from. Obviously it shouldn't be eaten regularly but as a treat!

I know my husband was a little unsure of what I was whipping up when I made this cake and was even more disturbed when I started listing off the ingredients in it. But I think I surprised him with how good it really tasted..... (or so he says :-) )

So be daring and give it a go!

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Guilt Free Carrot Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 04:11:00 +0000

I have found a new blog LOVE.... Healthful Pursuits! You must go over and visit and say hi.

I found this blog by pure chance when I was on the hunt for some healthy baking alternatives. Ever since reading Emily Rose's cook book - "Have your cake" I was inspired to try and bake more thoughtfully creating things without added processed sugars, white flours, saturated fats etc. This blog is packed full of heaps of health tips, product information and HEAPS of great healthy recipes.

The author, Leanne Vogel is a Holistic Nutritionist, yogi, athlete, recipe creator, and substitution nerd. She loves remaking recipes so that people with allergies and dietary restrictions can enjoy them and in doing so, she makes the meals better for your health. She have a passion for preparing food, sharing it with friends, and best of all, educating others on the role it plays in their life.

She believes that Food is such a key aspect of our lives, something that took her years of food deprivation and sickness to figure out. She is here to share with everyone that our relationship with food CAN be healthy, fun, and exciting.

Leanne started Healthful Pursuit to connect and learn from people, share her story, insight, and possibly inspire those looking to make healthful changes in their lives.

When reading the her recipes don't be put off by the ingredients such as Chia seeds, Chickpea flour, Quiona flakes or Coconut Oil. These ingredients can be easily found in your health food shop or even in the "health food" section in your local supermarket. Don't be afraid to try something new and different - you may be pleasantly surprised.

So with Leanna's recipe inspirations I came up with a Guilt Free Carrot Cake... no butter, no processed sugar and no white flour! Enjoy.

P.s. Please excuse the poor photography in these photo's - it was late at night and I didn't really have a lot to work with at the time! :-)

Guilt Free Carrot Cake

with Date & Almond Icing.

This recipe was inspired from Leanne's Pumpkin Raspberry Buckwheat Bake.

{Download & Print Carrot Cake Recipe}

Ingredients:

Wet:
1/3 cup non-dairy milk (I used rice milk)
1 Large Egg
½ Cup Pumpkin Puree
3 Tbsp Raw Honey or Maple Syrup
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Large grated carrot

Dry:
1 Cup Atta Flour (or Wholemeal Flour)
1 Tbsp Chia Seeds
2 Tsp Baking Powder
2 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Ginger
½ tsp All Spice
¼ Cup Walnuts, Chopped

Date & Almond Icing:
1 Cup Almonds
8 Fresh Dates
¼ - 1/3 Cup Non-Dairy Milk (I used rice milk)
2 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 Tbsp Raw Honey or Maple Syrup

Method:
1.    Preheat oven to 175 degrees and grease a 20cm cake tin, set aside.
2.    In a bowl whisk wet ingredients. Once incorporated mix in dry ingredients. Stir well until combined.
3.    Pour mixture into greased cake tin and smooth out.
4.    Bake for 35-45 min until a skewer comes out clean.
5.    Allow to cool.
6.    For the icing place all ingredients in a blender and blend until a smooth paste is formed. You may need more or less rice milk to get the desired consistency.

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Jam Surprise Muffins & Emily Rose Cookbook......

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Tue, 31 May 2011 05:30:00 +0000

I love to read cookbooks. It may seem strange to some people but it is a favourite past time of mine. I love reading new recipes and getting inspiration from these books. I have my favourites and I love it when a new recipe book comes along that really jumps out at me. One that grabs me by the hand and leads me on a journey of discovery and new ideas.

I discovered this particular book on a browsing excursion in my local book store. I always gravitate to the "cook book" section to see all the lovely new cookbooks. I picked this one up by chance and the title simply read "Have your cake". I thought mmmm yes please and continued to read on..... "No butter, No white flour & No added sugar - a healthy and simply way of baking".

Now that line is something that grabbed me. I am always trying to make baked items which are "somewhat" healthier than the original version and this book sang out to me. I leafed through the book and was excited by the recipes that I saw, muffin, biscuits, cakes with a healthy alternative! I took note of the books title and planned to find it online. (Generally cheaper than the local bookstore).

I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across the Author's website and Facebook page which I promptly became a fan of.

The author of the book "Have your Cake" is Emily Rose and here is a little about why she wrote this book.....

After constant searching for healthy treats for my family, reading labels on the back of packages of food full of additives, preservatives and lots of sugar, I realised that the best way to ensure that my children were eating foods full of goodness was to bake them myself.

However, I didn't want to just make healthy snacks that looked healthy and tasted healthy. I wanted my children to be able to enjoy treats that tasted like 'normal' biscuits, cakes and desserts, but were made from healthy ingredients.

Two years ago, after visiting a health retreat in Australia and hearing once again about the negative effects of sugar in our bodies and how white flour turns into sugar once our bodies digest it, I returned and began experimenting to make healthy treats without the use of added sugar, artificial sweeteners, butter, margarine or white flour.

My challenge was that I wanted the biscuits, cakes and desserts to taste as good as the alternative sugared products.

I began with a choc chip cookie, using 70% dark chocolate and to my surprise they looked and tasted delicious. A year ago, after I had made approximately 10 recipes for my family and friends, I decided that I would like to share them with others, so I set out to write a cookbook.

My kitchen became my laboratory as I began concocting and testing new recipes. I continued remaking each recipe until all my test tasters (my family and friends) said that the recipe tasted amazing. If they said, "it was just nice", then I wasn't satisfied. I kept reworking my recipes until they were delicious.

My cookbook, 'Have Your Cake', isn't about weight loss and counting calories or aimed at any specific health problem. It is about putting healthy ingredients into our bodies, feeling good about what we are eating and still being able to enjoy delicious foods, even sweets.

The recipes are easy to make and most take only 10 minutes to prepare. I'm often making cookies after I've put the kids to bed.

Baking and tasting new foods has been a wonderful experience that my children and I have enjoyed together. I hope you, your family and your friends enjoy my recipes as much as we have.

Emily Rose

I can totally relate to wanting to create and bake something nice that is preservative & additive free and with less processed ingredients such as sugar and white flours. Society is becoming more aware of what we are putting into our bodies and I believe this cookbook is an excellent start toward baking your way into a "healthier" lifestyle.
You can purchase this wonderful cookbook from her website: Emily Rose Recipes for $14.95. Make sure you check it out.

Jam Surprise Muffins

Copy & Print Recipe Here

I knew I just had to whip up a batch of one of these muffins when I found the recipe on Emily Rose's facebook page. Emily's explanation of this muffin is: "This recipe is as close as it’s going to get to a jam doughnut. A delicious treat."

Boy oh boy is she ever right.... and less calories as well!

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1/2 cup (150g) honey
1/2 cup (125ml) rice bran oil
1 1/2 cups (240g) wholemeal self-raising flour
1/2 cup (50g) coconut
2/3 cup (165ml) milk
1/4 cup (95g) 100% strawberry jam
cinnamon for dusting

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees fan-forced.
Beat eggs, honey and oil together. Add flour and coconut. Mix in milk.
Grease each muffin tin with oil and using a sieve dust each one with cinnamon.
Fill each muffin tin 1/3 with mixture. Then scoop 1 teaspoon of 100% strawberry jam into the centre of the mixture of each muffin. Add the remaining mixture filling each one 2/3 full. Dust over the top with cinnamon.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Makes 12

* I found that it is extremely important to not overfill the muffins cases when baking this recipe.

Simply Tea Selection

What better tea to complement a delectable treat such as these would have to be our Strawberries & Cream Tea. It is a light blend of China and Ceylon teas enriched with dried strawberries giving a taste of smooth strawberries & cream. Enjoy it hot or serve it iced. This will match perfectly with the cinnamon and strawberry flavours of the muffin. You can purchase our 100g Pouch of our Strawberries & Cream Tea for $12.00 or a sample pack for $2.00.

Order Now

All photography is copyright of Simply Tea.

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Triple Citrus & Poppy Seed Muffins......

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Tue, 24 May 2011 03:39:00 +0000

It's been a while since I posted any recipes and it seems that the weeks just fly by without me realizing it. I got around to baking this weekend as I found i had some spare time to indulge myself with a bit of baking and photography.

Lemons from our lemon tree!

Citrus season is coming into full swing in our Orchard (if you can call it that). We have an assortment of citrus trees in our orchard dripping in fruit. There are lemons, limes, oranges, lemonade, and cumquat's (I think). I thought I would take advantage of this abundance of fruits and whip up some sore of deliciously citrus delight

I had an idea in my head of creating some sort of citrus muffin as they always come up a treat. Poppy seeds always compliment citrus well in baking so i thought lets go with a citrus poppy seed muffin. I added a bit of bang by combining the zest of lime, orange and lemon to create these Triple Citrus & Poppy seed Muffins.

Triple Citrus & Poppy Seed Muffins

{Download & Print Recipe}

Ingredients:

125g Butter
2 Tsp Lemon Zest
2 Tsp Lime Zest
2 Tsp Orange Zest
2/3 Cup Castor Sugar
2 Eggs
2 Cups Self Raising Flour
½ Cup Milk
1 Tsp Vanilla Essence
2 Tbsp Poppy Seeds

Icing:
2 -2 ½ Cups Icing Sugar
3 Tbsp Butter
Juice of ½ Lemon
Juice of ½ Orange
Water

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 Degrees.
2. In a bowl add the butter and sugar and beat until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and the vanilla essence, beat until combined.
3. Add sifted flour and add milk, zests and poppy seeds. Beat on medium speed until combined.
4. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin papers and bake in oven for 15-20 min or until golden brown. Set aside to cool.
5. Icing: In a bowl sift the icing sugar and add the juice of the lemon & orange. Stir to combine. Add the butter and whip with a whisk if needed to combine until smooth. Add water if the icing needs to be thinner or add more icing sugar if it needs thickening. Garnish with shredded coconut or a sprinkle of poppy seeds.

These are great to pop in lunch boxes for school lunches or even your own lunch box for work!

They are super zesty and very refreshing with a cuppa tea.......

Simply Tea Selection

Early Grey - one of our classic tea's would be the perfect pairing with one of these Triple Citrus & Poppy Seed Muffins. Our Earl Grey is classically scented with natural Bergamot oil which gives a refreshing, lightly citrus flavour.

Order Now

Our Earl Grey tea is available in 100g Natural Pouches ($9.00) or 10g Sample Bags ($2.00).

Enjoy......

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Mini Apple Strudel's

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Wed, 04 May 2011 01:54:00 +0000

I love the smell of freshly baked things especially in the morning. I use to work in a bakery and the smell of freshly baked breads and pastries was overwhelmingly delicious sometimes when i worked the morning shift! I did get use to the smells which was a bit sad as it didn't have the same appeal after a while as most things do.

I have many fond memories of working in the bakery and many fond memories of all the wonderful things i indulged in from the leftovers of the day.... Lamingtons, pies, mini pizza's, foccacia's, custard tarts, apple turnovers .... oh the list could go on and on! I can't believe I never turned into a house! Oh well the metabolism of a teenager gotta love it! One of the favourites of many people was the good old apple turnover... especially with cream!

My husband requested some Mini Apple Strudels one weekend and i thought i would try and whip a batch up as i never had made them before. This is how they turned out.....

They are very versatile and are perfect for brunch, afternoon tea or with custard as a dessert and why not whip them up this weekend for Mother's Day?? Make sure you check out our Mother's Day special at the end of this post!!

{Download & Print Recipe}

Mini Apple Strudel

Makes approx 9 Mini Strudels

Ingredients:

2 Sheets Puff Pastry
2 Granny Smith Apples, finely sliced
¼ cup Almond Meal
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Sultana
½ Teaspoon Cinnamon
¼ Teaspoon Nutmeg
Milk, for brushing
Raw Sugar, for sprinkling

Method:
1.    Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2.    Place 1 sheet of puff pastry on workbench. Cut sheet into 3 even strips. Repeat with other sheets. Cut each strip into 3 to create mini squares. Lightly brush edges of pastry with milk.
3.    Combine apple, almond meal, sugar, sultanas, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Spread one-quarter of the apple mixture over 1 pastry square, allowing a 3cm border at the edges.
4.    Place a square of pastry on top and crimp edges with a fork. Slash tops of pastry and brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar Repeat with remaining pastry and apple mixture.
5.    Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until pastry is crisp and golden.

___________________________________________________________________

Mother's Day Specials

Yep it's that time of year again.... time to spoil the precious mum's and wives of this world!

Simply Tea has 20% off our Gift Packs to help you spoil your nearest and dearest. We have a range of packs to suit all tastes and budgets!

Check them out today.....

If that doesn't pick your fancy what about picking up a 100g Pouch of Tea?

It's healthy, great tasting and it doesn't break the bank.

We have 10% off our 100g Chai Tea & Simply Tea blends.

Oh and remember to whip up a batch of these strudels to spoil your loved ones with!

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Mulberry Crumble Pie, Competition & Easter Special

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 03:34:00 +0000

I have to say I adore Autumn it has taken me many years to say that because i always think once autumn has arrived so has winter but it isn't the case. Like my husband says - "it's spring in reverse". The crisp mornings, bright blue cloudless skies, gorgeous autumn coloured leaves and the chance to pull out some favourite "feel good" recipes in preparation for winter. Who wouldn't love Autumn?

This Mulberry Crumble Pie is one of those recipes that just fit the bill for a autumn dessert. I just so happened to have some stewed mulberries lying around in my freezer and I came up with this delicious dessert. It warm and cosy yet still a hint of spring in there with the mulberries. The crumble adds a bit more texture to the pie and I think this combines my two loves crumble toppings and crispy pie crusts! Yum.

If you don't have stewed mulberries lying around in your freezer like I did you could use tinned pie apples with frozen mixed berries sprinkled over the top of the apple. Make sure you add this to your recipe list of dessert to try this season.

{Download & Print Recipe}

Ingredients:

2 Cups Stewed Mulberry Mixture
(Or 4oog Tin Pie Apples & ½ Cup Frozen Mixed Berries)
Packaged Short crust Pastry Sheets

Crumble Topping:
90g Butter
½ Cup SR Flour
½ Cups Rolled Oats
½ Tsp Cinnamon
¼ Tsp Ginger
¼ Cup Brown Sugar
1/3 Cup Shredded Coconut

Method:

1.   In a bowl rub together the butter, flour, oats and sugar together until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Add coconut and mix through. Set aside.
2.   Line a tart tin with short crust pastry and prick base with fork. Place in a 180 Degree oven for 15 min until lightly brown.
3.   Remove and place mulberry mixture into the tart base. Sprinkle crumble topping over the mulberry mixture and decorate with strips of shortcrust pastry.
4.   Brush top of strips with a little milk and sprinkle with raw sugar.
5.   Bake in a 180 Degree oven for 20 min or until pastry is golden brown.
6.   Serve with a dollop of cream, ice cream or custard.

_____________________________________________

Simply Tea Selection

I am not actually going to suggest what tea would pair well with this dessert!

I want YOU to do it for me.

What I want you to do is go to the SIMPLY TEA website, choose a tea that you would think would best match this dessert and why. Leave a comment with your suggestion and next Tuesday the 20th Of April I will pick a winner.

What will you win?? A free 100g Bag of Tea that you suggested for this Dessert*!

So I cannot wait to hear what your suggestions are!!

(*excluding Buddha's Tears Tea & Australian Residents Only)

_____________________________________________________________

Simply Tea Easter Special

It's Easter time again and Simply Tea would like to celebrate with you by offering 10% off all our products. All orders over $50 (ex postage) will receive a FREE Chocolate Easter Bunny.

Stuck for gift idea's for Easter? Remember we can do up Easter packs for you and your loved ones for that something a little bit different to give this Easter? All budgets considered. Simply email info@thesimplyteashop.com.au for more information.

Don't forget to check out new "Tea Time" range for some other great gift idea's.

Simply type in the Voucher Code: steaster upon check out to receive your discount.

Click to: ORDER NOW
*Please note: To receive the discount payment will have to made via direct deposit, cheque or money order.
Pay Pal will not accept the discount voucher.

Valid Until 1/5/2011

Happy Sipping!!!

Linking up to:

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Apologies

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 05:16:00 +0000

Sorry for the messed up blog at the moment. It seems that my photobucket account where i store my photo's has exceeded it's limin on my free memebership. To get these photo's back i either have to upgrade or wait until the end of the month for it to reset. So i am sorry but i am waiting until the end of the month so my apologies for "Upgrade Today" Photos everywhere!

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Golden Syrup Dumpling Cupcakes.....

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 02:44:00 +0000

Do you ever get cravings? One's that seen to overtake your every thought and that's all you think about and nothing seems to satiate your cravings until you have that one little things that your taste buds are crying out for!

Well this is what happened to me this week. Golden Syrup Dumplings was all.I.thought.about! I think i also talked about them a lot to my poor husband. Phrases such as "you know what would go down really well now".... or "do you know what i really want".

It all started with watching My Kitchen Rules earlier this week and the teams had to cook in the outback over open coal fires. One of the teams whipped up Golden Syrup Dumplings for dessertas part of their menu. After that I was enamoured with the thought of tucking into a deliciously soft and moist dumpling drizzled in golden syrup sauce. I normally can get over most of my cravings by not thinking about it. Not this one - not a chance! I had to go and make them.

The normal recipe for making golden syrup dumplings is by boiling them in the golden syrup sauce for 20 min. I didn't love the thought of the mess that would create so i thought why not make the dumpling as a cupcake and drizzle a bit of the sauce over at the end. Perfect idea!

These warming cupcakes are a perfect dessert or even afternoon snack now that Autumn has arrived and the cooler change is here. Whip a batch up this weekend for the family and sit back with a cuppa in hand and indulge in a little Golden Syrup pleasure! I know i did!

{Download & Print Recipe}

Ingredients:

Dumpling:

1 ½ Cups Self Raising Flour
50g Butter
Pinch Salt
1/3 Cup Golden Syrup
1/3 Cup Milk

Golden Syrup Sauce:

30g butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup golden syrup
1 tablespoons lemon juice

Method:

1. Sift flour into a bowl. Rub in butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Whisk golden syrup and milk together. Add to flour mixture. Using a wooden spoon, mix to form a soft dough. Roll heaped tablespoons of mixture to make 12 balls and place in muffin papers. Cook in a moderate oven for 15 min or until golden brown.
2. Make syrup: Place butter, sugar, golden syrup, lemon juice in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes or until sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil. Remove from heat to cool slightly.

3. Remove dumplings from muffin papers and drizzle with syrup. Enjoy while still warm.

Simply Tea Selection

I would have to reccommend a simple black tea with these dumpling cupcakes. They are quite sweet and I think a good cup of plain black tea would go down a treat with them to cut through the sweetness.

We have a number of great Black Tea's to choose from in our range. Here are some of them

Afternoon Tea: A light infusion blended from Darjeeling and Ceylon teas, perfect for that afternoon cuppa.

Australian Daintree: A superb black tea, grown near the Daintree rainforest of northern Queensland. The rich, fertile, lowland soil produces a well-rounded, medium strength tea.

Ceylon Orange Pekoe: Long, wirey, beautiful leaves giving an exquisite taste, almost oaky, with body and strength.

Earl Grey Premium: Classically scented with natural Bergamot oil which gives a refreshing, lightly citrus flavour.

English Breakfast Supreme: A traditional blend of the finest Assam and Ceylon teas, producing a delicate aromatic blend with lots of golden tips

Happy Sipping.......

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Old Time Citrus Raison Scones

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 03:30:00 +0000

I don't think anyone can go past a good scone. I know i can't. Especially with Jam and Cream (when i could eat cream - i am now a lactose intolerant sufferer! Oh the pain of it all). When my husband and I travelled around Europe and made a stop in England for a few weeks & that was something we saw a lot of.... cute little tea houses serving tea time snacks starring beautifully made scones with jam and clotted cream... and including the best accompaniment... a good pot of tea.

I like the different varieties of scones that you can make as well. The possibilities are endless really, date scones, blueberry scones, pumpkin scones, savoury scones and these delicious little morsels...... Ole Time Citrus Raison Scones. Yum.

The key to any fabulous scone is sifting the flour twice to make it light and fluffy, stir the ingredients with a butter knife to combine the ingredients, when applying the milk glaze be careful not to let any touch the edges and a hot oven. Remember these simple tips and your in business for some fantastic scones!

{Download & Print Recipe}

Old Time Citrus Raison Scone

Ingredients:

150ml Milk

150ml Cream

1 Egg

3 Cups Self Raising Flour

3 Tablespoons Sugar

Pinch Salt

1 Cup Raisons

Juice of 1x Orange

Zest of 1 x Orange

Milk for Glazing

Method:

~ Preheat oven to 200 - 220 degrees.

~ Zest orange in a bowl set aside, juice the same orange and toss with the raisons in a separate bowl and let it macerate for 20-30 min.

~ In a bowl add milk, cream and egg. Whisk together and set aside.

~ Sift flour and salt together in a separate bowl, add sugar and zest.

~ Make a hole in the dry ingredients and add wet ingredients & orange juice and raison mixture working quite quickly use a metal knife to stir the ingredients through.

~ Place dough on a floured surface and carefully roll out to be about 1/2 inch thick.

~ Using a scone cutter cut out and place on a lined tray.

~ Brush tops of scones with extra milk (*Be careful to not get any on the edges of the scone - this will inhibit the rising of the scone)

~ Cook for about 15 - 20 Min or until golden brown.

Simply Tea Selections

I would have to say one of the best tea's from our range that just fits with these scones is either English Breakfast Supreme or Earl Grey Premium. These are classic blends going back centuries and you can't go past a tried and true combination! These tea's are traditionally served in the quaint English tea houses in England with the famous scones, jam and clotted cream! Our Earl Grey Premium blend is classically scented with natural Bergamot oil which gives a refreshing, lightly citrus flavour. Our English Breakfast Supreme blend is a traditional blend of the finest Assam and Ceylon teas, producing a delicate aromatic blend with lots of golden tips

Early Grey Premium - $9.00/100g or $2 for 10g Sample Bag

English Breakfast Supreme - $8.00/100g or $2 for 10g Sample Bag

Why not order one of these tea's and whip up a batch of these delicious scones for afternoon tea!??

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Black Forest Chocolate Cake....

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 01:29:00 +0000

It was my husband's birthday yesterday. I don't know if he would like me sharing his age to the blog world so i won't but a Big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dear husband. His request for his birthday cake was this delectable Black Forest Chocolate Cake. It's his favourite. Mind you i made i last year for his birthday so i wonder if it is going to become a tradition in our house every year to make a Black Forest Cake!? I don't mind.

There is something theraputic about creating a masterpiece (when it turns out). Sifting and measuring ingredients for the chocolate cake, smelling the aroma's of it cooking in the oven.

Beating runny cream into something soft and pillowy (is that even a word?) and the cherries. The cherries are the crowning glory of this cake. Adding cherry juice to a sauce pan with a nip of cherry brandy, sugar and cornflour and creating a mouthwatering cherry delight.

Cutting a beatufully cooked cake into layers can be tricky but with a little patience and finesse -voila- you in business to start assembling your masterpiece. After layering soft whipped cream, boozy cherry mixture and with a sprinkling of grated chocolate to finish off the piece de resistance you are now the proud creator of a mouthwatering Black Forest Chocolate Cake.

{Download & Print Recipe}

Black Forest Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
1 x 470g pkt chocolate cake mix (or your fave choc cake recipe) –
1 x 680g jar morello cherries
2 Tablespoon caster sugar
1 Tbsp cornflour
600ml thickened cream
60 ml cherry brandy essence (or brandy essence)
2 Tbsp boiling water
2 Tbsp caster sugar, extra
100g dark cooking chocolate, coarsely grated.

Method:
1. Prepare and back the chocolate cake. Cool completely. Use a large serrated knife and cut cake horizontally into 3 even layers (2 if your cake is not thick enough to do so)
2. Drain the cherries, reserving 160ml of the juice. Reserve 10 cherries to decorate. Place the remaining cherries and reserved liquid into a saucepan. Add sugar and cornflour. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring until the mixture boils and thickens. Transfer to a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill.
3. Use an electric beater and beat the cream in a bowl until firm peaks form.
4. Place the cherry brandy essence, boiling water and extra sugar into a jug and stir until sugar dissolves.
5. Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate and drizzle over half the cherry brandy mixture. Spread a thin layer of cream and half the cherry mixture. Repeat with remaining cake, cherry brandy mixture, cherry mixture and cream, finishing with a layer of cake.
6. Spread some of the remaining cream over the top and side of cake. Sprinkle the chocolate evenly over the top of the cake and gently press over the side to coat (note: i didn’t do this and it still looked good)
7. Place the remaining cream in a piping bag fitted with a 1cm fluted nozzle and pipe rosettes around the edge of the cake.
8. Arrange the reserved cherries between the cream rosettes. Cut into wedges to serve. (I found it cut best after a period of time in the fridge)

*can be made a day ahead - store in an airtight container in the fridge

Simply Tea Selections

Why not try something different with this cake such as our Rooibos Chai. It is a 'Super grade' Rooibos herb leaf, with a soft, sweet aromatic taste, blended with warm spices cinnamon, cardamon, cloves and ginger.

ORDER TODAY!

Not Sure What Rooibos is?

The name Rooibos comes from the Afrikaans word for red bush. It is produced from the leaf of the South African herb shrub, not the camellia sinensis plant like all other teas. Rooibos is grown only in a small area in the region of the Western Cape Province in Southern Africa, which is harvested during the summer months.

Is it good for me?

Rooibos is becoming more popular in western countries particularly among the health conscious consumers, due to is high level of antioxidants, lack of caffeine and low tannin levels. Rooibos is known to assist with nervous tension, allergies and digestive problems. Traditional medicine uses of Rooibos in South Africa include: alleviating infantile colic, allergies, asthma and dermalogical problems.

You can purchase our Rooibos Tea through our Online Teashop. We have two flavours of Rooibos - Original or Chai. You can purchase 100g Pouch of Original Rooibos Tea for $11.00 or $12.00/100g for Rooibos Chai. We also have $2.00 sample bags available for purchase for those wanting to give it a try.

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

What I Whipped Up..... Linky Party

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 02:53:00 +0000

For all those baking, cooking, roasting, grilling queens (and kings) i have started a

"What I Whipped Up" Linky Party.

The rules of the linky party are all you simply have to do is add The Simply Tea blog button to your blog and click on the "Click here your next" below to add your masterpiece and follow the prompts. Easy Peasy!

I hope this gives an opportunity to those who love to cook to show there delights to the world. So the more the merrier!!! Tell your friends and fellow blog lovers.

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Ginger Crunch Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 03:41:00 +0000

Who loves a warm, spicy melt in your mouth biscuit straight from the oven, preferably while sipping a good cup of tea with your legs up relaxing in a comfy chair.

Yep I would put my hand up for that!
That's what these cookies do to me.. just make me feel all warm and cosy and the need to just chill for a while!

They have a gorgeous combination of cinnamon and ginger with chunks of glazed ginger sprinkled throughout and a finished crunch of almond. Devine.

Could be even better than a holiday... hmmm maybe not quite! That's what i am truly in the need of though a holiday.. not a sight seeing or "tripping" round kinda holiday but one that involves doing N.O.T.H.I.N.G!

The pure indulgence of sitting around in a beach chair on a sandy secluded stretch of beach with a good book, my toes scrunched up in the sand, the wind playing in my hair, the seagulls squawking in the background and a nice Ginger Crunch Cookie to munch on... yep that would suit me right to the ground just about now!

Anyone else feeling the New Year Blues? The New Year Blues seem to hit around now i think. Holiday season is over, school and work have started back and the reality of the daily grind gets you!

I have just the solution for the New Year Blues...... yep a Ginger Crunch Cookie (That's if you can't have a holiday)!

{Download & Print Recipe}

Ingredients:
2 Cups Plain Flour
½ Tsp Bicarb Soda
1 Tsp Cinnamon
2 Tsp Ground Ginger
1 Cup Castor Sugar
125g Butter
1 Egg
1 Tsp Golden Syrup
2 Tbsp Glace Ginger – Finely Chopped
Almonds

Method:
1.    Preheat oven to 160 degrees.
2.    In a bowl place sifted dry ingredients and butter. Rub together with fingertips until a “crumb” forms and butter is rubbed in.
3.    Add egg, golden syrup, and glace ginger and mix together until combined.
4.    Knead on a floured surface until smooth.
5.    Roll round teaspoons of mixture into balls, place on lined cookie tray and flatten slightly and press in an almond. Place each biscuit 3cm apart.
6.    Cook for 20 min or until golden brown.

These cookies would make a great the perfect gift, boxed up with one of our bags of 100g pouches of Tea in a little hamper. I packed these cookies in a large cupcake box and finished it off with brown paper, jute twine and cardboard which i had lying around!

Simply Tea Selections

A great Simply Tea blend to accompany this gingery cookie would be it's ginger twin - Thai Delight. It is a zesty blend of lemongrass and ginger which creates a refreshing and wild taste sensation. You can purchase this taste sensation for $13.00/100g or a sample bag for $2.

Yes, Please I'll have that!

If that wild combination is a bit much for your taste buds a milder recommendation would be our Pu-erh Oolong. A special semi-fermented tea with a typical earthy, light and sweet taste, has many therapeutic qualities, often taken for indigestion and cholesterol ailments. This tea is packed full of health benefits and you can learn more about this tea here. You can purchase our Pu-erh Oolong for $10.00/100g or $2.00 for a sample pack.

Pu-erh Oolong Tea

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Contented Baby Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 03:42:00 +0000

I threw a baby shower for a friend of mine over the weekend. It was a great time to catch up with her and spoil her with this day. It was going to be an afternoon tea and i knew i had to find some form of baby related cupcake to make for the afternoon tea. I found these cutest cupcakes on the net and i knew i just had to try and make them.

I found that they were quite easy to make and weren't too fussy to decorate which i was happy about! I made chocolate cupcakes for the base but you could use any flavour. They were a real winner at the shower and i received many comments about them!

Aren't they just adorable???

(Download & Print Recipe)

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cake-
150g Butter
1 ½ Cups Sugar
2 Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla Essence
1 ¼ Cups Water
2 ¼ Cups Plain Flour
1/3 Cups Cocoa Powder
1 ¼ Tsp Baking Soda
¼ Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt

Butter Cream Icing-
125g Butter
250g Icing Sugar
2 Tsp Hot Milk
1 Tsp Vanilla Essence
Food Colouring

Dummies
Musk Lifesavers
Peppermint Lifesavers
½ block Cooking White Chocolate
Food Colouring (Blue, Red)

Dark Chocolate, to pipe facial features

Method

Cake:

1.    Beat butter and sugar till creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined.
2.    Sift together in a bowl, flour, coco powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3.    Transfer wet ingredients to a large bowl and carefully mix in dry ingredients and water.
4.    Pour into prepared cupcake papers and bake in 180 degree oven for approx 25 min. Set aside to cool.

Icing:

1.    Beat the butter until light and fluffy.
2.    Sift in icing sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth
3.    Place in an air tight container until ready to use.

Dummies:

1.    Melt white chocolate until smooth. Divide between two bowls and colour with food colouring to pink and blue.
2.    Place coloured chocolate into piping bags and pipe circles onto grease proof paper placed over a oven tray.
3.    Place the musk life savers into the pink chocolate circles and the white ones into the blue chocolate.
4.    Place in fridge to set.

Assembly:

1.    Cut the tops off the cupcakes if they are too rounded. Ice with butter cream icing all the way to the edge of the cupcake.
2.    Place the chocolate dummies in the lower center portion of the cupcake.
3.    Melt the dark chocolate and pipe the smile, eyes and nose.
4.    On grease proof paper using the dark chocolate pipe small swirls for the hair. Let it set. Place in the top of the cupcake.

Simply Tea Sipper

If your serving these cupcakes as part of a "high tea" or afternoon tea for a baby shower i would suggest serving two types of tea. A nice strong black tea always goes down well as part of a afternoon tea and our "Simply Tea" blend suits that. It is a good strong fine leaf blend of Ceylon tea . You can purchase our Simply Tea for $7.00 for 100g or our sample pack for $2 (which make one pot of tea).

Simply Tea Blend

ORDER TODAY

The second tea which i would recommend serving is our "Vanilla" tea. It is a China and Ceylon tea blended with the finest natural vanilla flavour, aroma enriched by vanilla pieces from Madagascar. How devine does that sound. You can purchase our vanilla tea for $11.00 for 100g or our sample pack for $2.


Vanilla Tea

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Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Get Into The Aussie Spirit!

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 04:45:00 +0000

It's Australia Day tomorrow and what better way to get into the Aussie Spirit than to whip up a batch of Fresh, Soft, Chocolaty Lamingtons! Just perfect to share with your friends and family! (If there is any left after you finished icing them)

I cannot take ownership of this recipe as it is from one of my favourite recipe books - Classic Country Collection!

It has some great old style recipe's, the ones you remember as a kid such a her famous pumpkin scones, fruit cakes, neenish tarts, lamingtons etc etc!

Lady Flo's Lamington Recipe

{Download & Print Recipe}

Ingredients:
125g Butter
125g Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence
2 Eggs
250g Self Raising Flour
pinch salt
1/2 Cup milk

Icing:

250g Icing Sugar
6-8 Level tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon butter
few drops vanilla essence
desiccated coconut for coating

Method:
Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time and beat well. Sift flour and salt together. Add flour alternately with milk to the mixture. Turn into a greased and floured lamington tin.

Icing:
Sift icing sugar into a bowl. Blend in cocoa with a little boiling water, add a few drops of vanilla essence, add butter, mix well, adding a little more boiling water if necessary, until icing is smooth. Dip each cake into icing and then roll into coconut. Set aside until firm.

Simply Tea Sipper

A perfect accompaniment to any aussie delight such as these lamingtons would be our Australian Daintree. It is a superb black tea, grown near the Daintree rainforest of northern Queensland. The rich, fertile, lowland soil produces a well-rounded, medium strength tea.

ORDER TODAY

You can purchase our Australia Daintree tea for $7.00/100g or $2.00 for a sample Bag.

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Belated Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 03:49:00 +0000

Belated Wishes To You All.....

Where has Christmas & New Year gone.... they have raced by while i had my eyes shut! In a blink of any eye the year ends and another begins. Crazy. The pack up from Christmas begins taking down tinsel, fairy lights and baubles. Packing away Christmas carol Cd's and Christmas recipes books.... (meanwhile trying to unpack those Christmas calories that we all indulged in over the festive season)

BUT before you put your Christmas Recipe books away add one last recipe to your Christmas time baking repertoire. I was meant to post this Gingerbread recipe before Christmas and well it seems the season got away on me and here i am posting a out-of-date recipe and photos. Bear with me though.... if your like me and wonder where all that effort and preparation went over the season why not whip a batch of these gorgeous gingerbread (maybe cut different shapes) and sit back with a cuppa and savour the last of the Christmas flavours and ponder on all the happy memories of the season past.

Download Recipe From Here - Thanks to Taste.com.au

Merry Gingerbread Men & Women

Ingredients:

    * Melted butter, to grease
    * 125g butter, at room temperature
    * 100g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
    * 125ml (1/2 cup) golden syrup
    * 1 egg, separated
    * 375g (2 1/2 cups) plain flour
    * 1 tbs ground ginger
    * 1 tsp mixed spice
    * 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
    * Plain flour, to dust
    * 150g (1 cup) pure icing sugar, sifted
    * Silver Cachous Balls

Method:
1.Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush 2 baking trays with melted butter to lightly grease.

2. Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and beat until combined. Stir in the flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Press dough into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

3.Meanwhile, place egg white in a clean, dry bowl. Use an electric beater to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add icing sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Cover with Cling wrap and place in fridge.

4.Place the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out until about 4mm thick. Use a 9cm gingerbread man cutter (or whatever shape you like) to cut out shapes. Place on trays about 3cm apart. Repeat with any excess dough.

5. Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven. Transfer to a rack to cool.

6. Place prepared icings in small plastic bags. Cut a small hole in a corner of each bag. Pipe icing over gingerbread men to decorate. Finish with Silver Cachous balls.

Simply Tea Sipper

I would with no hesitation recommend our Chai tea to have with these gingerbread men/women! A strong base of India teas, blended with rich warm spices; cinnamon, cloves, cardamon and ginger. These flavours will perfectly compliment the similar flavours and the soft buttery texture in the gingerbread..... simply delightful!

Order Now......

NEW YEAR SPECIAL

Purchase 100g of any of our Loose Leaf Tea's and receive

Four of our 10g Samples bags - any flavour* of your choice for............. FREE! (rrp $8)

So if you need to re-stock your favourite flavour now is the time to do it,

because while you do so you can try a few new flavours for Free while your at it??

To get in on this offer all you simply need to do is place your order of at least one 100g bag of tea of your choice.

Once you have checked out and paid simply email us at: orders@thesimplyteashop.com.au

with the four flavours you would like sent with your order.

Offer Ends: 15th January 12pm EST

*Does not include Buddha's Tears

And don't forget to add this delicious gingerbread to your recipe book!

HAPPY SIPPING!!!

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Gingerbread Love!

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 05:37:00 +0000

I have to say i am obssessed a bit with Gingerbread at the moment! Yum Yum Yum!!! I whipped up a batch over the weekend and what gloriousness awaited me when i popped one in my mouth..... a burst of ginger and mixed spiced in a buttery cookie! Twas delicious! I will post the recipe and pictures in the days to come but in the mean time i have been inspired by all things Gingerbread..... Enjoy

Read the story behind this gingerbread house

Check out these amazing gingerbread houses!!!

I hope your christmas preparations are going well...... if you need any last minute christmas gifts be sure to check out the Simply Tea Website!

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Tea Time Range Instore Now!

noreply@blogger.com (Simply_Tea) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:31:00 +0000

Just a quick update to let you know that our Tea Time range is in store now!

Tiered Cake Stand

Tea Time Caddy Tin

Tea Time Tray

Get your orders in before the 20th of December to receive them in time for Christmas!

Be sure to visit THE SIMPLY TEASHOP for some unique Christmas presents! We can do up hampers and gift packs to order simply email us on: orders@thesimplyteashop.com.au with your requests!

Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~