Blueberry and Earl Grey Tea Loaf (+ I'm gonna be in Cake Masters Magazine!)

First things first. Big news! I'm going to be in this coming's March Issue of Cake Masters Magazine, within the new 'Blog Spotlight' featured in the Elevenses chapter. It will be on sale this Thursday (26th February 2015) so keep a look a out... more info to follow later this week. 

Next up, today's bake. Cake! ( Haha that rhymes.) So, I am sure you are all aware, following on from my previous post on vanilla chai cake that I am a lover of tea and more importantly adding it to my recipes to create one awesome, fragrant and deliciously-tasting cake! 

And just so you know, this will be one of the most sophisticated loaf cakes you will ever eat, and there's poppy seeds thrown in there too. (That would just make the title even longer than it already is.) Earl grey is one of those teas which I used to like drinking, however one day I suddenly went off it and have no idea why?! Just did :(  anyway this didn't put me off infusing it into foods and it really tastes good. Yay! :) happy face. So, I haven't altogether given up on this dreamy, aromatic, calming and comforting cuppa.  

A dream team - blueberries and earl grey... it rules! I was tempted when scouting out some ideas on the internet (well mainly pinterest - let's just admit it) to put lemon into this loaf cake as well, to make this a flavoursome trio. But then again I wouldn't like it, as oh by the way that's another thing I don't like in my cake. (TOO tangy in my honest and blatant opinion, but I suppose it matters how much of it we are talking here.)  

Lastly, to top it all off quite literally... I smeared a generous amount of glacé icing all over. YES baby. And I mean a lot. No one's stopping me. I can't get enough it.

Blueberry and Earl Grey Tea Loaf

Ingredients:

1 Earl Grey Tea bag 90g unsalted butter 115g granulated sugar 2 eggs 140g buttermilk or natural plain yogurt 200 g plain flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tbsp poppy seeds  1 tsp vanilla extract 125 g preferably frozen blueberries For the Glaze: 65 g icing sugar enough water to form a thick, pourable mixture 

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F/ gas 4. Infuse the tea bag in 120ml of boiling water for 10 minutes whilst you melt the butter in a medium saucepan over a low heat.  Beat the sugar and eggs in a separate bowl and then beat in the the melted butter, followed by the buttermilk/yoghurt. Remove the tea bag from the water, pour the brewed tea into the bowl and stir together. Cut open the tea bag and stir the tea leaves into the bowl as well. Add the flour, baking powder and soda, vanilla extract, poppy seeds and stir together until just combined. Then gently stir in the blueberries. Pour the batter into a greased and lined large loaf tin about 8 inch across in size. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. You may need to place a foil covering on after 30 minutes into the cooking time to stop the top from browning too much.   Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack. Make the glaze by stirring together the icing sugar and enough water to make a thick, pourable mixture (add the water slowly, stirring between additions). Pour over the warm loaf and leave to cool and set.