Vanilla Tea Cake Recipe with Lavender Glaze
Looking for an easy and delicious Vanilla Tea Cake Recipe? These Vanilla Mini Cakes are made even more delicious with an uncomplicated Lavender Glaze.
In a mere 6 weeks, my baby girl graduates from college and I’m not sure how that has happened.
It’s one of those things that I just can’t wrap my head around.
But nevertheless, it’s happening, and I am bursting with pride. She takes the MCAT in 2 weeks (all good thoughts welcome), graduates in May, has a job lined up for the year between graduation and med school (fingers crossed) and basically has her stuff together. But, then again, she always has so we are not surprised.
With family and friends in town for her graduation, we are planning a wee gathering. We will have most of the food catered, but since I love to bake (and eat) desserts, I will be doing all the sweet stuff making.
I’m partial to finger food type recipes that will be easy for me to make ahead and transport, and this Vanilla Tea Cakes Recipe finished with a lavender glaze, fits that bill perfectly. And while these will be perfect for our graduation party, these easy to make tea cakes would also look lovely on your Easter table or for any celebration.
Since these simple mini-cakes are flavored predominantly with butter and vanilla, I went with a higher quality, European-style butter, which is slow-churned for less moisture, leading to a more flavorful and better-performing butter.
Table of Contents
So, let’s talk butter for a minute.
What is the difference between American and European style butter?
In a nutshell, it comes down to the fat content. European style butters, so called because of the method and length of churning common in Europe, produce a butter that has at least 82% butterfat. That higher fat content, along with fermenting or added cultures, results in a creamier, more flavorful and often tangier butter.
American style butters aim for a butterfat content of at least 80%, so they have more water. Without the cultures, they are less tangy and basically a more neutral flavor.
In all honesty, I use both types of butter for different purposes. When I am melting butter to sauté my onions and garlic for a soup or I’m buttering my cake pans, I pull my standard American style butter from the fridge. But, when I am making something in which I want the butter flavor to shine, I opt for the higher fat content, European style butter which results in creamier, more flavorful baked goods and sauces.
You could very easily make this Vanilla Tea Cake recipe and leave them as is, but this easy-to-make Lavender Glaze complements the buttery, vanilla-y flavor of the mini cakes so nicely.
And if you are feeling especially fancy, sprinkle a few culinary lavender buds over the wet glaze. This touch would be especially lovely during the spring!
Even my hubby, who is a true, nothing fancy, ‘just meat-and-potatoes-please’ kind of guy popped a lavender glazed vanilla teacake into his mouth and exclaimed…’Oh My….‘, in the good kind of way.
So, without further ado, here’s the Vanilla Tea Cake Recipe:
Vanilla Tea Cakes Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Vanilla Tea Cakes
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon Almond Extract
- 2 cups Cake Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 cup Plain Yogurt
- 1/2 cup Buttermilk
Lavender Glaze
- 1/3 cup Whole Milk
- 1 tablespoon Dried Culinary Lavender Buds
- 2 1/2 cups Sifted Powdered Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- optional Culinary Dried Lavender for Sprinkling Over Teacakes
Instructions
Vanilla Tea Cakes
- 1. Preheat oven to 325° Fahrenheit
- 2. Using a good-quality bake release spray, make sure you get a good coat of in all the nooks and crannies of your tea cake pan.
- 3. In the bowl of your mixer, blend butter and sugar together and beat on high for 2 minutes until fluffy.
- 4. Add eggs, vanilla and almond extract and beat to combine
- 5. Combine flour, baking soda and salt
- 6. Add flour mixture, yogurt and buttermilk and mix until combined
- 7. Fill your mini cake pans to 2/3 of capacity (about 1 teaspoon for the teacakes)
- 8. Tap your pan against your counter a couple of times to force the batter to level and to force the air bubbles to the top.
- 9. For the teacakes, bake for 20 minutes. If using a cakelet pan, bake for 25-28 minutes…until a toothpick comes out clean.
- 10. Let cool for 5-10 minutes on a cooling rack and then use a serrated knife to trim any dome on the bottom of the cakes that might result from baking.
- 11. Invert pan onto a cooling rack and let the teacakes cool for 15 minutes before glazing.
- 12. Drizzle lavender glaze over tea cakes.
- 13. Before glaze hardens, sprinkle with lavender buds.
Lavender Glaze
- While tea cakes are baking, bring milk to a simmer over medium heat.
- Remove from heat and stir in lavender buds. Put lid on the saucepan and set aside for at least 20 minutes.
- Pour lavender milk through a fine wire-mesh sieve into a bowl.
- Add half of the lavender milk to the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Add the lavender milk a teaspoon at a time until a nice, syrupy consistency is reached.
Nutrition
I always like to have an inventory of reliable, go-to recipes on hand for special occasions, and this tea cake recipe falls into that category. I hope they make their way onto your table soon!
Bookmark this page or pin the following image to reference this Vanilla Tea Cake Recipe in the future.
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Until next time…
Hugs,
The lavender glaze of these cookies really sets them over the top! I already can’t wait to make them again!
Thanks Tayler…I think so too. Just an unexpected something-something.
Have a great day!
You always have the best and unique recipes. These will be so pretty sitting on the table too.
Aw, thanks friend!
These little treats will look lovely on that Easter table you set!
These tea cakes are so light, buttery and delicious!! Perfect for my tea party I hosted recently.
I love make ahead desserts Lynn! Thank you for this delicious recipe!! I host a lot of tea parties, but I can also see these being perfect for Easter and Mother’s day!
Hugs,
Kathleen
You are so welcome! I’ve seen your recipes and know that you are the queen of make-ahead desserts, so I am honored to be in your circle!
Lynn lets get back to kitchen cabinet color. Soon after you saying you couldn’t make up your mind, you displayed a dessert with lavender, lets check gray blue for that then white and blue dishes which I love. So I was thinking you like blue my friend. Like me. Lol. So maybe white or light gray cabinets. Then you have pale yellow accents and or blue. Don’t throw in the kitchen towel yet.
Oh Deb! You are wonderful!
You just put such a huge smile on my face!
I promise, I’m not throwing in the (kitchen) towel yet…just stepping back for a bit. I was under the gun to have a color by today and just couldn’t get it right, so I am going to clear my mind for a few days and then get back to it.
I originally thought white, which may be what I end up with, but you know those darned whites…some look yellow, some look pink, some look green, argh! For me, whites are the hardest color to pick. And, it may be that I’m a tad anal on this too…so there’s that!😉
But your encouragement is so appreciated! Thank-you!!!
Hugs my friend,
Lynn
Sweet and simple!
Are tea cake and cakelet pans about the same size as mini-muffin pans, Lynn?
Thanks,
Sheila
Good Morning Sheila! They are very close, but I think the muffin tins are slightly larger. You could use them, but would need to adjust the cooktime a wee bit…just keep an eye on them. I haven’t made this recipe in a mini muffin tin, so I can’t tell you for sure.
If you do give it a whirl, I’d love for you to pop back in and let me know how long you ended up cooking them.
Hugs,
Lynn
This looks so good! What a great combination of flavors!
Thanks Suzanne, it is perfect for a spring dessert!
Thanks for sharing! Does it freeze well?
Hi Vanessa,
Yes, the tea cakes will freeze great. Wait to drizzle the lavender glaze until you are ready to serve them.
Hi Lynn,
I’m excited to bake your recipe over the weekend. However, the friend I am baking them for is allergic to almond. I was thinking of doing rum extract instead of the almond extract? Do you think that would work? Or do you have a recommendation for a better replacement for the almond? Thank you!
Hi Nithia,
I think the rum would be delicious and would be my recommendation for a substitute. Enjoy!
And if you think of it, pop back and let us know what you think about the rum substitution.
Hugs, Lynn