Making Toasted Teacakes From Scratch
23rd December 2023 - New Experience Number 41.
They’re not something I have very often and when I do, they’re usually bought from the shop, so I decided that making toasted teacakes from scratch would be a good new thing to try and a more challenging food and drink experience.
There’s something deliciously comforting about a toasted teacake. Thickly spread butter slowly melting into the sweet and slightly spiced toasted bread.
What Is A Teacake?
Well, there are several descriptions of a teacake, and it depends who you ask and where in the world you are as to the response you’ll get.
Marshmallows covered with a rich layer of chocolate are often known as teacakes.
Small sweet cakes are sometimes referred to as teacakes.
Large plain bread buns are sometimes called teacakes.
Then, there’s the version that I made.
Is it a cake? Not really.
Is it toast? Sort of.
They’re individual baked breaded buns of deliciousness. Like a bap, barm or breadcake (depending on where you come from), with an additional pinch of mixed spice and a handful of dried fruit added to the dough. They’re usually cut in half, toasted, and spread with a good lashing of butter.
I don’t think any ancestry has been conducted, but I’d describe them as being closely related to a hot cross bun.
Keeping Expectations Low
My reputation for making anything bread-like is not the greatest in our house. Appearances have often been deceiving. Although doughy items come out of the oven looking pretty good, they have often been heavy, dense and very, very chewy.
After my disappointing attempt at hot cross buns and a first try at samosas that turned out slightly stodgier than I’d have liked, I didn’t get my hopes too high for this doughy make, and I instructed the Other Half to keep his to a minimum.
Finding A Recipe For Making Toasted Teacakes
Firstly I needed a recipe, so found one from the trusty BBC Good Food Site. There are lots of other recipes on line guiding you through the steps to make this tea-time treat. Having read through their method it looked like it would be straightforward to follow.
Getting The Ingredients
There weren’t too many ingredients for the make, and I already had several of them in as they are fairly everyday items used in many recipes.
I didn’t need anything unusual and picked up whatever I didn’t have at the supermarket.
Making Toasted Teacakes - Step 1 - Making The Dough
I mixed the ingredients together with the spoon, and then got my hands into the doughy concoction. I braced myself for a good chunk of time kneading.
Sometimes on previous bread making experiences it has seemed to take aaaaages for the dough to come together. Thankfully, this took shape in next to no time.
Then I had to leave it for an hour and a half. Setting an alarm, I left it to rise whilst I pottered about doing other things.
Making Toasted Teacakes - Step 2 - Portioning Out
‘Look at that’ I was very excited as I peeled back the cling film that had been covering the bowl. Now, if you’re a regular bread baker, you’ll be used to this phenomenon, but as my attempts have been very lacklustre in the past, this was an utter delight!
My dough ball had expanded to at least twice the size!
I added the mixed fruit next and tried to disperse it as evenly as possible.
Cutting the dough into six even pieces, I then rolled them each into a ball and pressed down creating a top.
It wasn’t time for them to go into the oven just yet. Once the dough had been portioned out, there was another period of waiting. 45 minutes this time, and then finally the doughy balls were ready to go into the oven.
Making Toasted Teacakes - Step 3 - Baking
As they baked in the oven I kept a watchful eye. Things had been going well up to this point so I didn’t want my precious baked buns to burn.
Taking the tray out of the oven I was already impressed. Six golden teacakes looking every bit like they’d been bought from a shop! I was feeling very proud of my little creations!
However, there was yet more waiting before we could do a taste test! Once they had cooled I cut them in half revealing a light and fluffy middle. This was looking very promising! Putting each piece under the grill I let them cook until they were a perfect shade of toastedness.
The End Result From Making Toasted Teacakes For The First Time
Oh they was goooood. Taking a bite, the texture was nice and light with the slight crisp resistance from the toasting.
The subtle mixed spice flavour alongside the sweet dried fruit, was perfectly complemented with a spread of melting salted butter.
The only thing that slightly let it down was the smallest taste of yeast that was just underlying every mouthful. That’s something for me to work on in the future!
Perhaps the biggest and best result though was how well they had turned out! They were the first breaded item I’d made that were the light and fluffy consistency expected!
Would I Make Toasted Teacakes Again?
Perhaps, but hey are quite time consuming to make. They’re a good thing to make to impress people, and something home made always seems to taste that bit nicer.
Want To Try It Yourself?
Take a look on line for recipes, there are lots available.
The recipe that I followed for making toasted teacakes was from the BBC Good Food website.
Cost Of Experience
It will depend on where you shop, but if you needed to buy all of the ingredients it should around £7.50.
You’ll have plenty of the ingredients left over for future bakes too so your money will go further.
Recommendations
Whilst making toasted teacakes from scratch doesn’t need a lot of hands-on time, there is a fair bit of waiting time. Of course you can do other things whilst you’re waiting for those parts of the process, but you can’t really start them and them head out for a day trip.
Check to see if your oven has bread settings, and use them if it does!
- You could experiment with the dried fruit mix. If you’re not a fan of all of the fruit included in a pre-prepared pack, you could use other dried fruit that you enjoy.
Don’t forget to take a picture of your scrumptious treats and let me know how you get on!