 A toasted English teacake (right) shown with amocha | |
| Type | Sweet roll |
|---|---|
| Main ingredients | Flour |
Teacake is a term used for a variety of baked goods made across the globe. In the UK, after teacake is generally a light yeast-basedsweet bun containing dried mixed fruit, typically served toasted and buttered.[1] In the U.S.teacakes can be cookies or small cakes. In Sweden, they are soft, round, flat wheat breads made with milk and a little sugar, and used to make buttered ham or cheese sandwiches. In India and Australia, a teacake is more like abutter cake.Tea refers to the popular beverage to which these baked goods are an accompaniment.
In most of England, a teacake is a light, sweet,yeast-basedbun containing dried fruits, most usuallycurrants,sultanas orpeel. It is typically split, toasted, buttered, and served withtea. It is flat and circular, with a smooth brown upper surface and a somewhat lighter underside. Although most people refer to a teacake as a cake containing fruit, in EastLancashire, certain areas ofYorkshire andCumbria the name currant teacake is used to distinguish fruited "cakes" from plain bread rolls.
In West Yorkshire, a large plain white or brown bread roll 9 inches or 225 mm diameter is often also called a teacake and is used to make very largesandwiches. Many cafes sell these for breakfast or midmorning snacks.
LikeChelsea buns,Yorkshire puddings andBath buns before them Yorkshire tea cakes lost their specific attachment to a geographical English location. While the aforementioned were no longer only associated with specific places before the 1800s, the same happened to Yorkshire tea cakes during theVictorian era. It became defined as a traditional English food.[2]
InKent, the teacake is known as a "huffkin", which is often flavoured withhops, especially at the time of harvesting hops in September. In Sussex, a luxurious version of the teacake with added aromatics such asnutmeg,cinnamon androse water is still sometimes made and called amanchet or Lady Arundel's Manchet.
In EastLancashire, the formerWest Riding of Yorkshire, andCumbria a teacake is a round bread roll which is cut in half to make sandwiches. They do not usually contain any sort of dried fruit. They can be made with either white, brown, wholemeal, or Granary flour (a brand of flour produced byHovis, made bymalting wheat, crushing the grains, roasting them, and then mixing them with brown flour).[3]
Tea cakes in Scotland are not a yeasted fruited bun, but actuallyChocolate-coated marshmallow treats.[4]
InSweden, the word for teacake (tekaka)[5] refers to a sweetened wheatyeast bread. InFinland there is a similar dish calledteeleipä.
In the Southeastern United States, a teacake is a traditional dense largecookie, made with sugar, butter, eggs, flour, milk, and flavoring.[6] They are particularly associated with the African-American community and were originally developed as an analog of the pastries served to guests by white women when entertaining.[7][8]
In Australia andIndia, a teacake is typically abutter cake, usually ready to serve warm from the oven in less than 30 minutes. Ingredients typically consist of flour, eggs, butter, cinnamon and sugar. It is traditionally served warm as an accompaniment to tea. Australian teacakes are sprinkled with cinnamon and fine (caster) sugar, and are usually served warm from the oven with additional butter.[9][10]
