Cardamom Tea Loaf with Earl Grey Glaze
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For years, some of my favorite things to bake have been quick breads, aka tea cakes or tea loafs.
They’re easy to make and are perfect for cutting off a slice and enjoying over the week, so I was surprised to realize I’ve only shared a few of these recipes with you all.
Granted, the classic zucchini bread and chunky monkey banana bread are both really good, but still. I’ve been holding back from you.
Cardamom is one of my favorite spices, so naturally I turned to it for this recipe. It’s reminiscent of a pound cake, though not quite as dense.
baking with cardamom
You might be familiar with cardamom from Indian cooking, but it’s also a very popular ingredient in Scandinavian recipes, especially baking.
You can buy cardamom as pods or pre-ground. As with any pre-ground spice, the flavor won’t be as strong, but it’s certainly easier for most folks.
If you buy the pods, remove the seeds and grind them with a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. I use a coffee grinder for my spices as it makes quick work of them.
This recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom. You might be tempted to add more, but with freshly ground cardamom a little goes a long way, so I recommend making this as written the first time!
how to make earl grey glaze
Cardamom and tea are perfect matches, so I glazed this cake with a simple Earl Grey glaze. I don’t normally glaze my tea breads, but it’s a wonderful addition here.
To make a flavored glaze, all you need to do is infuse the milk first with tea bags. Warm the milk in a microwave-save measuring cup (or on the stove), add the tea bags, and let steep!
You can make extra infused milk for a steamer or to make a lovely Earl Grey Hot Chocolate.
Make sure you let the milk cool completely before adding it to the powdered sugar. I recommend putting it into the refrigerator while the bread bakes and cools.
This tea loaf keeps well at room temperature for about a week. I recommend wrapping it in plastic wrap or storing it in a resealable bag or cake container.
You can also slice the loaf and freeze the pieces individually to eat whenever the mood strikes. Thaw slices at room temp or pop frozen into the microwave for 20-30 seconds.
Grab a slice for your midafternoon snack and enjoy!
Cardamom Tea Loaf with Earl Grey Glaze
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 12 tablespoons butter
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup milk
For the glaze
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 Earl Grey tea bags
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a loaf pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then mix in vanilla and almond extracts.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt.
- Combine the heavy cream and milk.
- Alternate adding the flour mixture and cream mixture to the large bowl, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
- While loaf is cooling, make the glaze. Heat milk in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup (or in a small saucepan on the stove), then add tea bags. Cover and let steep 15 minutes. Remove the tea bags, squeezing out extra liquid, and put milk into the fridge to cool.
- When loaf is cooled, whisk half of the steeped milk into the powdered sugar, adding more as needed in small increments to achieve a pourable glaze.
- Place rack with loaf on it on top of a baking sheet or tray and pour glaze over the loaf. Let glaze harden before serving.
I’ve just started to cook and this looks so enticing, hopefully, I’ll have it soon in my mouth.
Could you make this in a round pan?
Hi Hannah, you absolutely can use round cake pans! You will likely need two pans for all the batter, and then it should only take 20-25 minutes to bake.
No leavener?
I’m biased to anything that has cardamom. This recipe had moved it up a notch with almond extract added into the loaf and earl grey tea on the glaze. It is hard to resist. I can’t stop at just one slice.
delicious and moist! I had a few flavor modifications because I had no almond extract and wanted it to be flavorful. doubled the vanilla and cardamom, added the zest of one orange and juice of half. plus about a tsp of orange blossom water we had on hand.
i found alternating between adding dry and the milk mixture was crucial for a light, airy texture in the cake. + creaming the sugar and butter for at least a minute. delicious!
I want to incorporate orange into this loaf in some way! I was thinking to add orange zest to the dry ingredients and was wondering if there would be a good way to get some orange juice in there too! However I don’t want the heavy cream/milk to curdle. Any advice?
Hi Kiera, you can use plain yogurt in place of the milk and cream, which will keep the loaf moist but should not cause any curdling when adding the juice.