Earl Gray tea muffins

At last, success after (double) failure! I had found, and tried, a recipe of Honey Tea Cake. The recipe calls for lots of raisins previously soaked for about 2 hs in tea. I liked the idea of a tea-tasting cake to accompany tea. So I made my tea, soaked (patiently) my raisins and made my cake. Well, cake did not come out as expected. Did not rise well, raisins sunk to the bottom and texture was heavy, although taste-wise was good. It wasn't like the cake pictured with the recipe at all! Did I screw up with the English units? I tried again with some modifications and failed again. Now, it was personal, I really wanted a tea-based treat!

After some thinking, I decided to make muffins (using my favorite recipe) and replace the milk by tea. Instead of black tea, I used Earl Gray tea, which is scented with bergamot orange oil (Citrus aurantium subsp. bergamia, a cross between pear lemon and Seville orange).

Muffins were great! They were light and flavorful. I made them twice, one using raisins and the other dried cranberries. And they were also great the day after, grilled.

Earl Gray tea muffins
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup freshly-brewed & strong Earl Gray tea
grated peel of 1 orange
2 tbsp. melted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup raisins (or dried cranberries)


Preheat oven at 350F.
In a bowl mix together dry ingredients. Stir in tea, orange peel, melted butter and egg. Mix until well blended. Stir in raisins and mix.
Fill well-greased (or paper) muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 min or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Yield 9 muffins.

"To guarantee success after failure, the bedrock of your character must be built on integrity, honor, and trustworthiness". Or, in my case, plain Basque-stubbornness!

Olive cake and tapenade

I found this simple (and tasty) recipe in a Mediterranean cookbook. I only changed the relative amounts of milk and oil, and added chili powder. It is ideal as appetizer, and even better if served with tapenade (olive paste) for spreading!

Olive cake
2 cups pitted olives (blacks, greens or a mixture. I always use 1 cup of each and I cut them lengthwise)
2 cups + 2 tbsp. self-rising flour
4 eggs
1 tbsp. sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup olive oil
salt, pepper and chili powder (about 3/4-1 tsp. of each one)

Preheat oven at 375F. Grease and flour-dust a loaf pan (or rounded cake pan).
Put olives in a small bowl and toss in the 2 tbsp. flour.
Whisk the eggs in a bowl. Stir in sugar, salt, pepper and chili powder.
Stir in milk and olive oil. Mix well.
Sift flour into the mix while stirring with a wooden spoon.
Stir in olives and mix well.
Spoon the mixture into the pan and baked for about 30 min.
Lower the temperature to 325F and bake for about 15 min, until cake is golden and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan for 10-15min and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tapenade
2 cups black or kalamata olives, pitted and rinsed
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp. walnuts
4-5 canned anchovy fillets, drained
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. lemon juice
pepper, to taste

Put olives, garlic, anchovies and walnut in a food processor and process until blended.
Add olive oil and lemon juice and process again.
Transfer to a bowl, add pepper to taste (and if you like, more lemon juice).
Cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate until required.

Enjoy!