Gesine Confectionary Vanilla Tea Cakes...a long awaited recipe
At my pastry shop, Gesine Confectionary, there were quite a few treats that were coveted by our customers. Once I moved shop from storefront to commercial bakery, our beloved customers were left without access to their favorites, so I shared many of the recipes via this blog. There were (and still are) a handful of recipes that took me a while to share, due mainly to their complexity and my need to provide detail by way of a proper cookbook and a professional photographer, Tina Rupp. It's shocking how difficult it is to perform technically intricate pastry moves and simultaneously take a photograph.
There were some recipes that I had to tweak for home baking due to the huge volume my original recipe created.
And then there are recipes that I simply haven't shared because I need continuous reminding to share them.
My tea cakes are the prime example. They were one of our most popular morning pastries. Since our storefront closed, I've been inundated with requests for the recipe and I've conveniently forgotten to post, perhaps due to the fact that I'd bake hundreds of tea cakes a week and while I love them and think them incredibly delicious, you can get tired of baking the same thing in massive quantity every day for years to the point that your brain simply shuts down when the word "tea cake" is uttered.
But a request came through the transom yesterday that actually penetrated my noggin. And I thought, "What's the big hairy deal? Why can't I just bake them, take a picture and share the recipe? It'll take less than an hour!"
So here are the Gesine Confectionary Vanilla Tea Cakes. I use this NordicWare mini bundt pan to bake them, just as I did in my pastry shop. I have a feeling they won't taste the same to my customers unless they come in this very shape.
GESINE CONFECTIONARY VANILLA TEA CAKES
Makes 10 mini Bundts
INGREDIENTS
2 sticks, (or 1/2 a pound) unsalted European butter (slightly cooler than room temperature)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
5 eggs
2 cups cake flour (I use the spoon and level method of measuring)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (fine grain)
1/2 cup heavy cream (whipped to soft peaks)
PROCEDURE
•Preheat oven to 350ยบ.
•In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and continue creaming, scraping down the sides of the bowl every now and again, until the mixture is light and fluffy. This can take 5 - 10 minutes.
•While you're creaming, whisk together the cake flour, salt and baking powder for a few seconds in a large bowl. Sift the mixture onto a piece of parchment. Pour the flour mixture back through the sieve into the large bowl. Set aside.
•In the bowl with the butter and sugar that's been well creamed, add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each egg is completely incorporated. Scrape the bowl down between each addition. Add the vanilla and vanilla bean paste.
•Add the flour and mix until well incorporated.
•Fold the whipped cream into the batter.
•Spray the bundt molds with baking spray (a mixture of non-stick spray and flour). Spray the molds thoroughly.
•Fill each bundt cavity 1/2 full. Bang the bundt pan against the counter a few times to release any big air bubbles. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and the cake springs back when gently poked.
