The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe (2024)

Desserts | Recipes

ByLynda SelfPublishedUpdated on

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With some basic ingredients that you have in your pantry, you can make a batch of Old Fashioned Tea Cakes. I bet you can’t eat just one – they are downright addictive! It’s one of those classic recipes from the South that everyone enjoys.

The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe (1)

Old Fashioned Tea Cakes are a favorite cookie in the Deep South. Mention “Tea Cakes” to people from other locations and you are sure to get different thoughts on the subject. Some people may think about Russian Tea Cakes while others may think about green tea cakes.

What is a tea cake?

According to my favorite internet source (aka Wikipedia): An English tea cakeis a light yeast-basedsweet buncontaining dried fruit, typically served toasted and buttered. In the U.S.tea cakes can be cookies or small cakes. And in Sweden, it is a sweetened wheat soda bread served with butter, jam, and often cheese. In India and Australia, a teacake is more like a sponge cake.

Russian tea cakes are similar to Mexican Wedding Cookies and are soft, melt-in-your mouth cookies that are covered in powdered sugar. They are very different from southern tea cakes.

Old-Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes

My mother-in-law grew up in rural Alabama on a farm and the recipe I have comes from her. I like to believe that it is an authentic, old-fashioned recipe. Nowadays, it might even be considered a vintage recipe. My husband thinks this is the best tea cake recipe. It’s one of his favorite cookies!

There several great things about simple southern recipes like this one. For one thing with this simple reicpe, you don’t have to cream butter or use a stand mixer. Another is that by using self-rising flour, you don’t have to use baking powder or baking soda and worry about the flour mixture/ratio being spot on. With this recipe, you also don’t have to worry about ingredients being at room temperature.

Ingredients

This Southern tea cake recipe is made with simple ingredients. My mother-in-law’s recipe calls for the following ingredients:

  • self-rising flour
  • white sugar
  • salt
  • eggs
  • vegetable oil
  • milk
  • lemon and vanilla extract
The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe (2)

I prefer to use the King Arthur brand of self-rising flour because it is not bleached and they don’t use aluminum in their rising agent. It’s the only brand that I am aware of that has those two features.

How To Make Tea Cakes

To make tea cakes, assemble all of your ingredients. Place the self-rising flour (see the recipe for quantity), sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Create a well.

Add the remaining ingredients to the flour mixture and mix with a spoon until all of the flour has become moistened. If you love lemons, you could add a little bit of lemon zest to boost the lemon flavor.

Pour dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead. You may need to add additional flour. Once the dough is no longer sticky, roll out and cut into cookie shapes using a cookie cutter or a cup.

Place dough on cookie sheets and bake in a preheated oven. Keep an eye on them closely because at 450 degrees, they cook quickly and can burn quickly, too.

Once they are golden brown, remove them from the oven. Allow them to stay on the baking sheet/stone for a couple of minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe (3)

These old-fashioned tea cakes with self-rising flour are sure to become a favorite in your home, just as they are in mine.

Just one bite of one of these simple sugar cookies and your family might think that granny, grandma, maw maw, or whatever-you-call-your grandmother came for a visit and left you all with a batch of her prized cookies.

The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe (4)

Tips For Making Old Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes

  • If you use a baking stone, they will probably take a little bit longer to cook. I also recommend that you use parchment paper for easy removal.
  • If you use a metal sheet pan, keep a close eye on your first batch so that you get a feel for how they will bake in your oven. They will bake faster on metal than on a baking stone. Also, you might want to rotate the baking sheet for more even browning.
  • The thinner the cookie, the crunchier it will become as it cools.
  • Store any leftover tea cakes in an airtight container such as a Ziploc bag or cookie jar.

The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe (5)

Old Fashioned Tea Cakes

These Old Fashioned Tea Cakes are simply irresistible.

4.55 from 71 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 18

Calories: 253kcal

Author: Lynda – Southern Kissed

Ingredients

  • 4-5 cups self-rising flour
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup oil
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla flavoring
  • 1 tsp lemon flavoring

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 450° Fahrenheit.

  • Place flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl.

  • Make a well in the center and add remaining ingredients. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. The dough will be stiff.

  • Place on lightly floured surface and knead. Roll out and cut using a cup.

  • Place on baking stone and bake for 7-9 minutes or until lightly browned.

  • Cool and enjoy.

Nutrition

Calories: 253kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 4g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 42mg | Sugar: 22g

Tried this Recipe? Share it Today!Mention @SouthernKissedBlog or tag #southernkissed!

Love cookies and desserts? Here are some more delicious recipes you will want to sink your teeth into:
  • Nutella S’mores Cookies – These cute cookies combine the flavors of s’mores into a cute little cookie.
  • No-Bake Peppermint Cookies – Like Thin Mint Girl Scouts cookies? Then you will not only love these chocolatey minty cookies, but you will also love how easy they are to make.
  • Sweet and Spicy Chocolate Chip Cookies – These cookies are great for those who like a little extra spice in their life.
  • Homemade Banana Pudding – Bananas, creamy pudding, and sweet vanilla wafers come together in this popular Southern dessert.
  • Classic Southern Poundcake – This decadent pound cake is a taste of pure Southern delight, especially when you top it with strawberries.
The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my tea cakes heavy? ›

One of the key factors that can lead to dense cakes is the incorrect ratio of ingredients. Baking is a science, and even a small deviation from the recipe can have a big impact on the final texture of your cake. Too much flour or not enough leavening agents like baking powder can result in a dense cake.

What is the difference between travel cake and tea cake? ›

Travel cake also known as tea cake is topped with goodness of chocolate, vanilla or dry fruits, makes it a great bite for kids school snacks as well as adults over balcony coffee/ tea occasions.

What is the difference between a scone and a tea cake? ›

Scones are an afternoon or cream tea staple served with jam and cream. They are essentially a quick bread leavened with baking powder. British Teacakes on the other hand, are a yeasted sweet bread with dried fruit and spice. Also, teacakes are flatter and the diameter of a saucer.

What's the difference between tea cake and regular cake? ›

Tea cakesare typically denser than sponge cakes as they contain more butter and are often made with a lower amount of rising agents like baking powder.

How do I make my cake more dense? ›

Add structure.

On their own, boxed cake mixes have a structure that's loose and airy. But if you add ¼ cup flour or half a box of instant pudding mix, the texture of the cake becomes denser and tighter, ideal for a pound-cake-like consistency that will hold the shape of a Bundt pan.

What makes a cake dense and heavy? ›

There's a big chance your butter and sugar will over-cream, meaning the butter will trap more air than it should. As the batter bakes, that extra air will deflate and leave you with an overly dense cake. It's all science! For best results, cream butter and sugar together for about 1-2 minutes.

What is a JFK cake? ›

JFK's Wedding Cake Specifications:

Seven-inch, three-layer cake. Features white cake, raspberry preserves, raspberry frosting and vanilla buttercream.

What are Tom Cruise cakes? ›

The famous “Tom Cruise Cake” is a white chocolate-coconut Bundt cake from Doan's Bakery in California. Every year, Tom Cruise gifts the decadent cake to his closest friends for the holidays.

What is another name for tea cake? ›

In Kent, the teacake is known as a "huffkin", which is often flavoured with hops, especially at the time of harvesting hops in September. In Sussex, a luxurious version of the teacake with added aromatics such as nutmeg, cinnamon and rose water is still sometimes made and called a manchet or Lady Arundel's Manchet.

What are Scottish tea cakes? ›

The Tunnock's Teacake is a sweet food often served with a cup of tea or coffee. It was developed by Sir Boyd Tunnock in 1956. The product consists of a small round shortbread biscuit covered with a dome of Italian meringue, a whipped egg white concoction similar to marshmallow, although somewhat lighter in texture.

What do British people call biscuits? ›

In Britain, what Americans refer to as “biscuits” are known as “scones.” British biscuits are actually what Americans call “cookies.” The term “biscuits” in the United Kingdom typically refers to sweet, crumbly, and sometimes buttery bakes treats, distinct from the soft, bread-like biscuits found in the United States.

What is the difference between barm cake and tea cake? ›

Tea cake is almost exclusive to the North West, particularly areas north of Manchester, like Leeds and Blackburn. Barm is another variant used almost exclusively in the North West, in a widespread region covering the likes of Manchester, Wigan, Preston, Liverpool and Blackpool.

What is the white stuff in tea cakes? ›

Said tea cake is a small round shortbread biscuit covered with a dome of meringue, encased in a layer of chocolate and wrapped in reusable silver foil.

How do you keep tea cake moist? ›

Brush With Simple Syrup

Many professional bakers turn to simple syrup to help keep cakes moist until they are assembled and iced. To make your simple syrup, combine equal parts water and granulated sugar and heat on the stove, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Then set it aside to cool.

Why is tea cake gone? ›

Tea Cake's Death

After Tea Cake and Janie marry, he is grievously wounded in a fight after a game of dice he played to win Janie's money back. This beating foreshadows Tea Cake's eventual demise from rabies after rescuing Janie during the hurricane.

What causes heavy texture in cake making? ›

If your oven is too cool:

Your cake may have coarse, dense or heavy texture. Your cake won't set fast enough and will fall. Your crust may be too light. If your oven temperature is uneven, your cake may be uneven.

What does it mean when a cake is heavy? ›

Another possible reason is if the cake was over-baked. This generally causes a sponge to become dry but this can then lead to it being dense and heavy. If you baked it for the recommended time it may mean that your oven is running hot and that the baking time needs to be shortened slightly next time you make it.

Why does my cake weigh so much? ›

Too Much Flour

A cake batter with too much flour will be dry, crumbly, and heavy. To avoid this, make sure you weigh your flour instead of scooping it. Although it's quick, scooping with a measuring cup can easily result in too much flour.

How much does a tea cake weigh? ›

Traditionally, each cake weighs 357g, although the cakes manufactured in recent years have also come in larger or smaller sizes. After compression, each cake is wrapped with a sheet of paper made of natural fibers.

References

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