Raspberry & Lemon Tea Cake

Tea is one of my favourite warm as well as cold beverage, I enjoy both the milk tea as well as fine black and green. Especially since its peak winter here in Rajasthan and I've been ill past almost over a month now, I've been at the liberty of having several cups of tea a day, this recipe came up to justify the thought " Tea without cake, is just a meeting"-Julia Child.

I am always curious to use innovative flavours and incorporate them in my cooking, the fruits used in this one are all sour and citrusy although together with the sponge they all stand out subtle and defined as the bite progresses, the first flavours to tingle your taste buds would be the lemon progressing into a warm tinge of cinnamon and orange, last taste on the palate being of subtle raspberry, through then texture of the cake a nice crunch from the raspberries. The cake pairs best with black assam tea or floral/regular green tea, we enjoyed the cake with organic tea from the makaibari estate.

Hope you enjoy the recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

250 gms flour
125 gms granulated brown sugar
125 gms + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
6 eggs
100 gms vegetable oil
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of two lemons
2 oranges
a pinch of cinnamon
1/2 cup fresh/frozen raspberries (diced)

METHOD:

CAKE:

Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees.
Sift the flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl and set aside.
Whisk the brown sugar and white sugar with the oil, until it reaches a creamy consistency 2-3 minutes.
Add in the eggs two at a time, while whisking.
Stop whisking the mixture and add in the chopped raspberry, vanilla extract, 2 tbsp lemon juice and lemon zest, gently mix it with a spatula.
Add the sifted flour to this mixture in three batches while whisking.
Spoon the batter in a greased tin and bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer comes clean.
Allow it to cool on wire rack for .5 hours.
Warm the remaining lemon juice and add 1 tbsp sugar to it
Fork the surface of the cake and by using a greasing brush or cotton allow the lemon juice mixture to seep through the cake by gently dabbing on the surface

ORANGE TOPPING:

Halve the orange slices from two medium sized oranges
In a flat pan, add 2 tbsp of sugar and 1 tsp of water, allow the sugar to melt.
Add in the oranges and cover the simmering mixture.
allow it to cook for 2-3 minutes on medium flame or until the oranges are glossy,
Sprinkle the pinch of cinnamon and arrange it as you desire on the cake