Cardamom Tea Loaf (Scandanavian)

 

I have always loved tea loaves. By that I don't mean loaves made with tea (although they are also very nice). I mean loave that are meant to be enjoyed with tea or other hot drinks. They are from the quick bread classification of baking and differ greatly from yeast breads.  

There is no kneading needed and they do not use yeast for leaven.  They will normally use baking soda or baking powder to give them a rise and in many cases some sour milk, sour cream or yogurt that works with the soda or baking powder to give them lift.

  

This Cardamom Tea Loaf recipe which I am sharing with you today is one that I found on Just A Pinch.  It is attributed to Marsha Gardner.  It looked and sounded like something I would enjoy. I am a person who really loved the flavor of cardamom and so immediately printed it out to bake.

I will say that mine does not look the same as the photo that she has on the recipe. That appears to be a glazed Lemon Loaf. If you look closely at the background of the photo you will see whole lemons.

My loaf was quite a bit darker and is not glazed as there is no glaze in this recipe. It is however a good loaf, and I can recommend you baking it if you are a fan of the flavor of cardamom and cinnamon. It is also not overly sweet, which I also enjoyed.  Like my muffins, I really like my tea loaves to be more bread like and less like a sweet cake. In any case, this is a good tea loaf that I highly approve of!

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CARDAMOM TEA LOAF

Just a few simple baking cupboard essentials and some dairy products.

• 2 cups (250g) plain all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp ground cardamom (fresh)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (120g) dairy sour cream
• 10 TBS (143g) butter, melted

 

Do not use self-rising flour for this. All-purpose plain works best. 

Use fresh spices wherever possible.  If you cannot get fresh ground cardamom, but you can find cardamom pods, you can break them open and grind the seeds. It will take quite a few pods but the flavor and scent are both amazing.

I used full fat sour cream and salted butter.

 

HOW TO MAKE CARDAMOM TEA LOAF

Like most quick breads, this delicious loaf is very easy to put together.

Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 by 5-inch loaf tin and lightly dust with flour, tapping out any excess.

Sift the flour, soda and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.

Beat the eggs and sugar together until light and creamy. Beat in the dry ingredients. The batter will be quite thick.

Stir in the sour cream and the melted butter.

 

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, leveling the top.

Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. When done a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before tipping out onto a rack to finish cooling.

Store tightly covered. Dust with icing sugar to serve if you wish. Cut into slices to serve. This freezes very well, tightly covered.

 

ALL ABOUT QUICK BREADS

Quick breads are the loaf version of muffins. Unlike their yeast counterparts, quick breads are made from a softer dough and are leavened with baking powder and/or soda, not yeast.  There is no kneading required, and most can be mixed and fully baked in not much more than an hour.

Some things you want to bear in mind when making quick breads:

1. Be quick when mixing the batter together.  Stir as little as possible. If you overwork it you can toughen the loaf.  You will also need to bake them as soon as possible after mixing then together as they will start to rise as soon as the leaven meets the liquid. Your batter will lose volume if left to sit.

2. If your loaf ends up soggy and sunken in the middle, it is possible that you have added too much liquid in proportion to the dry ingredients. If the texture is coarse then there may have been too much fat added.

3. Generally speaking, most quick breads have a crack down the center of the top of the loaf.

4. For easy removal, line your loaf pan with some baking paper, leaving a bit of an overhang for lifting the finished loaf out of the pan.  Just lift out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

5. I think that quick breads cut much nicer if left overnight so generally speaking, I will bake mine the day prior to serving them. They also freeze very well, tightly wrapped. You can also slice them, placing a piece of grease proof paper in between the slices and place into an airtight container, ready to freeze that way.  Then you can take out as many or as few slices as you need.

I wasn't quite sure how this would turn out as the batter was quite thick.  I was surprised with the end results however.  The loaf was lovely and light with a tender crumb.  The flavors of the cardamom and cinnamon are very mild.  The next time I might add a bit more.

I enjoyed a slice of this along with a warm cup of lemon and ginger tea.  I did butter it, but did not take any photos of it buttered. As with any tea bread, it was lovely buttered. I would make this again.

   

I love quick breads, maybe even more than muffins or cake. They are lovely served with hot drinks midafternoon or morning. They are also lovely served for breakfast.

They also make delicious tea sandwiches, sandwiching two slices together with some cream cheese.  Cut into fingers to serve.

Here are a few more tea loaves that I really enjoy baking and eating. You might also enjoy them as well!

BANANA LOAF FOR TWO - Although breads such as this freeze very well, you may be wanting a smaller loaf. This banana loaf for two makes a delicious smaller sized loaf, baking in a 7 by 3-inch loaf tin. It is every bit as moist and delicious as its full-sized counterpart. It has a fabulous texture and is beautiful served thinly sliced and spread with softened butter.

PINEAPPLE & ZUCCHINI LOAF - Zucchini makes a superior quick bread. It always comes out moist and flecked with green.  This particular recipe which contains crushed pineapple is a real favorite of mine. Its light and takes well to the warm baking spices and toasted nuts.

Yield: 0ne 9 by 5-inch loaf

Author: Marie Rayner

Cardamon Tea Loaf (Scandanavian)

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 1 HourInactive time: 10 MinTotal time: 1 H & 20 M

A fairly simple loaf that actually tastes better with each day that passes. Not too sweet, it cuts like a dream. Flavored with ground cardamom and cinnamon. Lovely with a hot drink.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (250g) plain all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp ground cardamom (fresh)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (120g) dairy sour cream
• 10 TBS (143g) butter, melted

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 by 5 inch loaf tin and lightly dust with flour, tapping out any excess.
2. Sift the flour, soda and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Beat the eggs and sugar together until light and creamy. Beat in the dry ingredients. The batter will be quite thick.
4. Stir in the sour cream and the melted butter.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, leveling the top.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. When done a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
7. Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before tipping out onto a rack to finish cooling.
8. Store tightly covered. Dust with icing sugar to serve if you wish. Cut into slices to serve.
9. This freezes very well, tightly covered.

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