Cooking with Tea

The uses of tea are endless! It's not only a warm, comforting drink but it can be used for beauty, health, baking, and more.

In this post, I want to inspire you to not just drink tea, but to cook with tea!

Here are four different recipes and ways to incorporate tea into your everyday cooking .

1) Earl Grey Sugar Cookies

You can add crushed tea leaves to many different things. One very common use of crushed tea leaves is in butter cookies.

Find my recipe for Earl Grey Sugar Cookies here: http://lexalexrecipe.blogspot.ca/

2) Darjeeling Mousse Tart 

Another way to use tea is to steep it in any liquid ingredients. If you're making pancakes, steep tea in the milk. Likewise, if you're baking a cake you could steep tea leaves in the cake batter. In this particular recipe, I steeped Darjeeling in the cream before I made it into mousse.

Find the recipe here: http://lexalexrecipe.blogspot.ca/





3) Jasmine Tea Rub Ribs 

I'm sure you've heard of coffee rubs but there's also such a thing as tea rubs! These amazing ribs are made with jasmine tea leaves. You could use tea rubs in all sorts of meat recipes.

Find this recipe here: http://thewoksoflife.com/2014/07/jasmine-tea-rub-ribs/

(photography from http://thewoksoflife.com)

4) Miso Green Tea and Ginger Tofu Soup

One last way to use tea is in soups. You could steep a bag of tea in almost any kind of soup. Peppermint and green tea would pair lovely with many types of soup. 

Find this recipe here: http://www.sheknows.com

(photography from http://www.sheknows.com)

GF Darjeeling Berry Mousse Tart

GF Darjeeling Berry Mousse Tart 

Find crust recipe here: https://simplygluten-free.com/blog

Filling:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tsp second-flush darjeeling 

2 cups frozen berries

1/2 cup sugar (you can add more or less to taste)

1/4 cup of cold water
1 teaspoon gelatin

(I got my darjeeling from: http://www.teacampaign.ca)

1) Measure heavy whipping cream into a bowl and add darjeeling to steep (set in fridge for at least an hour)

2) Defrost the frozen berries and strain juice into sauce pan - set aside

3) Add gelatin to cold water and let sit 

4) Put berry juice on medium heat and add sugar 

5) Once juice is steaming, add in gelatin and remove from heat 

6) Transfer juice to bowl and set in fridge until thickened 

7) Strain darjeeling tea leaves from cream 

8) Pour cream into mixer and mix on high until small peaks form 

9) Add berry juice to whipped cream and carefully mix together 

10) pour mousse into cooked tart crust and set in fridge 

enjoy!

(this filling recipe makes enough to fill one small tart crust - double or triple the recipe for a large tart)

Gluten-Free Vanilla Orange Muffins

I absolutely love these gluten-free muffins with a big cup of darjeeling
Check out http://www.teacampaign.ca for some great Darjeeling!

GF Vanilla Orange Muffins

2 1/2 cup oat flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup cream (or milk)
1 egg
3 Tbs honey
1 Tbs olive oil (or butter)
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp shaved orange peel

1) Preheat oven to 350F
2) Mix all ingredients together in a bowl
3) Scoop a little more than 1/4 cup into each muffin tin
4) Bake for 20-25 minutes

Iced Honey Lemon Darjeeling

It's finally warm and sunny so I hope you're ready for lots and lots of summer recipes!

I decided to kick spring and summer off with this Iced Honey Lemon Darjeeling

I used some amazing First-Flush Darjeeling from Tea Campaign Canada. I'm currently running the Instagram for this tea company and I highly recommend their darjeeling. Check out their website here: http://www.teacampaign.ca

Iced Honey Lemon Darjeeling

4 cups hot water (175F)
4 tsp loose leaf darjeeling (find the darjeeling I used here: http://www.teacampaign.ca)
2-3 Tbs honey
1 lemon

1) Measure out 4 tsp. of darjeeling and 3 Tbs of honey

2) Heat water to 175F and steep the darjeeling in 4 cups of water for 12-15 minutes (this can vary depending on your preference)

 

3) While the tea is still hot, add 2-3 tablespoons of honey and stir to help it dissolve

4) Add 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice until the taste is to your liking

5) Set tea in fridge for 2-3 hours until chilled

Teatime Thursday

What's dreamier than a coconut cream chai latte and a fuzzy blanket? 

Happy Thursday!

                       

Gluten-Free Mini Blueberry Pies

Check out my recipe blog to find the latest recipe- Gluten-Free Mini Blueberry Pies

So a few days ago I attempted to make a cobbler. I used a gluten-free flour without looking at the ingredients- which was a big mistake. Have you ever tried garbanzo bean flour? It tastes like death. So I made this cobble and it not only looked amazing but smelled amazing! I dished it up with ice cream, super excited to eat it. I took a big bite AND...it was awful. It was inedible. It tasted like I had made cobbler with a nasty bean crust that overtook all the other flavors. I had added so much sugar- and it didn't do a thing to mask the nasty garbanzo bean flour of death. So I threw out the whole cobbler. And I've been apologizing to my family for days since it took hours to get rid of the bean flavor in our mouths.

SO in an attempt to redeem myself, I made these pies. I took my time and made them with love. They are delicious.

Have you ever had a major baking disaster? I would love to hear!

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte

This morning was a pumpkin spice latte making and poem reading kind of morning. I don't know about you, but there's something about leisurely mornings that I absolutely love - especially on windy fall days like today!

For my latte, I followed this Pumpkin Spice Latte Syrup recipe I found on Pinterest. I used the second (less healthy ;) recipe and it was delicious! I mixed the syrup with half & half and poured it into a mug 3/4 full of coffee. I topped it off with caramel whipped cream and pumpkin spice.

I highly recommend this syrup recipe! It lasts for a week in the fridge and is super convenient. I'm trying to stay away from coffee shop lattes due to the fake flavorings they tend to use.  I'm all for homemade, natural coffee drinks!

Plum Spice Tarts

Check out my latest (and super delicious) recipe- Gluten-Free Plum Spice Tarts

Earl Grey Tea Cookies

I just posted a delicious recipe for Gluten-Free Earl Grey Tea Cookies


They are perfect for afternoon teatime!

Honey Cocoa Iced Tea

Check out my recipe blog to find my most recent recipe for Honey Cocoa Iced Tea.

It was absolutely wonderful.