Earl Grey Cake with Rhubarb Cream Cheese Glaze

I'm alliiiiveee! Well sort of. It's been a very icky, snotty, exhausting week in bed. I managed to catch myself one nasty b*tch of a bug, one that was so bad that even A (who proudly boasts that he only gets sick once every 5 years) caught it too. So that meant that when I finally started feeling a bit better I forced myself out of bed to make him honey lemon drinks and huge pots of chicken soup. Other than that most of last week was spent in bed, watching Buffy and eating lots of comfort food. I may or may not have eaten an entire tray of Sara Lee chocolate cake (I know who to blame for my rekindled love of their frozen cakey goodness).

But finally, after many Sudafed-induced sleeps I was better enough to get back into the kitchen to bake something. It's always a very obvious sign that I'm very sick if I don't even have the energy to bake, usually when I'm feeling a little under the weather I still manage to whip up some scones. So today I kept things pretty simple, I don't quite have the energy for one of my crazy baking experiments just yet. I just wanted a lovely sweet tea cake to nibble on.

I love tea so effing much. Every kind of tea. Chinese teas, Japanese green tea, a milky English Breakfast, give it to me by the bucketload. But other than matcha flavoured desserts I haven't tried too many tea-flavoured desserts. Earl Grey seemed like the obvious choice to try out, with its distinctive bergamot aroma and flavour. I had a bunch of rhubarb waiting to stewed and I always love the combination of rhubarb with any kind of citrusy flavour, so I decided to try an Earl Grey Tea Cake with a Rhubarb & Cream Cheese Icing. At first I was imagining swirls of lusciously thick cream cheese icing, but as I started making it I realised that a glaze would work much better. The icing was quite sweet so I didn't want too much of it on the cake, plus I had to use quite a high ratio of rhubarb puree so that it wouldn't be overpowered by the flavour of the cream cheese. I love the light pink colour that the rhubarb gave the glaze, it just looks so inviting and fresh drizzled over the cake.

The exterior look and feel of the cake itself is quite deceptive. It looks appears slightly dense and heavy, but when you cut yourself a slice you find a beautiful fluffy centre with just the right amount of flavour from the Earl Grey. It's not too strong but you can definitely notice its presence. I actually quite like the mottled banana-bread-like appearance that the loose tea leaves give the cake. The first thing you taste is the sweet rhubarb mixed up with smooth cream cheese and just a hint of lemon zest, then you're left with the light aftertaste of the bergamot. It's one of those lovely girly cakes that you just want to sit down and share with your girlfriends over a cup of tea.

Earl Grey Cake with Rhubarb Cream Cheese Glaze
(Adapted from this Earl Grey Tea Cakes recipe from Good Taste)
2 Earl Grey tea bags (about 3 tsp leaves)
60ml (1/4 cup) boiling water
80ml (1/3 cup) milk
100g butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
160g (2/3 cup) caster sugar
190g (1 1/4 cups) self-raising flour

For the glaze: (this made quite a lot of glaze for me, you could halve it if you like)
150g rhubarb, diced
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tbsp caster sugar and 1 tbsp water
125g cream cheese, softened
1 cup (150g) icing sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin. Empty the tea leaves from the tea bags into a cup and add the boiling water. Set aside for 3 minutes then add milk to cup.

Place butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium and add eggs one at a time, beating until smooth. With the mixer on low, gradually add flour and tea mixture, alternating between wet and dry ingredients. Beat until just combined.

Pour mixture into prepared tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside for 2-3 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cake is baking and cooling, place rhubarb in a small saucepan on low heat with lemon zest, sugar and water. Stirring occasionally, simmer rhubarb until soft and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Puree mixture in a food processor or blender. Place cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Add sifted icing sugar and rhubarb puree and beat until smooth. Pour over the top of cooled cake and serve immediately. Can be refrigerated overnight.