Old Fashioned Tea Cakes- Southern-Style
“Classic, tender old-fashioned tea cakes made with simple ingredients.”
Watch me make these old-fashioned tea cakes from start to finish!
I love finding people who have never experienced a good old-fashioned Southern tea cake so that I can introduce them to it. Ok, that sounds kinda weird, but you know what I’m talking about. You’ll never guess where I found my first Southern tea cake virgin? In my own home!! MY HUSBAND!!!!
What the heck is going on! This is the second time this month I’ve discovered a true Southern staple that he’d never had. Remember when he told me he’d never had fried green tomatoes? And now the man stands up and tells me he’s never had a Southern tea cake! I’m really starting to feel some kind of way about him being a true Southerner. I think it’s time to visit ancestry.com and conduct some research on who this person is I’m married too!
It’s been a long time since I’ve made old-fashioned tea cakes, so I was really excited to make some for him, and I’ve been getting so many emails about them. Have you ever had a true Southern tea cake? I’m talking about a real, deep south, old-fashioned, church potluck, make you wanna hum an old spiritual type tea cake? They gained popularity for Juneteenth many years ago, but now they are making a comeback!
It’s remarkable how people have such diverse perspectives on a seemingly simple recipe! I’m not sure where these things originated from. They are so basic as with most vintage recipes. Some folks say they should be crunchy, some say soft, some say lightly sweetened, some say sweet like cake! Sheesh! This is one of those controversial Southern recipes (but aren’t all Southern recipes that way, lol?) Gotta love the South!
Let me give you the “tea” on them? Get it? Tea…and we’re making tea cakes! Gosh, I’m clever!
Anyway, tea cakes are as old-fashioned and southern as church funeral home fans and….and…well just think of something else that reminds you of the South. They aren’t cakes or cookies at all. Kind of like a love child of a cake, cookie, and biscuit. Makes sense? Well, it will once you sink your teeth into these melt-in-your-mouth plain Janes.
What Does An Old-Fashioned Tea Cake Taste Like?
For me, there is ONLY ONE WAY a true Southern tea cake needs to be, and that’s soft, fluffy, and tender on the inside, with a lightly golden bottom that is barely crisp and edges that are slightly chewy. YESSSS GAWD! And the taste? It needs to have some flavaaaaa but not too much!!! I seriously can’t deal with a tea cake tasting like a dry biscuit. It makes me sad, anxious, and I have a hard time trusting the morals of the person who made it.
It should have a faint trace of nutmeg, lightly speckled with vanilla bean, and hints of lemon zest to enhance all the flavors. But hey…that’s just my opinion.
Some people say tea cakes remind them of sugar cookies, but I think they remind me more of sweet cornbread or pound cake in cookie-biscuit form. They pretty much BEG for tea or coffee.
It seems every Southern family has their own take on the authentic way to make tea cakes and this recipe is how we make it! And let me tell you, IT’S THE BOMB DIGGS!!!
But the real question is: Should we add nutmeg or not?
Some people say to keep this recipe as simple as possible, which means omitting nutmeg, cinnamon, and any other additional ingredients. I say YES YES YES to nutmeg….and lemon zest….and vanilla bean!!!!! JUST YES!!! DO IT!! You’ll thank me! It really enhances the flavor of these tea cakes without compromising their authentic taste and texture, making them downright addictive!
I’ve tried so many bakery versions of Southern tea cakes that use a “secret family recipe” and honestly…these taste exactly, if not better than those. If you’ve been having a hard time finding tea cakes like the kind you’ve tasted in Southern bakeries, then give this recipe a try.
Tips On Making The Best Old-Fashioned Tea Cakes
- Don’t add extra flour. If your dough is too sticky to handle, then roll it between parchment paper. I’ve never had to add any extra flour to this recipe. Adding extra flour for rolling can result in a drier, cracked tea cake; we want a smooth, pretty, tender, fluffy, and picture-perfect tea cake.
- Chill the dough. Cold dough is what you want! Chilling the dough will keep the tea cakes from spreading too much in the oven and getting all weird-shaped.
- Use both butter and shortening. True, you can use all butter, but there is just something that shortening or lard adds to the texture of these tea cakes that all butter just can’t. Point, blank, and the period!
- Add stuff! Don’t be afraid to flirt with different extracts and add-ins. For me, nutmeg and vanilla are a must!! The lemon zest just bumps up all those flavors, so it’s a must as well. Sometimes I’ll add in a drop of almond extract or a bit of rum extract.
Get the Recipe:
Deep South Old Fashioned Tea Cakes
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/4 cup butter-flavored shortening
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg room temperature
- lemon zest 1 small lemon
- 1/2 vanilla bean scraped
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
Instructions
- In a large bowl cream together butter and shortening until creamy.
- Mix in sugar until well combined.
- Mix in egg.
- Mix in lemon zest and vanilla bean paste. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk.
- Turn dough onto a smooth surface and knead until dough is soft.
- Shape into a disk and cover with plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour (or freeze for 30 minutes)
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Remove dough from fridge and plastic wrap.
- Knead dough to soften it.
- Roll dough to 1/4-inch thick.( I rolled the dough on parchment to prevent sticking)
- Use a round cookie cutter to cut out circle shapes.
- Place cookies on prepared pan about 2 inches apart. (see note)
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until bottoms are lightly golden. (see note)
- Remove from pan and place on cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Once cooled store in airtight container.
Video
Notes
2. Do not over bake the cookies! They will not get golden on the tops and will continue to cook as they cool.
Nutrition
Adapted from these tea cakes
I haven’t made your recipe yet, but I plan on it soon. I just came to compare it to my grandma’s recipe and the only difference was she used all shortening and no zest or nutmeg. No one I know outside of family has known what a tea cake was, so I got excited seeing this.