Tea Cakes Recipe With Icing (2024)

Cake Dessert Holiday Favorites! Southern Classics

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Follow this beloved Southern tea cakes recipe and in no time you’ll be enjoying pillowy soft and slightly sweet tea cakes with delicious frosting.

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If you’ve never had a Southern tea cake, rest assured we sometimes call them cookies but they’re nothing like a cookie (nor are they similar to a Russian tea cake). This tender little cake is soft and pillowy, with just a touch of buttery vanilla sweetness. A very simple and comforting flavor. You can eat them with or without the icing. They are equally satisfying. If you are looking for the crispy variety, click here for my old-fashioned crispy Southern tea cake cookie recipe.

Tea cakes by Mama Reed are something I dearly love to bake. One of the main reasons (despite the flavor and texture) is that I like a lower-sugar snack. These tea cakes are perfect because they are not loaded down with sugar and super-sweet taste as most sugar cookies are. They are the perfect treat with an afternoon cup of coffee or as a snack. If you are expecting something really sweet, you’ll want to add the icing.

Mama Reed (Adle Reed was her given name) made these on a regular basis and the day she made them all 10 of her kids were allowed to eat as many as they wanted as they were coming warm out of the oven. With a shortbread-like texture, it’s easy to see why these tea cakes are total crowd-pleasers. I love to make them around the holidays as they’re the perfect Christmas cookie.

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Recipe Ingredients

  • Butter
  • Sugar
  • Eggs
  • Vanilla
  • Self-rising flour

How to Make My Southern Tea Cakes Recipe

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Begin by placing the room temperature butter in a large bowl with the sugar.

Beat this with an electric mixer or stand mixer until well creamed together and fluffy.

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Now add eggs and beat again until well incorporated.

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Dump in all of your flour and the vanilla extract. Mix again.

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A nice dough will soon form from this flour mixture.

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Turn your dough out onto a floured surface.

I like to line my countertop with parchment paper and flour so all I have to do is fold up the parchment paper and there is no mess left behind.

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Roll out the tea cake dough to about 1/4-inch thickness or so. You can make them a little thicker if you like.

Cut out your cookies.

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Spray your baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.Bake them at 350 until done, about 10 minutes or so.

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Here are the finished tea cakes.

As soon as you take them out of the oven you can sprinkle a little colored sugar on them if you like, but do it while they are warm so it will stick.

Otherwise, follow along as we add icing to our tea cakes.

Tea Cakes Icing Recipe

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Recipe Ingredients

  • Confectioner’s sugar
  • Vanilla
  • Butter
  • Milk
  • Food coloring bottle

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Place softened margarine or butter in a bowl and top with confectioner’s sugar.

Cut in your butter with a fork and then add the milk and vanilla. Stir that until smooth and creamy.

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Add in food coloring if you like.

If it becomes too runny, just add another tablespoon or two of confectioner’s sugar.

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First, make sure your cookies are completely cool before you add icing.

Then, spoon the icing on the center of your tea cake (this icing is also excellent on sugar cookies). Spread it around with your spoon and top with colorful sprinkles.

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See how pretty these are? I feel like it’s my birthday or something (it’s not).

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They are equally pretty with white uncolored icing as well.

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Note: This icing is going to be very wet when you first make it and ice your cookies, but it will dry after an hour or so.

Just leave your cookies spread out to dry and once it does you can stack them in a cookie jar or on a plate.

Storage

  • Store your cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
  • You can also freeze either the unbaked cookie dough or the baked cookies for up to 3 months. You’ll just need to add a few minutes to the baking time for the unbaked cookies and simply thaw the baked cookies at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

  • This tea cakes recipe can be used for any holiday or occasion.I like to use a round cookie cutter with a bit of a frill when there isn’t a holiday coming up and I have a craving for tea cakes. But you can use heart cutouts for Valentine’s Day, trees for Christmas, or stars for the 4th of July. The possibilities are endless for these little beauties.
  • While these are a great treat with a cup of coffee for morning or afternoon tea, they also taste great served with fresh berries and/or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
  • Feel free to make this Southern tea cake recipe your own. Add some lemon zest to enhance the flavors. Or how about a 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg? Another idea is a teaspoon of almond extract, lemon extract, or rum extract.

You may also like these other cookie and cakes recipes:

Pound Cakes In Jars

Heart-Shaped Cookies With Royal Icing

Katy’s Petite Cakes

Pecan Snowball Cookies

Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies AKA Cloud Cookies

Simple Spritz Cookies

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Tea Cakes

Follow this beloved Southern tea cakes recipe and in no time you'll be enjoying pillowy soft and slightly sweet tea cakes with delicious frosting.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cakes, cookies, icing, tea

Servings: 4

Calories: 188kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 cup softened butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 1/2 cups self-rising flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Vanilla Icing (optional)

  • 2 tablespoons butter at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • few drops food coloring, optional

Instructions

  • Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix again. Then add the vanilla and flour and mix well.

    1 cup softened butter, 1 cup sugar, 3 eggs, 3 1/2 cups self-rising flour, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • Roll your cookie dough out thinly on a floured surface and cut with a cookie or biscuit cutter. Place on a cookie sheet greased with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with colored sugar while warm or ice with the vanilla icing.

To make the simple vanilla icing

  • Cut the butter into the confectioner's sugar in a small bowl. Add the milk and vanilla and stir until smooth and creamy. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and stir until blended.

    2 tablespoons butter at room temperature, 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, few drops food coloring, optional

  • Spoon a small amount of icing into the center of each cookie and spread with the back of the spoon. Sprinkle rainbow sprinkles over the top while still wet and allow to dry for about an hour before stacking the cookies.

Nutrition

Calories: 188kcal

Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

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Tea Cakes Recipe With Icing (20)

Tea Cakes Recipe With Icing (2024)

FAQs

What are tea cakes made of? ›

Tea cakes are soft roll-out cookies that are tender, chewy and pleasantly dense. They are a cookie with a cake-like texture. The ingredients are very simple (flour, sugar, butter, milk, nutmeg, and eggs), and the gentle flavor of nutmeg is what makes these so special.

Does tea cakes need to be refrigerated? ›

Tea Cakes. All cakes are best consumed at room temperature (approx. 22°C to 25°C) to ensure the best flavour and texture. Store your cake in an air conditioned room, if not consumed immediately.

How to make tea from a tea cake? ›

To brew, bring fresh, filtered water to about 190℉, dislodge 1 teaspoon of the Pu-erh cake and steep for 3 minutes. Discard the leaves and enjoy.

What's the difference between tea cake and regular cake? ›

Tea cakesare typically denser than sponge cakes as they contain more butter and are often made with a lower amount of rising agents like baking powder.

What is the white stuff in tea cakes? ›

The Tunnock's Teacake is a sweet food often served with a cup of tea or coffee. It was developed by Sir Boyd Tunnock in 1956. The product consists of a small round shortbread biscuit covered with a dome of Italian meringue, a whipped egg white concoction similar to marshmallow, although somewhat lighter in texture.

How do you keep tea cake moist? ›

How to Keep Cake Moist
  1. Use cake flour. Making a moist cake starts with the cake mix. ...
  2. Avoid overmixing. ...
  3. Maintain the right baking temperature. ...
  4. Avoid overbaking the cake. ...
  5. Soak the cake. ...
  6. Add moisture between the cake layers. ...
  7. Frost the cake right away. ...
  8. Store the cake properly.
Dec 20, 2021

What is the shelf life of tea cakes? ›

Tea Cakes and brownies have average shelf life of 3-4 days if kept outside in AC room, wheres in fridge they will last for around 10 days. Other items have long shelf life of 40-80days.

How long are tea cakes good for? ›

Store the Russian tea cakes in a shallow, airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Why are they called tea cakes? ›

Outside the South, the words “tea cake” mean any cake served with tea. But to Southerners, tea cakes are more than that. They are the nostalgic cookies—crispy and golden around the edges, soft and cake-like inside—that are perfect for tea, or just about anything else you choose to drink.

What is another name for tea cake? ›

Although they are widely known, tea cakes have not always gone by this name. They are referred to as currant buns or spiced buns in some regions of the UK. Similar baked goods have different names in other nations.

Why is my tea cake crumbly? ›

Why Is My Cake Crumbly? Your cake may be dry and crumbly from adding too much flour, undermixing, or baking your cake in too hot of an oven.

How to make tea for beginners? ›

Use 1 teaspoon for every 8 ounces of water and steep the leaves for 2 to 4 minutes. In traditional brewing methods, the leaves are rinsed once or twice with hot water. To do this, simply place the loose leaves in a tea infuser. Add the strainer to a cup and pour hot water over the leaves.

What is an English tea cake called? ›

In Kent, the teacake is known as a "huffkin", which is often flavoured with hops, especially at the time of harvesting hops in September. In Sussex, a luxurious version of the teacake with added aromatics such as nutmeg, cinnamon and rose water is still sometimes made and called a manchet or Lady Arundel's Manchet.

Is tea cake African American? ›

Tea cakes are an integral part of African American food culture. Originating over 250 years ago, these cookies were a recipe passed down verbally through generations. In fact, one of America's earliest tea cakes were the Edenton Tea Party Cakes.

When should I eat tea cakes? ›

Teacakes are not just for tea - While fruited teacakes are a classic accompaniment to a hot drink, they can be enjoyed in many different ways. For example, they can be used as a base for a delicious dessert, such as a teacake and butter pudding.

Are tea cakes healthy? ›

Tea cakes contains 120 calories per 28 g serving. This serving contains 7 g of fat, 1 g of protein and 15 g of carbohydrate. The latter is 11 g sugar and 0 g of dietary fiber, the rest is complex carbohydrate. Tea cakes contains 3 g of saturated fat and 10 mg of cholesterol per serving.

Why are cookies called tea cakes? ›

Tea cakes can trace their origin back to Great Britain where “afternoon tea” is still a part of everyday life. Afternoon tea began in the 1840s as a tradition of having a tea in the afternoons as a way to stave off hunger until the dinner meal was served.

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