JING TEA X LAUREN LOVATT

This National Tea Day we have partnered with Lauren Lovatt a plant-based chef and entrepreneur. She is the founder of the Plant Academy in London and the woman behind MIND FOOD, a project dedicated to delicious food specifically designed to feed your mind. Now teaching worldwide from Bali to Barcelona, her passion lies in sharing and inspiring knowledge for plant-based food. You can find more of Laurens delicious recipes on her website here.

Lauren and Sara Kiyo Popowa a London Photographer in the studio.

The collaboration is aimed at exploring the diverse and exquisite flavors of tea and their potential in plant-based culinary creations.

Laurens Earl Grey Tea Cake. Image Taken by Shiso Delicious

This Cake is inspired by the way we drink Earl Grey tea; some people enjoy it black, others with lemon and others with milk. Over the years I have enjoyed all of these ways of drinking it and love how it lends itself to all of these tea styles differently. This cake has a dark roasted almond and lemon base with an Earl Grey cream, a thin layer of extra creamy vanilla cream and is topped with a sweet and sticky earl Grey syrup giving you the feeling of eating the most indulgent Earl Grey tea you would imagine - with the bonus that it is make from only natural ingredients, elevated just like JING.

This cake is raw, vegan and gluten free and is ideal for an afternoon tea or a celebration. Try making it as one large cake or many small cakes depending on the occasion.

This recipe makes one large cake or six small cakes / tarts.

You can either use ring molds on a tray lined with baking paper or a spring form cake tin with the base lined with baking paper or biodegradable cling film.

Earl Grey Tea Cake with a toasted almond and lemon base, tea granola.

Prep time 1 hour
Set time 2 hours 
 
INGREDIENTS 
 
JING Earl Grey tea syrup
200 g brewed Earl Grey tea (instructions)
100g maple syrup 
 
Candied Almonds
250g Almonds
30 Maple Syrup
20 Olive Oil
1/4 tsp maldon salt  
 
Cake Base
350g Oats
75 Raisins, tea soaked
25 Currants
1 Lemon zest only Lemon
20g Coconut oil
50-70g tea from the soaked fruit
3/4 tsp salt  
 
Vanilla Cream
250g Cashews, soaked
100ml Almond milk
50g Brewed Earl Grey Tea
1/2 tbsp Honey
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

75g Cacao butter, melted
120g Coconut oil, melted  
 
JING Earl Grey Cream
100g Earl Grey tea syrup
25g Cacao butter, melted

JING Earl Grey Loose Leaf Tea

Method 
 
Set up: 
 
Boil the kettle and pour hot water onto the cashews, soak for at least 30 minutes whilst you complete the other steps.

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius.

Begin by brewing the JING Earl Grey tea. Measure 8g of tea and pour 600ml boiling water. Infuse the tea for 3-4 minutes. For this recipe it is useful to have the tea ever so slightly over brewed.

Strain the tea from the leaves and pour 200ml of this tea onto the raisins and currants in the cake base.

Set up a pan of boiling water and melt your cacao butter and coconut oil in bowls above the water, separately, so they are ready to use.

JING Earl Grey tea syrup 
 
Pour 300 ml of tea into a pan with 150ml maple syrup, place the pan on a medium heat and leave the syrup to reduce for at least 30 minutes, until the liquid is reduced by 2/3. Keep an eye on the mixture making sure it does not reduce too much or burn, the aim here is to have a glossy syrup the texture of pourable honey.

Candied Almonds 
 
Mix the almonds with the maple syrup, olive oil and salt. Tumble them onto a baking try lined with baking paper and then place the almonds in a hot oven to roast until deep brown for around 30 minutes.

At the same time put the oats on a baking tray and roast them too, to release their nutty aroma. Roast with the almonds until just lightly toasted.

Take both the almonds and oats from the oven when they are ready.

Cake Base 
 
To make the cake base add the almonds to your food processor and pulse to make a rough flour. Reserve 50g of the almonds to use a topping later.

Add the oats to the food processor and process with the almonds so both end up as a rough flour.

Add the tea soaked dried fruit (reserve the liquid but DO NOT pour it in), continue to process the mixture and then add the salt, tea and melted coconut oil. Continue to process until the dough rolls easily into a ball in your hands without cracking.

Press the mixture into your chosen cake tin, whichever you choose make sure the base is around 1/2 cm tich and even all over.

Leave in the fridge to set while you continue with the next step

Vanilla Cream 
 
Rinse the cashews from their soaking water, place them into your blender and blend with the almond milk, brewed Earl Grey tea and honey. Blend until COMPLETELY smooth.

Add the melted coconut oil and cacao butter and blend again.

Take 1/3 of the mixture from the blender and set aside in a bowl.

JING Earl Grey Cream 
 
Blend the remaining mixture with 100g Earl Grey tea syrup (reserve the rest!) and a little extra cacao butter. Blend thoroughly.

Pour this mixture onto the cake base and set in the freezer for 30 minutes and then top with a thinner layer of the vanilla cream. Set in the freezer for 1-2 hours or in the fridge for 2-3 hours until firm.

Serve with the almonds and syrup on top and enjoy!

TIPS 
 
 - You can use homemade almond milk for an even more delicious end result
 - You can use either raisins or sultanas if you don't have both.

STORAGE 
 
This cake can be frozen and stored in a sealed container then served after just 30 minutes of thawing or kept in the fridge in a sealed container for up to five days.