Bake a Valentine’s Cake to Go With Your Tea

Valentine’s Day.  A time for everything pink and rosy.  Strawberries and chocolate galore. If you are looking to recreate that sweet, romantic, dessert feeling I would recommend brewing up a cup of Chocolate Covered Strawberries by Shuswap Infusions. This black and oolong blend has dark chocolate and strawberry notes, and it even has flower petals in the dry leaf.

Whether you’re celebrating yourself or being cute with a sweetheart, it’s hard to go wrong with chocolate.  So I recommend making an old family recipe (that we clearly just took from the King Arthur Flour cookbook) for a super-easy, super-tasty, one-pan vegan mocha cake.  Trust me, even those of you who are baking-impaired can make this one.  We call it the Stir-Crazy Cake.

For best results, mix the ingredients in the pan from which you will serve the cake.  This won’t be a problem if you use a cute heart-shaped pie dish or cake pan for the occasion.

Mix directly in your pan:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix dry ingredients with a whisk or fork.

Make three wells (three divots or holes) in the dry ingredients.

Pour the wet ingredients into the wells, only one ingredient into each well:

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon vinegar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Pour 1 cup cold coffee over all ingredients.  If you don’t want a mocha cake, just use cold water instead.  [For those kitchen-oriented mad scientists out there, maybe adding a cold cup of your favorite dessert or strawberry tea could be a nice substitute as well.  I haven’t experimented myself, but now I’m  curious to try it… ]

Stir all the ingredients together until well blended.  Really make sure you mix the cake (hence the “Stir-Crazy” name).  Get all the dry ingredients mixed in from the bottom and edges of the pan.

Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes at 350 degrees, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, without any crumbs.

Serve straight from the pan to your plate.  If you’re getting overloaded from chocolate, brew up something sweet and fruity to go with the cake, maybe a classic like Raspberry Zinger from Celestial Seasonings to help balance out the dark chocolate decadence.
Happy baking!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black/Oolong
Where to Buy: Shuswap Infusions
Description:

Just in time for Valentines Day! The name of this tea is just as delicious as it sounds. For a real treat, serve it as a latte garnished with shaved chocolate

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Product Review: White Chocolate with Jumpy Monkey Yerba Mate from DAVIDsTEA

White Chocolate with Jumpy Monkey Yerba MateTea Information:

Leaf Type: Yerba Mate/Chocolate

Where to Buy: DAVIDsTEA

Tea Description:

Looking for a rich and decadent pick-me-up? Check out this deliciously creamy chocolate bar, a combination of the finest imported white chocolate and our java-spiked Jumpy Monkey tea. With yerba mate, cocoa nibs and coffee beans, it makes for an exotic taste of the rainforest at its finest. Made in partnership with a Montreal chocolatier.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I’ve had this tea before as a latte, and as far as I can remember it wasn’t too impressive. Kind of run of the mill, actually? However I was still pretty pumped to see it in chocolate bar format at the store yesterday because, first off, I love white chocolate though also because even though I’m not a huge fan of coffee I have a special place in my heart for white chocolate coated coffee beans. My Dad used to buy them in bulk, and late at night I’d sneak into the kitchen (when I was around eleven) and eat small handfuls out of the bag in the pantry. And of course, I’d have problems falling asleep after that…

However, this is a slight let down if I’m being honest. I mean, the white chocolate is really good! I love the white chocolate that DAVIDsTEA uses for these chocolate bars. The problem, for me, is that it really over powers the flavour of the tea/coffee. It doesn’t help part of the profile of this tea is white chocolate in the first place. I’m conflicted by this. One thing I dislike about DAVIDsTEA’s chocolate bars is that the infused chunks are often too large but in this rare occasion I really wanted more large pieces because without them the tea is lost. I wish there was a better way to ensure a more consistent size for the pieces used in these chocolate bars, but I don’t know what the best way to go about finding it would be. However, it does at least seems like DAVIDsTEA is trying to do that because these newer bars do at least seem to consistently use smaller pieces and I know that was something that was really being criticized prior to the change. So I commend them for that.

But without the flavour of the tea, this is just a super expensive white chocolate bar.

Chocolate Cherry Latte Oolong Green from A Quarter to Tea

chocolatecherrylatteTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong/Green

Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea

Tea Description:

Roasty enough to appease the coffee lover in you! The blend of hojicha and oolong makes a robust, coffee like base without the jitters. Mellowed out with chicory, chocolate, and cherries. What could be a better start to the morning?

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

A Quarter to Teas is a fairly new tea store selling on Etsy that feautues seasonal and limited edition blends such as the blend I’m trying now and many other unique flavours like Strawberry Jalapeno Salsa. The owner, Lauren, was kind enough to send a few samples my way. I have to say my email correspondence with Lauren was incredibly impressive – she was so prompt in replying to my messages and very pleasant overall. Without even taking a sip of tea yet, I’m already impressed with the company on the grounds of their customer service alone.

That said, getting into the tea itself this smells AMAZING. I was totally expecting more of a coffee/chocolate with a subtle cherry because most blends that attempt to do cherry blends in which the cherry isn’t the sole flavour never really nail it. Instead, the smell is indicating this will be the opposite: cherry tea with more subtle coffee and chocolate. I am SO on board with that idea!

And I am so gleeful right now because the taste of the infused tea IS very strongly cherry! And it’s not some kind of gross cough syrup cherry either! Instead it’s sweet, dark cherry. So yummy and indulgent! Of course, there’s more going on here aside from the cherry even if that is the element of the tea which I’m most excited about. The chocolate notes come through well too and the pairing is a match made in heaven. However, it’s a little thin and I think that’s probably because this blend uses chocolate chips. If I could make one suggestion it’d be to use either cocoa nibs or shells instead. I think that’d kick the chocolate factor up a lot and also make the mouthfeel a little cleaner. Finally, the “coffee”. Personally I think this is the mildest element of the blend but I’m more that ok with that. As much as I don’t hate coffee and am cool with the flavour being in my tea I still prefer the tea itself to be the most dominant flavour. On that note I definitely taste the hojicha more than the oolong. I really love the idea of pairing the hojicha with the oolong as well; it ups the roasty notes up quite a bit and adds a whole new layer of flavour into the tea.

This tea is absolutely phenomenal! I’m very impressed, and I really look forward to trying the rest of my samples from Lauren. As far as first impressions go, this was a really good one.

Mango Party Coffee Leaf Tea from Wize Monkey

MangoPartyTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Coffee Leaf Tisane

Where to Buy: Wize Monkey

Tea Description:

Juicy mangoes all up in your boca!

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

The packaging of this one didn’t give much away – only the name (Mango Party), and the fact that it’s a test flavour. It’s a bagged tea, but in an unbleached, sizeable bag so there’s plenty of room for leaf expansion. No complaints there. I did a little digging around, and discovered that this is, in fact, a coffee leaf tea. This isn’t something I’ve ever tried before, so it piqued my interest straight off. From what I managed to find out, coffee leaf tea is pretty much exactly what you’d think – a herbal tea made from the shredded leaves of the coffee plant. It contains less caffeine than either tea or coffee, and is described as being similar in flavour to green tea. I added the bag to a cup of boiling water, and gave it 3 minutes. The resulting liquor is a medium golden-brown, and the scent immediately put me in mind of guayusa.

To taste, guayusa is again probably the best comparison I can come up with. It’s quite prominently earthy in the initial sip, but in a good way – anyone that enjoys guayusa would be quite at home here. The flavouring emerges in the mid sip, and adds a creamy, mildly peppery, mango flavour. It’s juicy and fruity, but it’s a little milder and more fleeting than I really would have liked. There’s maybe a second or two in the mid sip where I can really taste it, and then it’s gone and the earthiness returns. For those who were wondering – this doesn’t taste of coffee at all.

This was a new experience for me, and I’m going to say that I liked it. I’d seek out more coffee leaf teas on the strength of this one, that’s for sure. When a tea is flavoured, I like the flavour to be strong and prominent, so this one lost a couple of points for me there. The flavouring is nice, but it’s a little milder and more fleeting than I’d hoped – more of a mango flash than a mango party. Either way, it’s a pleasing, fruity cup with a lovely, smooth creaminess. Definitely worth a try if you’re a mango fan, or if you’ve not tried coffee leaf tea before and are looking for a new tea experience.

Coffee Matcha from Red Leaf Tea

Coffee-matchaTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green/Matcha

Where to Buy:  Red Leaf Tea

Tea Description:

When the easily recognizable and well loved taste of deliciously aromatic coffee is combined with the wildly popular regal Matcha, the resulting Coffee Matcha treat leaves its many takers delightfully breathless with pure palate sensations. This all-day treat provides the best companion for many days when work becomes too heavy or too boring and a person needs a delectable snack to carry them through the tedium. Coffee Matcha’s unforgettable taste and delicious aroma is irresistible to many coffee lovers.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

The second matcha sample from Red Leaf Tea’s new “Choose Your Own” sampler!

I’m not a coffee person so on the rare occasion that I do decide I want to partake in some java I usually go for actual coffee, not coffee flavored tea. To me those two things are separate, and for a reason. However, I still couldn’t resist trying this flavour – I had this gut feeling that it was going to be done well.

Like the previous matcha from this sampler, I made this in cashew milk. It mixed up such a bright, cheery green too and the smell was definitely freshly brewed coffee; quite roasty.

I was surprised by just how strong and sweet this one is; and I know that sweet kick isn’t from the cashew milk either since it’s unsweetened – but with the level of rich sugaryness it made me think I was drinking more of a Iced Coffee/ Iced Cappuccino type drink like you can get from  Starbucks or Tim Hortons or whatever your coffee shop of choice is. At the same time, though it was quite sweet, it maintained a nice level of roast in the flavor and had some surprising caramel notes. And of course, from the milk, there was a faint nuttyness that worked really well with the coffee flavor. It probably only made the idea of drinking some sort of fancy sweet coffee drink stronger, if I’m being honest.

I wouldn’t buy this one again if I’m being honest; I just don’t do coffee – but it was surprisingly more nuanced than anticipated and like my gut told me it was in fact well done. So I do recommend trying it if coffee and sweet coffee drinks are your thing.