Lime iced tea with cherry & blueberry Eccles cakes

Nice and easy, and utterly delicious to boot, Liz Franklin whips up some sweet treats that will have guests asking for more.

Liz Franklin’s gorgeous book Tea & Cake: Perfect pairings for brews and bakes is a true delight. It’s a celebration of teas – black, white, green, flowering, and more – and the perfect cakes to pair with them.

Liz marries the floral, fragrant, zesty, rich, and varied world of tea with the endlessly popular world of baking and offers recipes matching teas and sweet treats. Pairings such as Japan’s Gyokuro tea with Fudgy Dark Chocolate and Almond Cakes or White Tea with Buttery Carrot and Orange Cake are just an example of the myriad combinations that prove to be a match made in heaven. One of my favourites – Lime Iced Tea with Borage Ice Cubes and Cherry and Blueberry Eccles Cakes. Yum!

Tea & Cake by Liz Franklin, published by Ryland Peters & Small. Photography by Isobel Wield. Distributed by Bookreps. NZ RRP $29.99.

Lime Iced Tea with Borage Ice Cubes
and Cherry and Blueberry Eccles Cakes

White tea complements the refreshing flavour of fresh lime in this lovely summer infusion. Borage-flower ice cubes are wonderful to keep in the freezer: add them to ice teas, cold drinks and cocktails for a special touch. Traditional Eccles cakes were always a favourite in my house – my mum made the best ones! 

• 500g (1 lb) pitted/stoned cherries 
• 1 teaspoon arrowroot
• 120g (2/3 cup) caster/granulated sugar
• 150g (1 cup) blueberries 
• 425g (15 oz) ready-rolled puff pastry dough 

MAKES 8 

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) Gas 6.

2. Put the cherries in a saucepan with 3 tablespoons water. 

3. Cook over gentle heat until the juices ooze. Mix the arrowroot with 4 tablespoons cold water and add this to the cherries, stirring all the time, so that the mixture thickens without becoming lumpy. Add 100g (½ cup) of the sugar and cook for 2–3 minutes. Stir in the blueberries and leave to cool. 

4. Meanwhile, cut eight 6cm (2 ½ in) rounds from the puff pastry. Put a small spoonful of the fruit in the centre of each round. Moisten the edges with water and gather the pastry up and around the filling. Crimp the edges together firmly to seal them, then gently turn it over so the seam is on the bottom. Repeat with the other pastry circles and arrange on a baking sheet. 

5. Brush the surface of each cake with water, and then dust with the remaining sugar. Bake for about 15 minutes, until golden. Serve slightly warm or cold. 

FOR 1 POT OF TEA

• 4 bags white tea (or use fresh leaves) 
• 3 limes, thinly sliced
• fresh mint leaves, to serve
• honey or caster sugar, to taste 

FOR THE ICE CUBES

• a handful of borage flowers 
• an ice cube tray 

Several hours beforehand, put the borage flowers in ice cube trays, fill with water and freeze. Warm a teapot. Add the tea and 2 of the limes and fill with boiling water. Brew for 4–5 minutes. Pour into tea glasses, add an extra slice of lime and some mint leaves, and sweeten if desired.