Creative Black Tea Infusions
Recipes That Get Right to the Scoop
In celebration of Darjeeling tea, this beautiful, mildly sweet and flavorful loaf not only begs to be accompanied by a large pot of Darjeeling, but has subtle hints of Darjeeling through every bite. Absolutely delicious.
This recipe uses “Sonnet”, an organic, superbly crafted Darjeeling with a light, mellow character. Each slice of this loaf should be accompanied by a fresh, piping hot cup of Sonnet. I cannot tell you how much these two complement one another. You have to try it for yourself!
Ingredients
To make one large, braided loaf (serves 6-8), you will need:
For the dough:
1 Tbsp of “Sonnet” (an organic Darjeeling loose tea from Poetic Tea Company)
1 1/4 cup boiling water
2 1/4 tsp of yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
4 cups bread flour
1/4 cup oil
1 Tbsp white vinegar
For the filling:
1/2 Tbsp ground “Sonnet” (an organic Darjeeling loose tea from Poetic Tea Company)
1 stick of softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
For the topping:
1/2 Tbsp ground “Sonnet” (an organic Darjeeling loose tea from Poetic Tea Company)
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
Drops of water
Culinary-grade rose petals (optional)
The Process
Here’s the scoop:
Brew Your Tea
Bring 1 1/4 cup of cold water to a roaring boil;
Pour water over 1 Tbsp of Darjeeling leaves and let your tea steep while you prepare your dough mixture (if you’re working with tea bags instead of loose leaf, you can open them to measure);
Make Your Dough
(Mix and knead by hand or put all your ingredients in your bread maker and run the dough cycle.)
Mix together flour, oil, sugar, vinegar and yeast;
Once your tea has fully steeped and cooled a little bit, strain into the dough and knead until texture is elastic (or start dough cycle on bread maker);
Place in a large, floured bowl and let rise for an hour (or let the dough cycle on the bread maker complete).
Prepare Your Loaf
Grind 1 Tbsp of Darjeeling leaves in a mortar & pestle set, a coffee grinder, food processor, or put in between wax paper and roll it (it doesn’t need to be as fine as powder, but should look ground);
Once the hour has passed and the dough has risen (doubled in size), move to a floured surface and use a rolling pin to flatten it into a large rectangle (you’ll want the dough thin, but not so thin that it splits when rolled up lengthwise);
Mix half of the ground tea (1/2 Tbsp) with 1/2 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp of ground cinnamon;
Spread 90% of the softened butter over the dough rectangle and sprinkle 90% the cinnamon-sugar-Darjeeling mixture over the butter;
Roll dough like a pinwheel lengthwise to form a long roll;
Cut lengthwise with a sharp knife down the middle so you have two long pieces of the roll;
Twist the two pieces together with the cinnamon-side facing up as much as possible;
Use remaining 10% of butter to grease a 10” springform pan and flour the bottom of pan;
Crisscross twisted dough in pan once and rotate a bit to crisscross once more so that it covers the whole bottom of the pan;
Tuck the ends underneath and sprinkle remaining cinnamon-sugar-Darjeeling over the top;
Cover with a damp tea towel and let dough rise for 40 minutes in a warm place.
The Finishing Touches
Preheat oven to 400°;
Bake for 10 minutes and reduce heat to 350° and bake for another 30-40 minutes until the top is a nice, dark, golden brown;
Remove and let cool a bit while you mix up the other half of your ground Darjeeling (1/2 Tbsp) with a 1/4 cup of confectioners sugar;
Slowly drop in water (or use a teaspoon) and mix until it becomes a consistency that easily drips but isn’t runny;
Drizzle over the top of your loaf and top with culinary-grade rose petals (optional);
Serve with fresh-brewed Sonnet (an organic Darjeeling from Poetic Tea) and enjoy every bite with every sip thoroughly!
Pro Tip:
After you’ve strained your Sonnet leaves and added your tea to the dough, rebrew your leaves with a cup of fresh, boiling water so you have something to sip while you bake!