Irish Tea Cake Recipe (2024)

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Housewife How-Tos

What is Irish Tea Cake?

Irish Tea Cake is not the same thing as making Irish Soda Bread then adding a handful of raisins. I have to say this because there are some purists out there who have conniption fits about Irish Soda Bread recipes involving more than four ingredients.

It’s not Irish Soda Bread

They’re not altogether wrong, mind you. Traditional Irish Soda Bread uses only flour, salt, baking soda, and buttermilk. That’s it. No sugar, no butter, and certainly no raisins. As explained by the Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread (yes, there is such a thing), anything else is “tea cake.”

And so, this recipe is for Irish Tea Cake and not Irish Soda Bread with Raisins, though you’re welcome to call it whatever you like. One thing you’re bound to call it is your new favorite Irish baked goods for St. Patrick’s Day, because it’s so simple to make and delicious with a hot cup of tea.

Irish Tea Cake Recipe Steps

Rub Cold Butter into Dry Ingredients

To make Irish Tea Cake, combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Next, add the cubes of very cold butter and, using your fingertips, rub them into the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse meal. This step leads to a “shorter” bread which minimizes the breakdown of gluten, so you wind up with a more tender result.

You might need to fish around in there a few times to ensure there are no more large chunks of butter. Shaking the bowl a bit also helps.

Pour Buttermilk into the Well

Once the butter is completely rubbed in, make a well in the center of the dry mixture. Quickly pour the buttermilk into the center of this well and stir until the ingredients are just combined. Don’t use beaters or a stand mixer or you’ll over-stir and end up with a tough cake at the end.

Add Raisins and Bake

Sprinkle the raisins in during the final few strokes and stir just until they’re mixed into the batter. Doesn’t it look like chocolate chip cookie dough? It has about the same consistency, too, so don’t expect it to flow as a cake batter would.

Spoon the dough into a well-greased cake pan, pushing it to the edges with your spoon then sprinkle on the remaining sugar. Again, try not to overhandle the dough or it’ll get tough. Since this is a rustic-style Irish baking recipe, you want it to have a craggy top to catch butter when you serve it. Oh, man, it is so good with butter!

Bake for roughly 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. It’ll develop a gorgeous golden brown top while it cooks and your kitchen will smell amazing!

Let it Cool a Bit After Baking

Once it’s ready, remove the bread from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack. I let it cool for another 15 minutes longer while I heated the kettle to make tea. After that, we couldn’t wait one more minute to dig in.

Storing Irish Tea Cake

Irish Tea Cake keeps well up to 3 days if stored in an air-tight container at room temperature. If you want to freeze this Irish Tea Cake, let it fully cool and wrap it well in cling wrap followed by two layers of aluminum foil. Defrost fully before serving.

Irish Tea Cake

Inspired by Irish Soda Bread, this sweeter version is studded throughout with raisins and sprinkled with sugar. It’s delicious on its own or slathered with good Irish butter.

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Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Cooling Time: 15 minutes minutes

Equipment

Mixing bowl
Mixing spoon
Measuring cups and spoons
Cake Pan

Ingredients
US Customary or Metric

Cooking spray

2 cups white all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons sugar divided
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter cubed and chilled
1 cup buttermilk cold
1 cup raisins

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F / 190°C and position a rack in the center of the oven.Grease an 8-inch cake pan well.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, 4 tablespoons of the sugar, and all of the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add butter to the bowl and, using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Make a well in the center of the dry mixture.Quickly pour the cold buttermilk into the well and stir just to combine.Add in raisins during the final few strokes.
Spoon the dough into the prepared cake pan and use the spoon to bring it to the sides. Do not flatten or smooth the top of the dough — you want it to remain craggy.Sprinkle the dough with the remaining tablespoon of sugar.
Bake at 375°F / 190°C for 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.Cool in pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

Notes

Storage: Keeps well up to 3 days if stored in an air-tight container at room temperature. If you want to freeze Irish Tea Cake, let it fully cool and wrap it well in cling wrap followed by two layers of aluminum foil. Defrost on the counter before serving.

Nutrition

Did you try this?Let me know how it was!

What do you think? Are you ready to give my Irish Tea Cake Recipe a try?

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Katie Berry

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Katie Berry's cleaning advice has been featured by MarthaStewart.com, HGTV Magazine, and RealSimple and more. She is a Cleaning Editorial Review Board member at The Spruce, and the author of "30 Days to a Clean and Organized House". She founded HousewifeHowTos.com in 2011 and has helped millions of people by sharing her practical and effective cleaning methods.

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Totally trying this! Timing is perfect. I am totally on an Irish Breakfast tea kick, AND I have fresh buttermilk in my fridge right now. Thanks for the recipe, for your hilarious newsletter yesterday (3/6/17), and for your amazing blog. The quality of your content, and your personality, humor, and professionalism bring me back every week. I’m a fan, Katie B!
Reply
1. Thank you so much for the kind words, Erin!
This is delicious! It is just sweet enough and has a nice dense, but not heavy, texture! I had to add a few extra splashes of buttermilk to get my dough/batter to come together. It was easy to make and I will make it again!
Reply
1. I’m so glad you liked it!
Can I add pecans or walnuts along with raisin s?
Reply
1. I don’t see why not! They sound like yummy additions. Maybe just a handful, though, so you don’t need to adjust the other ingredients.
Can I use any dried fruit?
Reply
1. I haven’t tried a lot of different dried fruits but can’t think of why you couldn’t try some. Let me know which ones work out for you!
I just made this and it is delicious!
Reply
1. I’m so glad you liked it, Lynda!
Thanks for the recipe. Coniption fit! Ha ha. Happens to be one of my own personal sayings. Delighted you had the metric conversion. Waterford, Ireland 🇮🇪
Reply
Love this! Just had it for tea..with butter and marmalade. Absolutely perfect. So quick and easy to make, followed directions as written.
Thank you so much!
Reply
1. I’m so glad you liked it, Peggy. It’s a favorite here, too. 🙂
Made your Irish Tea Cake recipe but the texture is dry. Why is this as I followed your directions exactly. This should be soft and dense in the inside? And crunchy hard on the outside?
Reply
1. It’s a tea cake, not soda bread, so it shouldn’t be crunchy on the outside. If that’s what you were aiming for, then my guess is you cooked it too long which would result in a dry texture.

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FAQs

Was Tea Cake a good husband to Janie? ›

After his death, Tea Cake's memory remains unsoiled for Janie, and she believes he can never be fully dead “*ntil she herself ha[s] finished feeling and thinking.” All in all, Tea Cake is a complicated man who is beloved by Janie and cannot fall into easy categories such as “good” or “bad.”

Read The Full Story ›

What is Tea Cake like in their eyes were watching God? ›

Ever since her moment under the pear tree, Janie has known that she will find what she is searching for only through love. In Tea Cake she finds a creative and vivacious personality who enjoys probing the world around him and respects Janie's need to develop.

What is the traditional Irish tea? ›

Irish breakfast tea is a blend of several black teas, most often a combination of Assam teas and Ceylon teas. Irish tea brands, notably Barry's, Bewley's, Lyons and Robert Roberts in the Republic and Nambarrie's and Thompson's Punjana in Northern Ireland are heavily weighted towards Assam.

Get More Info Here ›

What is the difference between English tea and Irish tea? ›

Irish Breakfast tea emphasizes the use of Assam and has a more robust and intense flavor than English breakfast. Like their whiskey, the Irish enjoy their tea extra strong. The addition of Assam gives the tea a reddish hue, and it exhibits a malty flavor.

Discover More Details ›

Was Tea Cake Janie's true love? ›

Janie's final relationship was with migrant worker Tea Cake, who gave Janie the love that she had always desired. With Tea Cake, Janie was able to experience true love and happiness for the first time in her life.

Learn More Now ›

Did Janie truly love Tea Cake? ›

They are able to resolve these class differences when Janie reveals to Tea Cake that she wants to be with him, no matter where he is or who his friends are. Yet again, Janie realizes her powerful love for Tea Cake, especially after his absence and his injuries. She feels a "self-crushing" love for her husband.

Read On ›

Did Tea Cake actually love Janie? ›

What is nice about Janie and Tea Cake's relationship is that their love is two-sided. Tea Cake loves Janie as much as she loves him. Tea Cake shows Janie affection which is something that is missing in her marriage with Joe and Logan.

See Details ›

What happened to Tea Cake at the end? ›

Tea Cake falls forward and buries his teeth in Janie's forearm, as she catches him. Later, Janie must endure a brief trial, but she is freed. Afterward, she must arrange his funeral. She gives Tea Cake a glorious send-off, burying him in Palm Beach.

See Details ›

Was Janie sad when Tea Cake died? ›

The moment of Tea Cake's death, though horrible for Janie to endure, reflects how much she has grown as a person and how secure she has become.

Know More ›

What is the age difference between Janie and Tea Cake? ›

Answer and Explanation:

Janie is in her late thirties when she meets Vergible 'Tea Cake' Woods. He is around 12 years younger than Janie. This means that he is approximately 24 to 27 years old.

Find Out More ›

What is the rag in the Irish cake? ›

Each item, when received in the slice, was supposed to carry a meaning to the person concerned: the pea, the person would not marry that year; the stick, would have an unhappy marriage or continually be in disputes; the cloth or rag, would have bad luck or be poor; the coin, would enjoy good fortune or be rich; the ...

A modern chocolate depression-style cake.
Alternative names	Milkless Eggless Butterless Cake, Boiled Raisin Cake, War Cake
Type	Cake
Place of origin	United States
Main ingredients	Flour, apples or pears, raisins or prunes, spices (cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg), nuts (walnuts, almonds, or pecans)