This Irish Tea Cake is utter perfection. It’s light, it’s fluffy, it’s gluten free, egg free, nut free and can easily be dairy free (vegan). It’s amazing for breakfast, lunch, dessert and of course...tea time.
I can’t stop raving about how incredible this cake is. Love it so so much...I might have had 3 slices in one day. Ok maybe 4. Haha! Anyway...it’s amazing.
Love Tea Cakes? Check out my Chocolate Tea Cake or my Cinnamon Tea Cake!
What Ingredients do we Need To Make this Irish Tea Cake?
This delicious cake is so simple to make and it only needs a few ingredients to come together:
- Butter or Vegan Baking Stick- We need ½ cup. This gives that cake that amazing buttery flavor. Use the vegan baking stick to keep it vegan.
- Granulated Sugar- The batter needs 1 cup of sugar to make it sweet.
- Cornstarch Water Mixture- This lovely mixture is what we use to hold everything together, since there are no eggs.
- Pure Vanilla Extract- Gives it a hint of vanilla flavor.
- Gluten Free Flour- Make sure to use a dairy free one if you want this cake to be vegan.
- Baking Powder- Helps this cake to rise.
- Salt- ½ teaspoon of this brings out all the cake's flavors.
- Milk- Make sure to use a non dairy milk to make this cake vegan.
- Confectioners' Sugar- This is for dusting the cake once it's completely cool.
A Tip for Making this Cake
This cake is so buttery and is topped with a nice layer of confectioners’ sugar.
My one tip would be not to top the entire cake with the sugar unless you’re planning on eating it and serving all in one day.
If you don’t eat it all in one day...it will become soggy.
If you want to have it over the course of two days, I would cut a slice and then top the slice with the sugar as you serve it.
Other than that, this cake is so straight forward to make just like my Cinnamon Tea Cake Recipe.
Tea Time
This Irish Tea Cake is a delicious allergy friendly dessert that will be loved by all!
You can even top it with my delicious Strawberry Sauce. Enjoy!
Irish Tea Cake
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter or vegan baking stick softened (½ cup)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 heaping tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 6 tablespoons of water
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups gluten free flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup milk of choice
- ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9 inch cake pan with vegetable oil. Line the bottom with parchment paper and lightly grease the parchment paper as well. Set aside.
- In a large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using a hand held mixer, beat the softened butter or vegan baking stick and sugar until it is light and fluffy. About 2-3 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix together your cornstarch and water until it is thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first.
- With the mixer on low, pour half the cornstarch water mixture into the bowl. Mix until combined. Pour in the second half and once again mix until combined.
- Mix in the vanilla. If the mixture looks chunky, that's fine.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour, baking powder and salt.
- Starting and ending with the gluten free flour mixture, with the mixer on low...pour in some batter then some milk then some flour.
- Once it is combined, turn off the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl and do a final mix. You don’t want to over mix this. Just make sure everything is fully combined.
- Use the spatula to scoop the batter into the cake pan. It will be super thick and sticky. Use the back of a spoon to smooth the top of the cake.
- Pop the cake in the center rack in the oven and bake for 40 min. The cake should be nice and golden on top.
- Let it cool in the pan then remove and let rest on a cooling rack.
- Once the cake is completely cool, dust with the confectioners’ sugar. It must be completely cool otherwise the sugar will melt.
- Serve and enjoy!
John
A perfect light and fluffy cake to go with my tea!
Ruchi
The cake texture looks amazing. Have you used GF plain flour or GF self-raising flour? Thank you
Lee
Thanks so much! I use regular multipurpose gluten free flour blend that contains xanthan gum. Hope this helps!