Posted by Fiona Beckett on ... desserts & cakes William Curley Chloe Doutre-Roussel John Kennedy TeaSmith Chocolatea Amedei. Tea and cake pairing session is probably something uncommon or unheard of. A strong black tea easily flushes way the fruitiness, which isn’t the effect you want. Such a tea tastes earthy and dark with a very smooth mouthfeel so you can beautifully drink down that chocolate flavour that’s in the mouth. In fact, the strong flavor of the tea is why many people mix it with milk, honey, or other ingredients. However, herbal teas are still popular. One is to match like with like. Or, you might just skip trying to pair earthy black teas. Sugar cookies or macrons can both work well. These ingredients give you an apple-flavored version of oolong. After all, there are countless types of berry pie for you to try. Food pairing is always an art, and it’s strongly influenced by your personal preferences. There are many other delicate desserts to think about too. The simple yet classic flavours of strawberry and jam with buttercream and soft icing perfectly complements the delicate flavour of jasmine without allowing it to be overpowered. Some of these can work well with your white tea. You can also match green tea to desserts that already use green tea as an ingredient. Such teas are fantastic when paired with sweet desserts. The tea is made from the petals or buds of roses and has a delicate flavor. Black tea is more heavily oxidized than other types of tea. Oolong is often called a partially oxidized tea, which puts it somewhere in the middle of green tea and black tea. Oolong teas are often combined with other ingredients to influence their flavor profile. Young loose … After chatting with so many lovely tea fans about all things tea and cake, our very own Diaz took to the Cake & Bake Stage! You can take an entirely different approach too and pair light floral teas with rich brownies instead. For example, the Apple Butter Oolong tea from Fusion Teas includes fruit chunks, cinnamon, and white hibiscus petals, along with the oolong tea itself. Share the love. So, let’s look at some of these different styles and how they pair with food. For fruity green teas, you’re often looking for a dessert that isn’t very sweet. Otherwise, the food will completely overwhelm your drink. The chai tea helps make the cheesecake more enjoyable while also nicely contrasting your dessert's rich texture. So, we’re giving chai tea a category all of its own. For tea and dessert pairings purposes, cakes can be divided into 3 types: fruity, chocolate, and cheese cakes. We’re curious about your experience. Here’s another delicious Early Grey pairing for you to enjoy. You need to look for delicate options instead, like a sugar cookie that keeps things simple. Try having a cup of fruity green tea with a freshly baked croissant. So, for the most part, you’re trying to match the strength of your tea with your food, while looking for complementary or contrasting flavor profiles. The talk was then rounded off with giveaways and tastings. The tea is grown in Sri Lanka, once known as Ceylon, where the tea gets its name. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. This sweetness is balanced well by the spices in your chai, giving you an excellent combination. You’ll find plenty of combinations in this post, along with suggestions for how to make pairings of your own. This is a tea from the West Lake region near Hangzhou, China. This pairing works best if your cake doesn’t have subtle flavors that you want to highlight. Still, in general, Ceylon black tea is known for its bold flavor. The spices in chai tea can be helpful here too, as spices and chocolate go together so well. A sweet oloroso sherry like Matusalem is delicious with crumbly, rich fruit cakes as is a sweet 5 or 10 year old Madeira. Instead, they tend to be made from herbs, flowers, buds, or other plant matter. You could experiment with other types of sweet desserts too, including cakes. For tea and dessert pairings purposes, cakes can be divided into 3 types: fruity, chocolate, and cheese cakes. bakery Chinese mooncake Share. Pairing the tea with a piece of shortbread, for example, would be delicious without taking anything away from the flavor of your tea. The tea is the perfect way to bring your dessert to life. We’ve put together a list of foods that we’ve paired with our teas for you to enjoy at home. For example, lemon pairs well with a variety of other flavors, including vanilla, almond, and apricot. Twitter; Pinterest; Facebook; Google+ ; LinkedIn For centuries, sommeliers and chefs have paired certain wines with certain foods. Shortbread is the ideal choice, as it is delicious, rich, and buttery, without any overwhelming flavors. A strong black tea easily flushes way the fruitiness, which isn’t the effect you want. You’ll need to experiment on your own to find the best combinations for each type of herbal tea. Green tea is often vibrant, with a type of earthy and vegetative flavor profile. Have you ever enjoyed wine with food? Earl gray isn’t a category of tea like black, white, or green. You can even dip the pound cake in your tea, if you feel so inclined. Cream tea and cream cakes: The strong and malty flavour of Assam black tea compliments creamy foods and provides a balance to the sweetness. But today, we had the great opportunity of working with @vanillacrepe.my to create the first ever pairing session. Here’s a pairing that can easily be a dessert at the same time. The best pairing will depend on the characteristics of the black tea you’re using, but don’t worry, there is plenty of room for trial and error. You get even more parallels if you’re including sugar and milk in your cup of black tea. There are countless other examples, but the general theme is to pay attention to the main flavors in the tea and use these as a guide. This means that most fruity desserts are out, along with custards and similar options. Most cinnamon baked foods also tend to be at least a little sweet. This works surprisingly well. Honestly, we really were scratching our heads when we’re asked this question for the first time. Unlike true teas, they’re not made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. This fragrant combination will transport you to a warm summer’s day… Lemon Tea and Gingerbread. We’re not just talking about eating a square of dark chocolate with your tea either. The right tea pairing would enhance the taste of the dessert as well as the tea and elevate the entire experience. Each year, pastry chefs and bakers up the ante with their mooncake creations, putting together truly adventurous flavour combinations while refining the classics. Pairing wine with food, including desserts, is a classic approach. The tea's color and flavor depend on where it was grown, with high-grown teas having a milder flavor than low-grown ones. Plus, such cheesecakes often use fruit flavors, which aren’t great with chai tea. If you do so, the tea should act as a palate cleanser for your dessert. It’s often best to avoid pairing with white tea entirely. The tea even helps to refresh your palate, which then makes the brownies more enjoyable. Matcha green tea goes well with very sweet desserts with red bean paste or fruity flavors and even cheesecake. You’re welcome. This pairing can make your dessert taste a little sweeter while also acting as a palate cleanser. This gives you the chance to pair with more desserts than you could with just traditional types of tea. The intensity of the tea means that you can still taste the nuances of your drink and of your dessert. Suppose your oolong tea has notable green tea characteristics and some floral notes (like this one). Gingerbread is a fantastic example here, along with any dessert that uses gingerbread flavors. The tea has an incredibly mild flavor, so most foods end up drowning out the taste of the tea almost entirely. Some black teas, particularly those from Sri Lanka and India tend to have a high tannin content and are quite fruity. For tea-lovers, each mood and time of the day demands a different cuppa. Tea and scent pairings Some simple pleasures are even better for being well paired: a glass of wine and a plate of cheese, coffee and walnut cake, a good book and a comfy chair… But if you’ve never thought of pairing a cup of tea with a scent, you may have been missing out. Chai doesn’t pair all that well with flavored cheesecakes, as there is too much flavor complexity. Fruit cakes A great opportunity to show off a sweet sherry or Madeira. If you’re not gonna experiment with this in practice, you’re not gonna get answers. And what better way to make the best of your fine tea than to pair it with the perfect cake, designed both to complement and enhance the experience and enjoyment? That way, you can experience all of its nuances. Don’t be afraid to experiment either. Green teas tend to have some bitterness in their flavor profile. Crème brûlée is another exciting pairing. For example, try pairing citrusy Earl Grey with lemon desserts. Tasting different teas at the JING event gave me the idea of a tea and cake pairing. You’re looking for a pairing where the flavors of the tea and the dessert either complement or contrast one another. White tea, on the other hand, is very mild. A peach gallate, for example, is known for its subtle flavors. A fruit galette is another easy choice. For example, puff pastry can work well, along with times where the layer of pastry is very thin. For dessert I’ll be serving rose water cake and earl grey white chocolate truffles. Others are stronger and more distinctive. You’ll also see some familiar flavors, like ginger tea, turmeric tea, or cinnamon tea, which taste like the spices that they’re based on. So, it’s best to pair the tea with a dessert that isn’t too flavor-packed. You can use these flavors as a guide for the types of desserts to pair with. Chai relies on strong black tea, along with milk and a selection of spices, including cardamom and cinnamon. You can also substitute our suggestions for teas that are similar in flavor. A way more compatible tea is white tea. Unsweetened pastries are a fantastic place to begin. This type of black tea isn’t nearly as common as the previous options, but it is still appealing. Instead, the famous British drink is a flavored tea that relies on bergamot oil to create a distinctive citrus and floral flavor profile. (Bual would be my favourite style here). The dessert pairs well with white tea, but would be quickly overwhelmed if you served it with oolong tea instead. While chai is basically just a different form of black tea, the included spices mean that you need to make some different pairing choices. For starters, try earl gray tea with a lemon cake, particularly one that has dark chocolate on top. When pairing tea with a chocolate cake, what you want to focus on is: matching intensity. As the world of tea expands, the quality and provenance becomes more important. For example, you might find a tea that uses cinnamon, orange peel, elderflower, cardamom, and a variety of other flavors. English breakfast tea is another popular type of black tea and, like earl gray, is often enjoyed first thing in the morning. While lavender tea has a distinctive flavor, it can also be subtle. They’re also powerful for tea and dessert pairing, because herbal teas can have distinctive flavors, like ginger or lemon. You can do the same with desserts that rely on apple and cinnamon, or even just on apple. This pairing helps to make the sponge cake seem more interesting. Young loose leaf white teas have flowery and fruity notes. This pairing works remarkably well and gives you plenty of flexibility. Tea and Cake Pairing Ideas. One trick is to look for desserts that use spices and aren’t excessively sweet. Artfully pairing tea with food can add a beautiful dimension to both the tea and food being served, enhancing one’s entire dining experience. The tea comes from Assam in India. This list of tea pairings will go beyond "Chinese tea". Pairing tea and chocolate. Matcha does taste very different than coffee, but this isn’t a bad thing at all. 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