Irish tea cake is a lightly sweetened vanilla cake that's perfect for serving with tea and coffee. Made with simple baking ingredients, this cake has a subtle flavor and a moist, tender texture.
If you keep ingredients like flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla on hand, you may already have what you need to make this Irish tea cake. It's buttery and lightly sweetened, but not so sweet that it overpowers the flavor of your tea.
This recipe makes a 9-inch round vanilla cake that's lightly dusted with confectioner's sugar. It's the perfect size for serving 8 to 10 guests and pairs well with tea and coffee.
Top your Irish tea cake with a dollop of whipped cream and fresh berries, or serve on its own with a dusting of confectioner's sugar. Perfect for any time of year, or for celebrating St. Patrick's Day.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Unsalted butter - I recommend using a high quality butter for this recipe, like Kerrygold brand Irish butter.
- Granulated sugar - Sweetens and attracts moisture to your cake.
- Eggs - Add structure and moisture.
- Vanilla extract - Adds depth of flavor to your cake.
- All-purpose flour - Adds structure to your cake. I do not recommend substituting with other types of flour. I have only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour, so I can't say for sure how it would turn out with substitutions.
- Baking powder - Helps your cake rise in the oven. Cannot be substituted with baking soda, they are not interchangeable.
- Salt - Enhances the flavor of your cake without making it "salty".
- Whole milk - Adds moisture and richness to your cake. I recommend using whole milk or 2% for best results. Lower fat milks can make your cake turn out dry.
Tips and tricks
- Properly measured flour - Measuring too much flour into your batter not only dries your baked goods out, but it also dilutes the flavor of the other ingredients (like butter, vanilla, and sugar). For 100% accuracy, I highly recommend using a kitchen scale. This ensures you're adding the proper amount of ingredients to the recipe. If you don't have a kitchen scale, I recommend the spoon and level method. Give your flour a quick stir, then gently spoon the flour into your measuring cup until heaping. Level off the top with the straight edge of a knife.
- Don't substitute ingredients - Several ingredients in this recipe, including some you may not realize, add moisture and help your tea cake retain moisture after baking. Substituting, reducing, or omitting those ingredients can make your cake turn out dry. Eggs, sugar, butter, and milk all add moisture to this recipe. Sugar attracts and locks in moisture, which keeps your tea cake soft and moist for days.
- Don't overbake your cake - This may seem obvious, but if you've properly measured your ingredients and haven't substituted anything, the only reason your tea cake will turn out dry is from overbaking. Some ovens can run slightly hotter or colder than others, so my 350 degrees may be 330 or 365 for you. I highly recommend (for any new recipe, not just this one) checking for doneness a few minutes early, just in case your oven runs a little hot. The times listed in the recipe card are time frames that worked for me and can vary slightly oven to oven.
Frequently asked questions
To bring butter to room temperature quickly, slice it into smaller pieces and set on the counter top for 30 minutes. To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, place whole eggs in a bowl of warm water for ten minutes. Milk can be microwaved in 10 to 15 second increments, stirring in between, until room temperature. Take care not to melt butter or bring milk to a warm or hot temperature. Hot ingredients can ruin the texture of the batter, causing cakes to turn out dense when baked.
I test for doneness by gently pressing onto the top of the center of the cake with a finger. If the cake pops right back, it's done. If an indent is left, it needs more time. You can also use the toothpick method. Insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes back with batter, the cake needs more time. If the toothpick comes back with crumbs or nothing at all, it's done. Additionally, if you nudge the pan and your cake is jiggly, it's not done yet.
Irish tea cake will keep for 2 to 3 days in a tightly sealed container at room temperature. Cake is best served the same day as baking and will dry out over time.
I recommend dusting your cake with confectioner's sugar just before serving. Stored cake will eventually absorb the confectioner's sugar and will need to be re-dusted before serving (if desired).
Yes, cake can be frozen for up to two months in a tightly sealed, freezer safe container. Bring to room temperature on the countertop for an hour or two before serving.
Fresh berries
Whipped cream
Dusting of confectioner's sugar
Strawberry topping
Raspberry sauce
Coffee
Tea
Much like coffee cake (which doesn't contain any coffee), tea cake isn't made with tea, but meant to be served with tea. Irish tea cake is a simple vanilla cake with a mild, buttery flavor. It's not very sweet and doesn't have a strong flavor, so it doesn't overpower the flavor of the tea you're serving. While Irish tea cake is traditionally served with tea (or coffee), it also makes a great lighter dessert or birthday cake for any time of year.
Troubleshooting
One of the most common complaints I see in baking is that the recipe is followed "to a T" and the cake/cookies still turn out dry. Dry baked goods can happen for several reasons:
- Ingredients were substituted/omitted/reduced - The fats and sugar (butter, whole milk, eggs, and granulated sugar) help keep your cake moist. Using lower fat substitutions, reducing the sugar, or omitting an ingredient entirely will cause your cake to turn out dry.
- Too much flour was added to the recipe - Either use a kitchen scale to weigh your flour accurately (which is how I measure flour and highly recommend to others), or spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level off with a knife. Scooping with the measuring cup directly from a bin of flour compacts it into the cup, adding up to 25% extra flour to the recipe.
- Cake was overbaked - Baking a cake for too long will dry it out in the oven. Ovens are inconsistent and can run hotter or colder than the next oven. The time that worked for me may not work for you, so I recommend using other cues to tell when your cake is done.
This is a baker's secret that's optional but effective! Brush simple syrup over your cake before frosting. A layer of simple syrup helps keep the cake moist for longer. Simple syrup is a 1:1 ratio of water and granulated sugar, brought to a boil on the stove top until dissolved, then cooled to room temperature. I'd suggest about ¼ cup or less for this size cake.
Cake can turn out dense from expired leavening, overmixing the wet and dry ingredients (this overworks the gluten), not whipping the butter and sugar long enough, or adding extra wet ingredients (like adding sour cream or applesauce to make cake "extra moist"). If the balance of wet and dry ingredients is off, this can cause a change in texture, preventing your cake from rising properly in the oven.
All cakes, even vanilla cake, will brown on the outside edges due to a chemical reaction that happens when sugar is heated up. This is called a Maillard reaction and is completely normal. The insides will remain white and fluffy and the tops will be covered by frosting.
Sinking can happen for many reasons. Overmixing the batter (which adds extra air that's released during baking), underbaking, using expired leavening, using the wrong leavening, or accidentally doubling the leavening can all cause your cake to sink in the middle.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Irish Tea Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (198 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups (210 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (120 g) whole milk
- 1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan and set aside (optionally, add a round piece of parchment to the bottom for easy removal later).
- In a bowl, add butter and granulated sugar. Using a hand mixer (or stand mixer) beat until creamed and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix until creamy and smooth.
- In a separate bowl, add dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine and remove clumps.
- Add half of dry ingredients to butter mixture and gently mix until just incorporated. Add half of milk and gently mix to incorporate. Repeat once more to incorporate remaining dry ingredients and milk. Do not overmix.
- Pour batter into prepared 9-inch cake pan. Bake for about 26-32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with crumbs, not batter. Or, gently press into the top of the cake with a finger. If cake springs back right away, it's done. If it leaves an indent, your cake needs more time.
- Cool cake in pan on a wire cooling rack. Once cooled, turn out onto a serving plate and dust the top with confectioner's sugar just before serving.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Optionally, serve tea cake with a dollop of whipped cream and fresh berries.
- Cake is best served the same day, but leftovers will keep for 2-3 days in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.
- Cake can also be frozen for up to two months. Thaw on the countertop for 1-2 hours before serving.
- Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking cake, based on reader comments and questions!
Could I use a springform pan?
I haven't tested this specific recipe in a springform pan, but it should work just fine!
Springform pan worked great, just pinched some parchment between the top and bottom and sprayed no-stick
Recipe was easy and the cake was so good. Sweet but not too sweet. Because I usually have all the ingredients on hand, it’s a great go-to for last minute get togethers. My husband is already asking if I’ll make it again!
Perfect recipe, simple and quick, we have already made this a couple times!! Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks so much Diane!
Hi Heather! I’m wondering if I would be able to use lemon extract in place of vanilla extract and would I use the same measurement? Thank you!
Hi Diane, I find lemon extract to be a bit stronger than vanilla, so I'd use half the amount.
Love the lemon extract, I did as you suggested and used 1 tsp, very nice! Love this recipe and the variations.
I just tried this recipe and I love it. Quick, easy and minimal ingredients and still delicious.
Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
Thank you for the recipe. Turned out perfect and so delightful! I’m having a piece with a cup of tea right now!
Thank you Susan, so glad you enjoyed it!
This is my second time making this cake. We like to have something with coffee and this truly fits the bill. My husband especially likes it because it isn’t overpowering.
Thank you Windspirit!