File this one under "trying to make all the summer things now that I know for sure summer won't last forever." Iced tea with lemon has a soft spot in my heart. Having lived the majority of my life in the south, this is my go to lunch sidekick and daily mid-afternoon pick me up.
I'm going to keep this short and sweet, just like whoopie pies. These are sweet tea cakes filled with an airy lemon zest cream and topped with candied fresh mint leaves. They're perfect for a picnic, a BBQ, or Sunday dinner. A bit of a misnomer, these whoopie pies aren't too sweet at all- they toe the line of refreshing and confection. Both the cakes and the cream can be made a day or two ahead and assembled day of.
Bowl #1
200 grams granulated sugar +
5 tablespoons loose black tea pureed together
32 grams butter, room temperature
95 grams vegetable shortening
Bowl #2
2 eggs, room temperature
130 grams whole milk, room temperature
100 grams brewed tea, room temperature
Bowl #3
290 grams all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1
In a food processor, puree the black tea and sugar together for a few minutes. In your first bowl, cream together butter, shortening, and pureed sugar, either with the paddle attachment of your standing mixer or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer. This should take two or three minutes.
2
Add in your second bowl of eggs, milk, and tea. Continue to beat together for two to three minutes.
3
Add in your third bowl of dry ingredients and mix until combined. Cover and let rest in your fridge for an hour.
4
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees. If you're a stickler for uniformity, I highly recommend using a cooking scoop to portion out the batter. It's a surefire way to ensure each cake will be the same weight and roughly the same size. For this, I used a 1.5 teaspoon cookie scoop. If you don't have a cookie scoop, go ahead and use a regular old spoon.
5
Bake for fifteen minutes or until the tops of the cake slightly spring back when touched. Let cool.
Lemon Zest Cream
Bowl #1
200 grams vegetable shortening
116 grams powdered sugar
120 grams marshmallow fluff
Good pinch of salt
Zest of three lemons
1
Cream it all together, baby.
Bringing These Babies Together
1
Take two cakes. Schmear the bottom side of one cake with a dollop of the lemon zest cream and smoosh the other cake on top. Voila. Alternatively, fill a piping bag with the cream and pipe on swirls. If you don't happen to have a piping bag, a plastic ziploc bag works great. Fill, snip off the corner of one end, and pipe. Garnish with candied mint.
