Cinnamon Raisin Tea Cake

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This was one of those recipes where I saw a picture over on Kari's blog... emailed her for the recipe... and made it that same night! And I was sooo sooo glad I did! Yes, there are two, one hour rises required... but you know what... I still started making it at 6pm on a weeknight, and it was WORTH it!

Ta-da!! This is a combo of a recipe her grandma made and another she found online (the main takeaway is she subbed the white sugar in the bread her grandma made for honey, creating a moist, NOT DRY, tea cake) Although I guess the point of tea cake is it's dry and you dunk it in tea... but who's counting! Of course I can't leave well enough alone so I subbed in 1/2 whole wheat flour, and 1/2 bread flour. I also used smartbalance instead of the butter, since again, that's what I had on hand. Oh and I only made 1/2 the recipe... which is what I'll write up below, it makes 1 cake instead of 2... I didn't need 2 tasty cakes sitting around, that's just asking for trouble!

Go make this... tonight... it's worth it... and eating it warm you don't even need the icing. YUM.

Tasty Cinnamon Tea Cake
recipe by Kari's Grandma, with a little tweaking by Kari, and then a little more by me

Ingredients:
Dough
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup smart balance
1-pkg active yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water
1 cup whole wheat flour
about 1 cup bread flour (man need more when kneading)
1 large egg

Filling (sprinkle till it looks good)
Cinnamon
Succanat (she used white sugar)
Raisins

Icing
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp water

Instructions:
Combine the yeast and warm water until it looks creamy and let sit for 10 minutes.

While you're waiting for the yeast, combine the milk, butter(smart balance), egg, and honey in a separate bowl. Add to yeast mixture and slowly stir in 1 cup whole wheat flour, slowly add the 1 cup bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and kneed for around 8 minutes adding flour as necessary.

Place dough in a floured bowl and cover with a damp towel, placing in a warm dry place to rise for about an hour. I like to microwave a rice filled heating pad for one minute and then place the bowl on top of it in the microwave, it keeps it nice and warm :) (don't microwave the dough... just the pad...)

Take the dough and punch it down. On a floured surface, roll out. Cover in sugar, cinnamon, and raisins. Kari's grandma used to tell her to, "give it a dirty face," when she wasn't putting on enough cinnamon.

Then roll the dough and form into a circle. Place the dough in a greased cake pan. Using a sharp knife or kitchen shears, make cuts every inch or so along the circle, cutting only 3/4 of the way through. Twist each section slightly so that the rolls fan out.

Cover with a damp cloth and place in a warm dry place to rise for another hour.

Preheat your oven to 375. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden. Remove to a cooling rack.

After your tea ring is cooled, you can ice them. Simply mix all of the icing ingredients and drizzle it on your ring.

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