Cinnamon Tea Cake

It was one of those rare weekends that I don't have to make any cakes for anyone. What do I do when I am not making cakes? Well, I browse through the Internet looking at cakes!

Then I got hungry...for cake. I need cake...fast. It needed to be simple enough and use the ingredients that I have in my pantry. I looked through this wonderful book Cakes: 1001 Classic Recipes: 1001 AUTHENTIC RECIPES. It is packed with tons of cake recipes from around the world. I settled for this easy tea cake recipe. The only change I made to the original recipe is to use cake flour in place of all purpose flour.

What I love about this cake recipe is that you can make it and eat it in less that an hour. It makes one small cake that if baked in a 9" pan, it is about 1" high. If you want a higher cake I suggest baking it in a smaller pan. The small yield is just fine with me; it satisfied my immediate cravings and I am not stuck eating cake for the rest of the week (not good for the waistline). It is best served warm, plain or with jam, and tea is optional!

1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare one 9" round pan by lining the bottom with parchment paper.
• Mix together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
• In another bowl, cream the butter with 1/2 cup of sugar. Add the egg and vanilla.
• Alternately add the flour mixture with the milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
• Transfer batter in to the pan and spread with a small metal spatula.
• Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes.
• Once cooked, remove from the oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the side of the pan to invert the cake into a rack, remove the paper and invert again to the serving plate.
• Brush the top with melted butter. Combine the 2 tbsp. of sugar with cinnamon and generously sprinkle on top.

Adapted from Cakes: 1001 Classic Recipes: 1001 AUTHENTIC RECIPES