Afternoon Tea with Chateau Rouge’s Vanilla Rooibos

‘Chateau Rouge!?’ I hear you say.

You are probably thinking I am somewhere in the heart of France enjoying afternoon tea in a Château.

I wish I was – I love tea and I love châteaus.

In actual fact Chateau Rouge is the name of a luxury tea company based in London.

A few weeks back I received a parcel of teas from Chateau Rouge Tea and what magnificent teas they were. Each package beautifully wrapped, I almost didn’t want to open them.

But once I carefully unwrapped the crisp white tissue paper sealed together with an elegant Chateau Rouge sticker, I found three lovely silver packages staring back at me.

As you can see each package is well labelled and the packaging is 100% biodegradable resealable foil pouches. They are available in sizes as little as 10 grams. These packages here are 50 grams each. To find out more about Chateau Rouge’s luxury tea please do click on over to their wonderful website where they have detailed information on the different types of teas on offer as well as videos on how to make their teas.

Chateau Rouge’s Vanilla Rooibos Tea is part of their Tisane range, this means it’s part of their ‘herbal tea’ range.

Rooibos means ‘red bush’ in Afrikaans and it is only grown in the Western Cape province of South Africa. For hundreds of years the Africans have used rooibos tea both for medicinal reasons and because of its pleasant, slightly sweet and nutlike flavour. If you lived in South Africa ‘Rooibos’ would be very familiar to you but in recent years Rooibos tea is becoming increasing popular around the world due to its many benefits.  Rooibos tea contains no caffeine and very little tannin so it is an ideal substitute for coffee and conventional black teas.  Upon my research about rooibos tea I found that it has many health benefits, some of which are:

• Caffeine free
• Contains powerful antioxidants
• Prevents against some cancers
• High mineral content
• Improves circulation
• Relieves stomach complaints
• Aids absorption of iron
• Can relieve skin conditions
• Can protect against Parkinsons/Alzheimers disease
• Encourages restful sleep

I have tried all three teas sent to me by Chateau Rouge Luxury Tea and each one has their own beautiful distinct characters but the first one I wanted to bake with was Vanilla Rooibos tea.

Vanilla Rooibos Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 80 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
• 250 grams sugar
• 240 grams plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 250 mL whole milk
• 3 tablespoons Chateau Rouge Vanilla Rooibos tea
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon loose Vanilla Rooibos tea

Method

1. In a small saucepan bring half of the milk to the boil then place 3 tablespoons of the Rooibos tea leaves in the boiling milk to steep. If you have a tea strainer bag you can use one, this will save you from straining the loose tea leaves. An alternative is to microwave the milk till it is very hot then steep the tea in the hot milk. Steep for a few minutes then discard the tea. Pour in the rest of the milk, this will cool the hot steeped milk tea. Set aside.
2. Pre-heat oven to 180°C and line your cupcake tin with cases.
3. Start by mixing the flour, sugar, butter, baking powder and salt with an electric mixer. The ingredients should be well combined and resemble fine breadcrumbs by the time you have finished.
4. Next, lightly mix together the wet ingredients in a measuring jug – steeped milk, vanilla and eggs.
5. Begin mixing the breadcrumb mixture again at a slow speed and then carefully pour in just over two-thirds of the milk mixture as you mix.
6. Combine well and scrap down the sides if necessary. Finally add the rest of the milk mixture and beat until smooth.
7. Stir in the 1 tablespoon of Rooibos tea.
8. Fill the cupcake tin with batter to about two-thirds full and bake for approximately 18 – 20 minutes until lightly brown and springy to the touch.
9. Remove from the oven and leave to cool ever so slightly before removing them from the tin and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Rooibos Frosting

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 3 cups icing sugar sifted
• 1 tablespoon Chateau Rouge Vanilla Rooibos Tea
• 3 tablespoons hot milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method

1. Steep the hot milk with the tea. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.
2. Beat butter and icing sugar till well incorporated.
3. Beat in the milk and vanilla essence till the frosting is at a consistency you are happy to pipe with.
4. If you feel the frosting is too wet, beat in more sifted icing sugar. If you feel it is too dry, beat it a little more milk.

Chateau Rouge’s Vanilla Rooibos tea has a calming aroma and a very smooth pleasant flavour. Like normal tea, some prefer to drink it with a dash of milk and sugar whilst others prefer it on its own.

As for me you can see I prefer it on its own and in a cupcake so why not try some for yourself?

I am submitting this to

Aspiring Bakers #30: it’s Tea Time! (April 2013) hosted by Food Playground