220 tea cake recipes

Little jam cakes with a hidden pocket of gooseberry jam baked inside a light, buttery sponge. Bite-sized treats for lunchboxes, tea time, or dessert.

Russian honey bread loaded with dried apricots, dates, raisins, and walnuts, warmed with cinnamon and clove. A bread machine quick bread with the rich, spiced sweetness of an old-country tea cake.

Fig garden party cakes layer sponge cake or lady fingers with a homemade dried-fig filling cooked down with peanut butter, butter, and lemon juice. A vintage tea-table dessert with surprising depth.

Thyme-fig fruitcake is a rustic, barely-sweet cornmeal cake studded with apple-juice-plumped figs, fragrant thyme and toasted pine nuts. An Italian-style tea cake that leans savory more than sugary.

These cookies have many names: Butterballs, Russian Teacakes, etc. In New Mexico, they are "Polvorones" which is Spanish for "Dust Balls".

Homemade pound cake with butter, powdered sugar, eggs, and a hint of lemon extract. Five-ingredient classic for tea, dessert, or strawberry shortcake base.

Parisian Sophisticates: almond-vanilla buttermilk cupcakes hollowed out and filled with airy chocolate truffle mousse, topped with toasted cake crumbs. Vintage tea-party fancy.

Toronto Pie: a light sponge cake split into two layers, filled with raspberry jam, and dusted with powdered sugar. A classic Canadian tea-time treat.

Classic French madeleines: tender shell-shaped tea cakes with crisp golden edges and a hint of lemon. Buttery, light, and best eaten the moment they cool.

Butter pecan snowball cookies (Mexican wedding cookies, Russian tea cakes) with finely chopped pecans, rolled in powdered sugar while warm. Christmas cookie tin staple, freezes beautifully.

Lemon-yogurt coffee cake baked in a bundt pan, with tangy yogurt for a tender crumb, plenty of fresh lemon, and whipped egg whites folded in for lightness. A bright, buttery cake for brunch or with tea.

Old-fashioned seed cake with caraway, sesame, and coconut baked into a buttery vanilla sponge. A traditional British tea-time treat that comes together with pantry staples.

Buttery nut ball cookies rolled in powdered sugar, also called Russian tea cakes or Mexican wedding cookies. Six ingredients, no eggs, and they melt in your mouth.

Mocha nut butter balls: melt-in-your-mouth Russian tea cake-style cookies upgraded with cocoa, instant coffee, and toasted walnuts. Rolled in powdered sugar while warm for the signature snowy coat.

Classic butter nut balls (also called Russian tea cakes or Mexican wedding cookies). Buttery, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread rolled twice in powdered sugar for a snowy finish.

Scottish oaten bread baked in the bread machine on the quick bread cycle: a hearty loaf with rolled oats, walnuts, chopped prunes, and cola for sweetness and dark color. Soft, dense crumb with tea-cake character.