My lovely, kind, smart and wonderful fiancé has one fatal flaw. He doesn’t like strawberries, you guys. STRAWBERRIES. How?! I wish I could tell you. I, on the other hand, clearly am a fan. So when I dug this tea out of my sample stash, I knew that this could go one of two ways: I could love it, and rejoice in the more-for-me glory, or it could fall seriously flat and I wouldn’t be able to pawn it off on him as I so often do with teas that I don’t love (Whoops. Sorry for all the rejects, honey).
At first sniff, I could pick out all the key players– chocolate, strawberry and rose, all present and accounted for. My hopes rose even more after steeping a generous teaspoon in my cup– the brewed aroma alone made my kitchen smell like I’d just finish dipping a batch of chocolate-covered berries.
And did it deliver? YES. (insert hallelujah hands emoji *here*). I lost a little bit of the rose in the brewed tea, but my cup was perfectly evocative of my favorite little red fruit covered in creamy, sweet chocolate. As a latte, this was divine.
Thankfully, this little pouch will get tucked away in the all-mine corner of my tea cabinet, and I don’t think my fiancé will mind one bit.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: David’s Tea
Description
A romantic blend of black tea, chocolate, strawberries and rose petals.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Bake a Valentine’s Cake to Go With Your Tea
Valentine’s Day. A time for everything pink and rosy. Strawberries and chocolate galore. If you are looking to recreate that sweet, romantic, dessert feeling I would recommend brewing up a cup of Chocolate Covered Strawberries by Shuswap Infusions. This black and oolong blend has dark chocolate and strawberry notes, and it even has flower petals in the dry leaf.
Whether you’re celebrating yourself or being cute with a sweetheart, it’s hard to go wrong with chocolate. So I recommend making an old family recipe (that we clearly just took from the King Arthur Flour cookbook) for a super-easy, super-tasty, one-pan vegan mocha cake. Trust me, even those of you who are baking-impaired can make this one. We call it the Stir-Crazy Cake.
For best results, mix the ingredients in the pan from which you will serve the cake. This won’t be a problem if you use a cute heart-shaped pie dish or cake pan for the occasion.
Mix directly in your pan:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Mix dry ingredients with a whisk or fork.
Make three wells (three divots or holes) in the dry ingredients.
Pour the wet ingredients into the wells, only one ingredient into each well:
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Pour 1 cup cold coffee over all ingredients. If you don’t want a mocha cake, just use cold water instead. [For those kitchen-oriented mad scientists out there, maybe adding a cold cup of your favorite dessert or strawberry tea could be a nice substitute as well. I haven’t experimented myself, but now I’m curious to try it… ]
Stir all the ingredients together until well blended. Really make sure you mix the cake (hence the “Stir-Crazy” name). Get all the dry ingredients mixed in from the bottom and edges of the pan.
Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes at 350 degrees, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, without any crumbs.
Serve straight from the pan to your plate. If you’re getting overloaded from chocolate, brew up something sweet and fruity to go with the cake, maybe a classic like Raspberry Zinger from Celestial Seasonings to help balance out the dark chocolate decadence.
Happy baking!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black/Oolong
Where to Buy: Shuswap Infusions
Description:
Just in time for Valentines Day! The name of this tea is just as delicious as it sounds. For a real treat, serve it as a latte garnished with shaved chocolate
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
