If you usually answer “yes” when asked if you would like to see the dessert menu then it’s time to bookmark this website! Gail is the food photographer and recipe developer for the baking blog Teak & Thyme. Based in Vancouver, BC, she enjoys creating desserts and sharing them to help her readers recreate the delicious recipes at home with their own hands. Not only will her desserts tempt your sweet tooth they may also satisfy some tea cravings if you stumble upon one of her many baked goods infused with tea. At the tea table Gail and I chatted about her weekly dim sum outings that introduced her to tea, her top teas for baking, practical baking advice and more.
The kettle is on and I can hear it about to sing. What tea are you going to steep for us today?
I’m making some chamomile tea with a squeeze of lemon and honey.
That’s what I love to sip on at night while relaxing and reading blog posts or a book. It’s so simple but comforting!
One of my favourite evening sippers, too. How did your relationship with tea begin?
I grew up going to dim sum restaurants on a weekly basis with my grandparents and family.
The server would ask you what kind of tea you wanted before you even sat down. My mom would usually ask for either Iron Buddha or Pu-erh tea in Chinese depending on the day.
My first tea must have been one of those. Even though I didn’t really know what those tea names meant at my young age, I knew this was the routine (that hasn’t changed to this day!) and a pot of hot tea would be delivered to the table a few minutes later.
When I was young, I would always drink it mixed with hot water from the other pot on the table because it would be too bitter.
As I got older, I grew to prefer my tea stronger and stronger. The strongest cup made from the first steeping is always my favourite way to drink it.
There was also a lot of unspoken etiquette surrounding tea that I learned very early on like tapping the table when someone filled your teacup and leaving the teapot lid ajar when you wanted the server to refill it.
The smell of a pot of strong tea and the sounds of clinking porcelain tableware always reminds me of those Chinese restaurants and time with family.
Let’s say you can only choose 3 teas to have forever. Which ones can you not live without when it comes to drinking and baking tea infused treats?
It would have to be earl grey, oolong, and matcha for both drinking and baking.
They all have a distinct and strong taste that I love and work so well with other flavours in baked goods. The possibilities are endless.
I like all 3 teas for drinking but earl grey and matcha for baking as the oolong can get a little lost and overpowered depending on the baked good!
Share your worst baking nightmare. Any epic recipe failures?
My worst failures all probably have to do with macarons.
Macarons are notoriously finicky to make, especially as a beginner, and I found that out the hard way. My first few batches turned into sticky puddles after baking and it took many tries to finally get them right.
Other particularly messy fails happened when batter overflowed or leaked out of the pan during baking and dripped to the bottom of the oven.
It then burned and got smoky but I couldn’t clean it up because my stuff was still baking. All I could do was stand there as the room filled with smoke, hoping it wouldn’t set off the fire alarm.
Thankfully I haven’t set anything on fire yet!
If you could select one recipe (that is not tea-infused) on Teak & Thyme to pair with a cup of tea, what would that pairing look like?
I think anything particularly sweet goes well with a cup of tea because they balance each other out!
I would pair a few strawberry cheesecake macarons or a mini lemon meringue tart with a cup of strong earl grey tea.
I love pairing fruity flavours with tea and strawberry and lemon are very accessible ones that always taste good. I could just imagine pretending to be sitting in a Parisian cafe enjoying these pairings.
Speed Round:
Black, Green, Yellow, White, Oolong or Puerh?
Black
Hot, Iced or Cold?
I do love a hot mug of tea but I probably drink it iced in bubble tea the most.
Teapot, Infuser or Gaiwan?
Infuser
Straight, Sweetened or Latte?
Straight when at home, latte when ordering at a cafe
Cheese or Chocolate pairing?
Chocolate
If someone walked up to you to ask for your best baking advice, what would you say?
Practice makes progress. Baking really was not my best skill and it actually stressed me out in the beginning.
The more you do it, the more you’ll understand the correct consistency of different batters and mixtures. You’ll perfect your techniques and learn how to troubleshoot when things go wrong.
Pick one category of baking that you want to master (like cakes or tarts) and dedicate at least a few months trying different recipes in that category or pick one solid recipe and make it several times until you feel comfortable with it.
Recipes are also just a guide.
There are so many factors that can affect your bake such as user error, ingredients, ovens, timing, the material your pans are made of, even the altitude where you live, among many other things.
It’s all about troubleshooting, tweaking, and making things your own.
A more practical piece of advice: get a kitchen scale if you don’t already use one! This is mostly for Americans who use cups as a form of measurement.
Weighing out your ingredients is more consistent, accurate, and easier to scale to fit different quantities. It’s the best inexpensive tool to improve your baking.
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ABOUT THIS SERIES: Tea tells stories and when connected with humans, more are created. That’s where the idea for this blog series, At the Tea Table, originated. With this series, The Cup of Life asks tea lovers around the world to take us inside their tea lives to share their favourite steeps, spaces, routines and more. Meet some of your fellow tea drinkers here.