I am tingling with excitement for this week’s Sobremesa.
We’ve got our very first guest chef in the kitchen!
You may know her as the queen of desserts, the Matriarch of Washington, D.C., owner and head baker of baked&wired and a baked joint, and the sweetest bitch you’ll ever meet…..I call her mom.
It’s TERESA VELAZQUEZ!
I was 11 yrs old when baked&wired opened. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my mom. Rolling cookie dough balls, peeling apples, weighing out flour, molding cupcake papers - anything I was allowed to do. Don’t call child services! I actually was paid a penny per cupcake paper I folded! But really, I loved just hanging out in the kitchen with her, playing some good music, chatting, getting my hands in the dough. Since almost everything we made ultimately went to the store to sell, I actually learned that a love for baking isn’t always about the end product. It’s the process that is the true love relationship. This is where I learned that baking can and should be fun.
I spent so much time behind the scenes with her, seeing how the magic happened, and I actually spent most of my times serving customers at the bakery. And that was something special - getting to see those guests take a bite of a treat, see their eyes open wide, then see that smile reach across their face. And thinking my mom did that with her own bare hands. It really showed me how magical food is. The power of just taking simple ingredients - flour, sugar, butter - using your hands to blend it together, and then seeing how it can truly light up someones day.
And that’s why I’m hooked on this industry and have taken so much joy in writing this newsletter. Food is powerful. And when you make it with love and actually enjoy the process of creating it, it creates a beautiful synergy between the creator and the eater.
So today’s newsletter is really special. Mama T is in my kitchen in Brooklyn and we are making some magic together!
Mom used to make this tea-infused shortbread for baked&wired when it first opened, but she hasn’t made it in over 15 years. That’s right, you’re getting an OG baked&wired recipe today. I’m renaming it the “Spill The Tea Shortbread” do people even say that phrase anymore?
We love this recipe because it’s aromatic, the kind of sweet-not-too-sweet that you can call it breakfast, and it pairs perfectly with a cup of tea or coffee to enjoy with a friend. Plus, it has LOTS of her fav ingredient of all time - BUTTER!
It’s also a wonderful recipe because it really requires you to get *in synergy* with the process of baking. One thing my mom always taught me is to how to use your senses to lead you while baking. Following a recipe is important in baking because it’s so the measurements are so scientific, but it’s just as important to go by feel, taste and smell.
For example, this is a tea-infused shortbread recipe, so I used a cranberry hibiscus lime tea I happened to have. But that doesn’t mean you need to hit the streets or scour the internet to find this same tea. You should pick a tea that you love, smells nice, and you think would be visually appealing in the shortbread.
Another example, don’t be afraid to use your hands to feel through the process! Momma taught me that this is your best tool in the kitchen. Screw the fancy appliances! In this recipe, when you get to the part where you need to incorporate the butter and the flour, your hands will be able to let you know if you need to add milk, or a bit more flour, etc. If there’s anything Mama T would want you to know going into this recipe, it’s to trust yourself! Feel your way into it.
Oh, and also, make sure you bake with a lot of love <3
Spill The Tea Shortbread
Time: 45 mins to make + ~ 45 mins to bake
Supplies: 9” cake pan, parchment paper
Ingredients
2 tablespoons tea leaves
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 1/4 cup flour
1 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups butter (3 sticks), cold, sliced into small cubes
Splash of milk / milk substitute
Extra sugar, for sprinkling + milk or milk substitute for brushing
Let’s do it!
Select your desired tea. Go with you like the smell of and also wouldn’t mind eating (and to make it easier on yourself, what you already have in the house). This could be earl grey, hibiscus, or chamomile. I happened to have a cranberry hibiscus lime. But this recipe will work best with tea that is loose, not already ground up into tea bags.
Take about 3/4 of the tea and grind it in either a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. Separate the other remaining 1/4 to sprinkle in towards the end of the mix so that you can see pretty tea flowers :)
Place your ground tea in a small cup. Add vanilla extract and mix together. Soak.
While this soaks, combine the flour, cornstarch, and salt, and confectioners sugar in a large bowl. Mix.
Add confectioners sugar and mix again.
Add your cold cubed butter to the flour mix. Make a squeezing motion with your hands to incorporate the butter and the dry ingredients. Once you get to small balls of butter, start to fold the dough over on itself. If it does not come together, then start with 2 T of milk and drizzle over the mix. Then, try folding over again and then add more liquid as needed 1 Tablespoon at a time. Dough should hold together with no dry particles left in bowl but be careful not to make it too wet!
About half-way into this process, add the vanilla+tea mixture.
Note: this is fairly labor intensive on your lil’ hands, so you can do this in a food processor with a metal blade as well, but remember, our favorite kitchen tool are our bare hands.
If you had reserved tea, now is the time to fold it gently into the dough. Remember, this part is purely aesthetic to show off the pretty tea leaves :)
Grease and line your 9 inch cake pan: Butter the bottom and sides of the pan, cut a round parchment paper, and butter the top of the paper.
Press your shortbread dough evenly onto the pan.
Place the pan in the fridge for 20 mins, until it hardens.
Preheat your oven to 325 F
Alternatively: you can roll this dough into a log, place in the freezer until it hardens, and then slice into cute round cookies!
Remove the shortbread from the fridge. Brush a bit of milk on the shortbread. Top with a sprinkle of sugar.
Score the shortbread into 12 slices - take a sharp knife and cut about 1/4 inch deep in the dough.
We’re going to bake this lowwww and slowwwww. Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 40 mins.
Check to see if the shortbread is light gold brown and starting to pull away from the sides. If it isn’t at this point, then turn your oven to 350 and bake about another 10 mins.
It’s ready when the edges start to get a bit brown and your house starts to smell impossibly delicious.
Let cool for about 10 mins. When it’s cool, but still warm, run a knife around the edge and then shake the pan to loosen the shortbread. Gently flip it out onto a rack or a plate, and turn it right-side-up again.
Slice up and enjoy with a cup of tea. Grab a pal, Facetime your mom and spill some tea while you enjoy :) Will last about 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
Happy Baking,
xox
Tessa
P.S. did you know that for each Sobremesa, I also make a lil’ cooking video? Follow me on Instagram and TikTok