Brush My Hair & Feed Me Grapes

“She’s so sweet. I just want to feed her grapes and brush her hair.” said Joey Tribbiani. That, my friends, is love. I’m kidding!

I baked this amazing grape tea cake over the weekend, and made two batches cos it’s just that good. This is not the first time I tried this recipe from Steph (raspberricupcakes.com) but the last time I made it, it disappeared so fast that I couldn’t get a picture! I’ve made it one more time since then, and the three times I attempted this recipe, I changed 1 variable in the recipe each time… with excellent results regardless!

Steph used Moscato in her recipe, a sweet dessert wine. The first time I tried it, I used Sauternes wine as I had some left over (and I kinda love that sweet scent a lot). The second time, I made it for my grandmother – who doesn’t take alcohol in any form – and used store bought white grape juice. And it it’s latest reincarnation in my kitchen, I used Moscato, specifically bought to bake this cake. Each change yielded slightly different results, but deliciously fresh and fruity regardless. I think my favourite so far is definitely the Sauternes wine version.

Anyway, enough dilly-dallying, let me share that recipe with you. And when you get bored, or can’t sleep, or just need some sort of baking inspiration, please do check out http://www.raspberricupcakes.com. Steph’s recipes and photography are to die for! I can only hope to one day be able to take pictures as beautifully as she does.

Grape Tea Cake with Vanilla Bean Glaze
Recipe from raspberricupcakes.com 

• 190g all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 170g caster sugar
• 85g butter, room temperature
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 tsp grated orange zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup sweet wine OR white grape juice
• 1 1/2 cup red seedless grapes

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line an 8″ round baking tin with butter and parchment paper
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside
3. In the large mixing bowl of your stand mixer, beat the sugar, butter, and olive oil until fluffy. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then beat in the lemon and orange zest along with the vanilla extract
4. Add the flour in 3 additions, alternating with 1/2 cup of the wine or juice after each flour addition, and end with the flour, beating steadily after each addition
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, and scatter the grapes on top
6. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted at an angle comes out clean. Remove from the oven, cool in tin for 10 minutes before moving the cake to cool completely on a wire rack

Vanilla bean glaze

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 2-3 tbsp milk

1. Mix all the ingredients (start with 1-2 tbsp of milk), stir with a spoon until a thick, pourable mixture forms
2. Pour or drizzle the glaze over the completely cooled cake