A tender cross between pound cake and shortbread, as Heidi Haughy Cusick described them in her 1995 cookbook, Soul and Spice, tea cakes are not as sweet as sugar cookies and less fluffy than madeleines (the French tea cakes shaped like a scallop shell). They show up in black cookbooks—a lot.  

　　  

　　Through the history of this recipe, I found the combination of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour usually flavored one of three ways. A hint of nutmeg seemed essential for some, while modern interpretations add a bit of citrus zest or extract. Cooks without access to spices baked plain dough, enriched with whole milk, evaporated milk, buttermilk, or sour cream.  

　　  

　　With reverence for the old ways, and pulling from several recipes, here is my rendition of tea cakes, with baking powder added for a little extra lift. You can personalize them, too, substituting a pinch of cinnamon, allspice, or mace for the nutmeg or sour cream for the buttermilk.

　　

Ingredients

Makes about 2 dozen tea cakes

　　3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the work surface

　　1 teaspoon baking powder

　　¼ teaspoon baking soda

　　½ teaspoon salt

　　¼ teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg

　　1 stick (4 ounces) butter, at room temperature

　　1 cup sugar

　　2 large eggs

　　¼ cup buttermilk

　　1 teaspoon vanilla extract

　　Demerara sugar, for sprinkling

　　

Step 1

In a bowl, whisk together the flour,baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.

　　

Step 2

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddleattachment, cream together the butterand sugar on medium speed until lightand fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape downthe sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, one ata time, beating well after each addition.Scrape down the sides of the bowl again,then beat in the buttermilk and vanilla.

　　

Step 3

Gradually add the flour mixture, beatingjust until smooth and well blended. Dividethe dough in half. Flatten each half into adisc. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate untilchilled and slightly stiff, at least 1 hour, butovernight ideally.

　　

Step 4

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line bakingsheets with parchment paper.

　　

Step 5

On a lightly floured surface, workingwith one portion at a time, roll the doughto a ¼-inch thickness. Cut with a floured1½-inch round biscuit cutter. Gather thescraps, reroll, and cut again. Sprinklelightly with demerara sugar. Transfer thetea cakes to the baking sheets and spacethem about 1 inch apart.

　　

Step 6

Bake until the tea cakes are lightlybrowned, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on the panfor 1 minute, then transfer to a wire rack tocool completely. The tea cakes will keep forabout 2 weeks in an airtight container.

　　Reprinted with permission from Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking by Toni Tipton-Martin, copyright © 2019. Photographs by Jerrelle Guy. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc.Buy the full book from Amazon.