Black Folks Southern Tea Cake Recipe
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Yes ma’am! A Black folks’ tea cake tastes like the essence of Southern hospitality wrapped in soft, buttery nostalgia.
There’s something sacred about a tea cake in a Black folks’ kitchen. Soft, sweet, and kissed with just the right hint of nutmeg and vanilla. These aren’t your average cookies. They’re edible heirlooms, passed down on well-worn recipe cards to Sunday dinner tables and family reunions across the South. I’m proud to share mine with you!
What are tea cakes?
Tea cakes are old-fashioned Southern biscuit cookies, not flashy or frosted, but that’s the beauty. Black folks’ tea cakes are humble and homey, with a gently sweet flavor that echoes front porch conversations, church potlucks, and recipes passed down like family jewels. They taste like cherished memories, made edible.
Traditionally served with hot tea, tea cakes often make an appearance at weddings, baptisms, family gatherings, and just about any occasion where Black folks are dressed to impress! The name “tea cake” comes from the old custom of enjoying them at teatime. But don’t let that fool you. These sweet little treats pair perfectly with hot tea, Southern iced tea, or are just as delightful all on their own.
What do old-fashioned tea cakes taste like?
Imagine biting into something that’s part sugar cookie, part biscuit, and all love! The texture is tender with a subtle crumb, soft enough to melt in your mouth but firm enough to dunk in a cup of sweet tea or coffee without falling apart.
The flavor? It’s a graceful blend of vanilla, a whisper of nutmeg and citrus zest, and that soulful sweetness that’s never overpowering, but just enough to remind you of after-school treats at Grandma’s house!
Black history origin of tea cakes
Tea cakes hold a rich place in African American history, with roots tracing back to the 1600s. Enslaved African Americans created their own version of the delicate European confections enjoyed by white Americans, using the limited ingredients available to them. What emerged was a humble, heartfelt treat that became a cornerstone of Black culinary tradition.
Today, tea cakes remain a cherished part of African American food culture. Author Elbert Mackey even penned an entire book, The Tea Cake Roundup, dedicated to sharing stories and recipes that honor this sweet legacy and preserve its place in our heritage.
Ingredients
This Black folks’ tea cake recipe is more than just a mix of sugar, flour, and butter. It’s history you can hold in your hand. Baked with love and steeped in legacy, each bite carries the warmth of generations past. Whether served with a cup of sweet tea or wrapped in a napkin for the ride home, tea cakes are the taste of tradition, soft, soulful, and made to comfort.
What makes their flavor and texture so special? It’s the thoughtful layering of ingredients. Ground nutmeg brings warm, nostalgic spice, while lemon zest adds a subtle brightness, though for Christmas, I swap in orange zest for a cozy holiday twist!
Southern secrets, such as sour cream and a touch of mayonnaise, tenderize the dough, creating a moist, creamy texture that melts in your mouth. Evaporated milk deepens the richness, and pure vanilla extract ties it all together with a sweet, aromatic finish. It’s simple, soulful magic in every bite.
How to make Black folks’s tea cakes
The best part? You can whip up a batch of my Grandma’s beloved tea cakes in just about 20 minutes!
Step-by-step instructions can be found in the printable recipe card below, but here’s a quick overview.
- Preheat the oven and combine the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a medium-sized bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients and mix until blended to make the tea cake batter.
- Sift together the remaining dry ingredients and add them to the tea cake batter and mix again.
- Add the batter to a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough, and cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter.
- Bake, and optionally, add lemon glaze frosting when the tea cakes have cooled.
🎙 Listen to the recipe on The Soul Food Pod episode: Black Folks Southern Tea Cake
Should you ice tea cakes?
Tea cakes are traditionally served simple, unglazed, unbothered, and full of charm. Frosting them? That’s totally optional and entirely up to you!
Storing leftovers
Store your tea cakes in an airtight container at room temperature, ideally with a tightly sealed lid to keep moisture out and maintain their soft texture. Avoid refrigerating them, as the cold air will dry them out much faster than storing at room temp.
Can you freeze tea cakes?
Yes, you can freeze tea cake dough! When making a tea cake batch, I like to divide the dough in half and freeze one portion in a freezer bag. Stored in an airtight container, the dough will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to bake, thaw, slice into rounds, and pop them in the oven!
Equipment
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
Ingredients for a Black folk tea cake recipe
- 4 cups all-purpose flour plus 1 cup extra for rolling the dough (I used all-purpose flour, but you could also use cake flour)
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ cup butter unsalted & softened
- 1 cup sugar granulated
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- ½ cup evaporated milk
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
Ingredients for the tea cake icing (optional)
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium-size bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar for about 2 minutes until creamy.
- Add the egg, lemon zest, sour cream, mayonnaise, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract.
- Mix until well blended to make the tea cake batter.
- Sift together the remaining dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg over a sheet of parchment paper large enough to fit your baking sheet.
- Fold the parchment paper to pour the sifted flour mixture into the tea cake batter and then mix again.
- Add the batter to a lightly floured surface and roll the dough to approx ¼ inch thickness. This is where the extra cup of flour will come in handy to help with rolling because the dough is sticky!
- Cut out the tea cakes with a 2 ½" up to 3″ biscuit cutter. (I used a 2 ¾” biscuit cutter.)
- Place the rounds onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet about one inch apart. (You may need to bake more than 1 batch if all your rounds don’t fit on your baking sheet.)
- Bake until light brown for 5-6 minutes in the oven—but don’t let them get too brown!) (Tea cakes don’t take long to bake, so keep a close eye on them to avoid burning! Like a biscuit, you want them firm on the outside and fluffy on the inside.)
- Optional: When the tea cakes are finished baking and cooling, optionally make the lemon glaze frosting by combining the powdered sugar and lemon juice.
- Mix well with a whisk to remove any lumps from the powdered sugar.
- Use a small spatula or spoon to drop a dollop of icing onto each cooled tea cake. The icing will harden in about 5 minutes.
- Optionally, garnish this Southern Black folk tea cake recipe with a sprinkle of lemon zest, then serve and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
What a sweet treat! I have most of the ingredients in my kitchen. Should I try my first luck in baking?
You can do it! Southern tea cakes bake very quickly so this is an easy recipe to make.
This isn’t the way we make our tea cakes. I’m sure they’re good but ours is bigger, thicker, and soft like “cake” in a cookie form packed with warm spices and flavors. It’s a coincidence I made some today. I which I could share a photo.
This is a great recipe! I’m from the south and this is the best tea cake I’ve ever had.
This is a great recipe! I’m from the south and this is the best tea cake I’ve ever had.
Thanks so much for the compliment. Warms my heart that you love this recipe!
I just wanted to say thank you for the history lesson! I had remembered reading something about the cultural history around southern tea cakes years ago but couldn’t remember the details. There is a older couple that always sells them at our farmer’s market and they are fantastic. I was telling my daughter that tea cakes had a history behind them but just couldn’t remember.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the soul food history of tea cakes. I’d be thrilled to find tea cakes being sold at a farmer’s market – you’re a lucky lady!!
I can’t believe I just discovered your 🤫! Please forgive me,
I’m embarrassed to even admit that but better late than
never as the saying goes! Nevertheless I was searching
for a tea cake recipe to make this Christmas. I have a
question. Can tea cakes be made in flavors? I saw a
recipe in chocolate another in orange. I look forward to
your reply. Thank you.
We’re glad you found The Soul Food Pot recipes! Yes, you can add flavorful additions like lemon or orange zest to spice up your Southern tea cake.
Made these yesterday while thinking about my grandmother. Though I reduced the brown sugar by a 1/4 cup, used demerara sugar, and Greek yogurt instead of mayo they turned out great.
My youngest son said are these the same things grandma, my mother used to make?
Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
What an honor that your son thought these Southern tea cakes were made by your grandmother!! My heart sings 🙂
Thanks for the recipe! My Big Mama used to make these when I was little — I remember her cutting them with the mouth of a mason jar. Hers were always w out the icing on top. She passed before I could get the recipe from her. Excited to give this one a try!
I’m so happy there’s so much nostalgia for you in this Southern tea cake recipe!
I love this recipe
thanks,
My parents used to make teacakes. It was a basic recipe of butter, sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, flavor, maybe cinnamon or nutmeg spices. They either were cut out or rolled out. My daddy was born in the late 1890s. He was a great cook and this is how he made his tea cakes.
I had never had a Tea Cake but my husband grew up eating them as a kid. I tried a few recipes before finding this one and he would always say, “no, that is not how my Grandmother made them”. When I baked tea cakes using this recipe he was so happy that I finally found a recipe that mimicked his Grandmother’s. Now he asks for them every year, especially around the holidays. I’ve even baked them for his cousins and they agreed with him that it reminded them of their Grandmother’s tea cakes.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe!