Something for tea lovers

Warm the cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Once you see a few bubbles appear around the edges, remove from the heat, stir in the tea and let steep for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the chopped white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan with a few inches of barely bubbling water (do not let the water boil; mediumlow heat).

Gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove the bowl from the pan.

Strain the infused cream through a fine-mesh strainer, pouring it directly into the melted white chocolate, stirring to incorporate. (Discard the solids.) Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let the mixture cool in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes, until it thickens to a scoopable consistency.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner. Place the ground almonds in a bowl. Use two tableware spoons or a No. 70 disher (1 tablespoon) to make a total of 20 dollops of the truffle mixture and place them on the baking sheet, spaced at least one inch apart. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes, or until just firm enough to shape.

Working quickly, roll each portion between your hands to form a smooth ball.

Dip each one in the ground almonds to coat completely, returning them to the baking sheet to set. Once they’re firm, serve or store.

Toast the almonds in a small, dry skillet over medium-low heat for a few minutes, until fragrant and lightly browned, shaking the pan to avoid scorching. Cool completely before using. Makes 20. ASSEMBLING the cake requires some precision, but it’s easier than it looks. The batter is thick enough that you can fairly neatly spoon the yellow and pink colours next to each other without them bleeding together; you might have to trim a bit off each half to cut away any combined bits. Or you can create a divider to keep them separate. We’ve wrapped a thin piece of cardboard, such as from a tissue box, in aluminum foil to good effect.

The original recipe calls for a 7-inch square baking pan; in testing, we found that an 8-inch disposable aluminum pan works just fine.

The assembled cake, minus the final application of apricot jam and the marzipan exterior, can be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature 1 day in advance or frozen for up to 1 month. The assembled cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days.

Battenberg cake

Spoon the pink batter into the other side of the cake pan.

If you’re not using a divider, try to create an even and discrete line between the colours of batter. Smooth the surface of each half. Bake (middle rack) for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cake is well risen, springy to the touch and has shrunk slightly from the sides of the pan.

Let cool in the pan for a few minutes, then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling completely on a wire rack.

Trim the edges as needed to end up with a 7-inch square cake, then cut each coloured half of the cake into 2 equal sections of equal size (for a total of 4).

Gently heat the apricot jam in a small saucepan over low heat until it’s fairly fluid and spreadable.

Use an offset spatula to spread the warmed jam on the facing sides of one pink section and one yellow section, then press them together to form the bottom layer.

Next, spread a layer of jam on their combined top surface.

Then spread jam on the inside edge of the remaining yellow section and place it atop the bottom pink section; repeat with the remaining pink section, placing it atop the bottom yellow section and pressing it up against the top pink section, to form a checkerboard effect.

(At this point, the cake can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature or frozen.)

For final assembly, brush the top of the cake with apricot jam.

Roll out the marzipan into an oblong the length of the cake and sufficiently wide enough to wrap around the cake with a little margin for error, about 9 by 12 inches.

Invert the cake onto the marzipan (jam side down), then brush the remaining three sides with apricot jam.

Press the marzipan neatly around the cake so the seam ends up at one corner.

Trim any excess marzipan and cut a very thin slice off each end of the cake for a neat edge.

Use a sharp paring knife to score the top of the cake with a crisscross quilted pattern. Makes 8-10 servings.

Combine the flour, sugar and baking powder in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Beat on low speed just to blend.