It’s been over 6 years since I originally posted the recipe for Grandma Himel’s Tea Cakes. About three years ago, a reader was looking for the recipe and I re-posted it and last week, another reader was having a hard time finding it so I sent her the link and then I couldn’t stop thinking about tea cakes.
Tea Cakes
Today my friend got a bit of disappointing news so I figured . . it was a good day to make tea cakes to share.
Tea Cakes
I am not sure who Grandma Himel is. My friend, Nita from Louisiana, sent me the recipe so Grandma Himel may be someone in her family but knowing those cajun folks, there’s no telling whose grandma she was/is. All I know is this . . her tea cakes are pretty darned good!
My great grandma always had tea cakes or it seemed to me she always had them. I asked my great aunt if she had the recipe and she doesn’t. She thinks that Ma just used her leftover biscuit dough every morning, added a bit more milk and sugar and that’s how she made tea cakes every day.
Just thinking about that . . she got up and made biscuits and breakfast every morning! They had to draw water from a well in a bucket. At some point, she had to build a fire in the oven . . before she got an electric or gas oven. No dishwasher. No microwave. No automatic clothes washer or dryer . . and she cooked three meals a day, fed a huge family and kept a very clean house. I feel like a slug just thinking about it.
Sara Schmidt says
You sent me a sweet memory talking about Grandma’s biscuits. My Grandmother made wonderful, light, fluffy biscuits that seemed to float over the plate. I still remember licking my arm as fast as I could to catch the butter that ran down. During home ec my freshman year of hs, I asked her for her recipe because I wanted to make really good biscuits just like hers. As I sat with pen and paper, she started to tell me how to make biscuits. She said, “First you have to get up early and go out and catch the cow and milk her. Then churn the milk to make butter and get the buttermilk.” ” What, but Grandmother you don’t have a cow”, I said. “No, but you said that you wanted to make really good biscuits and to do that you need fresh buttermilk. That is what I did to make really good biscuits, these are made with store bought buttermilk and are just ok.” She had a great sense of humor. LOL
liz says
I remember standing next to my grandmother as she made lemon curd and trying to write down everything. She was just as frustrated as I asked her what a dash of that. and a bit of this meant. I need to need if I can find my old notes from that day.
wanda j says
Funny this comes up again. I’ve been thinking about Tea cakes myself lately. Maybe they made them in he fall/winter time due to cooking more.But they were from left over biscuits dough for sure.My recipe calls for buttermilk and Almond flavoring. I won the Adams bake off in district one year with my grandmothers recipe. I should say greatgrandmother’s. I just love them and always have but I like soft cookies not hard ones. Thanks for good memories once again. Not I’ve got to make some too. Yummy…