# Teacakes

By Willy Bear · 2026-10-02 · https://ricottabear.com/teacakes


Paul Hollywood’s teacakes: a lightly spiced, buttery white dough with sultanas and mixed peel, rolled flat and glazed.

## The story

Teacakes are a British tea-time bun, not a cake: an enriched, cinnamon-spiced white dough with sultanas and mixed peel worked in after the first rise, rolled flat, glazed with egg and baked until golden. Best split, toasted and buttered.

Paul Hollywood’s recipe from How to Bake, written out here in my own words with the weights.

## Recipe: Teacakes

Lightly spiced, buttery yeasted buns full of sultanas and mixed peel, rolled flat, glazed with egg and baked golden. Split, toast and butter them.

> Status: UNTESTED. The author has not made this yet; quantities and timings may change.

- Makes: 8 teacakes
- Prep: 30 min
- Bake: 15 min
- Total: 2 hr 45 min

### Ingredients

- 500 g (4⅛ cups) bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 10 g (1⅔ tsp) table salt
- 60 g (⅓ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 10 g (1⅛ tbsp) instant yeast
- 50 g (3½ tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
- 300 ml (1¼ cups) water, cool
-  vegetable oil, for kneading
- 100 g (3.5 oz) sultanas
- 100 g (3.5 oz) mixed peel, chopped
- 1 large eggs, beaten, to glaze

### Method

1. **Mix.** Put the flour in a large bowl. Add the salt, sugar and cinnamon on one side and the yeast on the other. Add the butter and three-quarters of the water and turn it with your fingers, adding the rest of the water a little at a time until all the flour is picked up. You want soft dough, not soggy, so you may not need all of it.
2. **Knead.** Oil the worktop with a little vegetable oil and knead for 5 to 10 minutes, through the wet stage, until the dough has a soft, smooth skin.
3. **First rise.** Put it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave until at least doubled, at least an hour and up to 3.
4. **Add the fruit.** Line 2 baking trays. Tip the sultanas and peel onto the risen dough and work them in for a minute or two, then knead on a lightly floured surface until the fruit is evenly spread.
5. **Shape.** Divide the dough into 8 pieces and shape each into a ball. Roll each one out into a flat round bun about 1 cm thick, brush with beaten egg and space them out on the trays.
6. **Prove.** Put each tray in a clean plastic bag and leave for about an hour, until at least doubled. Heat the oven. Oven: 400°F / 200°C (180°C fan).
7. **Bake.** Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Notes: Paul’s page says it makes 4 with a 25 minute bake, but his method divides the dough into 8 and bakes them for 10 to 15 minutes. This follows the method.