This Christmas season, elevate your festive celebrations with Tea Drop’s Limited Edition Gingerbread Hot Chocolate—a rich, decadent ingredient infused with notes of cinnamon, ginger, and a subtle sweetness. Blended with the finest West African cocoa powder, Australian cane sugar, and fresh ground spices, this powder combines the classic warmth of chocolate with the spicy essence of ginger, transporting you to that cosy, nostalgic place in your memory.

To help you make the most of this deliciously festive treat, we’ve partnered with Elise Pulbrook, a MasterChef Season 13 semi-finalist and cookbook curator, who  specialises in weddings, private events, and all other culinary services. Elise has shared her new recipe for a Flourless Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf. This gluten-free cake is perfect for Christmas, offering a rich and indulgent flavour with a hint of spice.

Flourless Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf by Elise Pulbrook

Serves: 12 | Prep time: 15 minutes | Baking time: 30-40 minutes

This Flourless Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf, created by Elise, blends rich dark chocolate with the festive, warming spices of gingerbread, making it the ideal dessert for your Christmas gatherings. By using Tea Drop’s Gingerbread Hot Chocolate Powder as a key ingredient, Elise has crafted a loaf that is both delicious and beautifully spiced, perfect for anyone looking for a gluten-free treat to celebrate the season.

Ingredients:

• 200g brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 100g 70% dark chocolate (chopped or buttons)
• 150ml extra virgin olive oil
• 60g Tea Drop Gingerbread Hot Chocolate Powder, plus extra for dusting
• 200ml boiling water
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1 tsp salt
• 330g natural almond meal (skin on)
• 1 tsp bicarb soda
• 1 tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Preheat the Oven: Set your oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced) and line a loaf tin.

2. Melt the Chocolate: Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water until melted.

3. Whisk the Eggs and Sugar: Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, whisk the eggs and sugar for about 4 minutes on medium speed until light in colour and fluffy in texture. With the mixer running, gradually drizzle in 100g of olive oil, continuing to mix until emulsified.

4. Prepare the Wet Ingredients: Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and stir in the remaining 50g of olive oil, Tea Drop Gingerbread Hot Chocolate Powder, vanilla, salt, and boiling water. Add the water gradually to avoid shocking the chocolate mixture. Once cool enough to touch, pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture while the stand mixer is running on low.

5. Fold in Dry Ingredients: Turn off the mixer and fold in the almond meal, bicarb soda, and baking powder.

6. Bake the Loaf: Pour the batter into the loaf tin and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

7. Dust and Serve: Once baked, dust the loaf with additional Tea Drop Gingerbread Hot Chocolate Powder for an extra festive touch. Serve sliced with ice cream, cream, or seasonal berries for a perfect Christmas dessert.

This Flourless Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf is an indulgent Christmas treat, combining the richness of dark chocolate with the spicy, festive warmth of gingerbread. Perfect for those who are looking for a gluten-free dessert, it will be a standout addition to any Christmas occasion.

Coming right from the heart of the magical Shizuoka prefecture in Japan’s Tenryu Region. Our matcha is harvested by expert farmers, it’s made from shade-grown leaves that have been stone ground, deveined and packed right at the source to preserve the subtle vegetal notes while leaving a lingering sweetness in your mouth.

Matcha Benefits

Why is matcha good for you and what are matcha benefits? Did you know that matcha is the yummiest way to promote good health?

Matcha is rich in catechins, a class of plant compounds in tea that act as natural antioxidants. Matcha’s antioxidants can be up to 137 times greater than that in regular green tea.

• Boosts immunity
• Gives you a clean energy kick, without the anxiety, crash or jitters
• Aids in weight loss as matcha burns calories
• Healthy alternative to coffee
• Great for your skin. You can even make a matcha face maskand use it in all sorts of ways for beauty and skin care. 

Two types of Matcha

• Ceremonial green Matcha - Known as our highest grade matcha. Using the traditional Japanese method of drinking tea, you consume this matcha straight on its own immediately after whisking.
• Pure organic culinary Matcha - Naturally sweet and mild, best served with steam milk as a matcha latte or used to create delicious desserts or baked goodies.

So, start the day right, with this full flavoured superfood - staying healthy has never tasted so delicious! Explore our range of matcha and matcha accessories to create an authentic matcha experience.

In this post, we’re going to take you on a journey into the wonderful world of ice teas and explain how you can get your fix now or save it till later with our easy-to-follow recipes.

More about chilled tea

Chilled tea or iced tea has been a beverage enjoyed since the 1870s when it was first consumed in the southern United States. Perfect for the region’s hot and steamy climate, it soon became a popular choice for its thirst-quenching properties.

The perfect alternative to alcohol or fizzy drinks on a hot summer’s day, not only is iced tea refreshing, thanks to its high water content, but it also contains antioxidants that help fight disease.

Individual tea blends will contain their own health benefits too, so our Lemongrass Ginger blend – perfect for ice tea – offers the detoxifying benefits of lemongrass, while ginger provides protective anti-inflammatory properties.

And last but not least, ice tea can be made in a whole spectrum of exciting flavours to suit every taste. A great iced tea makes you pause and take notice. It's flavour profiles are different from hot tea, but done right, is just as worthy of savoring.

Making iced tea is so easy

Not only is cold tea thirst-quenching and delicious, but making iced tea is also so much easier than you think. The two methods best known for making iced tea are cold brew and flash chilled.

The question you need to ask yourself to find out which process will work best for you is: when do you want to drink your iced tea?

To make flash chilled iced tea

If the answer is now, then flash chilled is the way to go. This process will take no more than five minutes to complete.

Step 1. Select your preferred tea. Try Lemongrass Ginger or Fruits of Eden.

Step 2. Put tea in our Tea Drop tea maker. Double the weight of your tea and halve the volume of water. For example, if you normally use 3 grams (1 teaspoon) of Lemongrass Ginger for a hot tea, use 6 grams (2 teaspoons) for your cold tea. And if you use a standard 230 ml of hot water, drop that down to 150 ml of hot water.

Step 3. Let brew for 3 minutes.

Step 4. Place the tea maker over the serving glass filled with ice and watch the tea fill the glass in seconds. Stir and garnish with fruit.

Step 5. Put your feet up, and drink like you’re a Hollywood star!

To make cold brew iced tea

If you know that some warm weather is coming and you want to make some cold infused tea for the weekend, then cold brew tea is possibly a better option.

The cold brew iced tea method is literally putting the tea in a fridge with cold water and steeping overnight. The colder temperature doesn’t steep out the tannins the way hot water does, so cold brewed tea is actually less astringent and less caffeinated. This process is even easier but will take 10-12 hours until the tea is ready to drink. You also get to enjoy and savour the different flavour profiles of the tea - sweet, refreshing, and full of great body and an aftertaste that cools the throat. It stays fresh tasting for days.

Step 1. Select your tea and measure out 10 grams into a 1.2litre jug. For this, we recommend trying Sweet Peach, or why not try African Sunset to capture that summer floral vibe?

Step 2. Add 1 litre of cold water. There’s no need for a specific temperature –cold filtered water from the tap will be just fine.

Step 3. Place in the fridge for 10-12 hours.

Step 4. After 12 hours, strain off and store in a bottle for up to seven days. The drinks are on you at your next BBQ!

Simple, sweet and creative

Drinking tea all year round is so easy with these simple recipes. Enjoy the fresh flavours of Tea Drop teas as they come or add some natural sweetness with a little treacle, honey or sugar. For a finishing flourish, add some juicy fresh fruit to garnish.

We would love to see your different creations – share them on our social pipelines @teadroptea.

Read the Full Article by South Melbourne Market

Indulge with our Supreme Earl Grey tea!