If you've ever been to England, you probably know about tea cakes. We don't have anything like them in the United States, but they are very popular in England so I've never understood why not. My relatives there always ordered them when we stopped for a snack.



Tea cakes in the sense I'm talking are made of a yeast dough with a fine texture. They are sliced, toasted, and served with butter. What we call English muffins does not come close. I had given up on finding a recipe, but the other day I stumbled upon one that I am content to think of as IT.

Made with this recipe, they end up looking like regular baking powder biscuits, but the texture is sturdier, and they would hold up better for sausage sandwiches, or rolling around a hot dog before baking to make pigs in blankets.

For the size of the British tea cakes, I suggest using a cleaned up tuna fish can to cut the biscuits.

Sour Cream Biscuits

1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup sour cream
4 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups flour
Melted butter for the tops

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Scald the cream slowly, being careful that it won't separate. Add sugar, soda, and salt. Cool to lukewarm. Add yeast mixture and stir well. Add flour gradually and mix well. When dough is stiff, turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead quickly for about 3 minutes. Shape into round biscuits and place in two greased 9 inch round pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk. Brush with melted butter before baking and when you take them from the oven. Bake about 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

I forgot to take a picture after they were baked.



Here is how I make pigs in blankets. It's one of the few convenience foods my mother ever made for us. Refrigerated biscuits are good to use because they are convenient and sturdy when baked. However, they have an aftertaste that is characteristic of all the refrigerated doughs, so I never buy them. You could make a slit in the dog and put a small piece of cheese, but I like them plain.

Pigs in Blankets

Hot dogs or mini smoked sausages
Biscuit dough (or that sour cream dough above)
Catsup to serve

Wrap the uncooked hot dog or sausage in biscuit dough with ends of the dog peeking out. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake at 400 - 425 degrees for maybe 10 - 15 minutes until the dough is baked through. Serve with catsup.

Speaking of hot dogs, last year I decided we weren't going to eat any for a whole year. The exception was I found some of those fancy Oscar Mayer ones that were supposedly made without as many additives or strange meats in the marked down meats so we tried them. They were okay, but like any of that type of substitute, the main reason we could call it a hot dog was because it was the only one we'd had in 8 months.