Sweet Chinese Tea Leaf Cinnamon Raisin Pecan Pastry Twist
I recently spent an afternoon at a local traditional Chinese Tea House.
This experience was far more wonderful than I expected or could have ever imagined.
We walked inside and were greeted by the kindest hearts of staff members, the Chinese owner and chef, and over 300 different tea varieties from which to choose for our traditional tea ceremony.
We chose several savory treats from the menu (dumplings, vegan spring rolls, and chicken-pork-rice sticks).
We each chose our own tea (but shared) for the ceremony, seated at Horigotatsu tables with a comfortable well for our feel.
Even before the goods arrived, I was brimming with happiness.
I had conversations about my past work serving at a cute little tea room in high school and serving at the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse in Boulder during college summers. Of course, I took up way too much of the waitress’ time. That’s mind. I’m a bird of wonderful, socialization, and a flutter of anxiety, all at once.
On the table rested a giant bowl of dried green leaves: Chinese Blackberry Tea Leaves.
I was encouraged to taste – I asked if I could EAT.
I was immediately addicted.
These naturally sweet tea leaves are used to sweeten teas but are delectable on their own. In fact, I may have consumed half the bowl during my visit there over the course of two hours.
The flavor is immediately intensely sweet – then with a burst of lemon, earthy bitterness, and a definite green tea flavor on the back end. These leaves are magical!
Chinese Sweet Tea Leaves are a traditional Chinese herbal tea, made from the leaves of Chinese Blackberry (Rubus suavissimus). These leaves contain a natural sweetener, called rubusoside, which is 200 times as sweet as cane sugar. The tea has long been used to alleviate kidney symptoms, and a recent Japanese study also indicates that it has anti-inflammatory effects and helps against allergies.
Sweet tea leaves contain no sugar but contains 5% ~ 8% high sweetness Rubusoside, a diterpene glycoside, a low-calorie sweet substance, 300 times than sucrose sweetness, the degree close to the pure sweet sugar, heat production is 1% of sucrose and no accumulation. It is the best sugar substitute for all ages.
It can be used in processing pastry, bread, beverages, and chocolate, as well as homemade cooking. It is good for people, especially those who suffer from diabetes, obesity, hypertension, constipation, bronchitis, pollen-allergic, rhinitis, and angina and also good for those heavy smokers and drinkers.
Wild sweet tea leaves live at an altitude of 2,000 meters mountain, are pure natural environment, and are pollution-free. Sweet tea has a special taste, mellow flavor, quench thirst, and is a rare, valuable, new natural health tea for all-season drinks.
It contains 18 kinds of amino acids, especially 8 amino acids which cannot be absorbed from food only produced from our body such as lysine, tryptophan, and phenylalanine, also rich in various body necessary trace elements and many kinds of vitamins. The high nutrient content is one of the hallmarks of sweet tea.
LOOK AT ALL THOSE HEALTH BENEFITS! I CANNOT GET ENOUGH.
Of course, I bought a bag to take home and will go back on a weekly basis.
Given the fact that these magical leaves have so very many health benefits, I opted to create a baked good creation using their full power.
Enjoy this super-duper flavor-packed, healthy, blood sugar-lowering, “Sweet” Cinnamon Raisin Pecan Pastry Twist.
And PLEASE support Yellow Mountain Tea House with your tea needs, herbal remedy interests, and if you’re local, your weekly lunchtime treat!
This is my new favorite place!
Sweet Chinese Tealeaf Raisin Pecan Pastry Twist
1 recipe Homemade Pizza Dough (or store-bought, refrigerated dough), room temperature
8 oz. whipped cream cheese
¼ cup Chinese Sweet Tea Leaves, finely ground
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch kosher salt
1/3 cup pecans, chopped
1/3 cup raisins
Preheat the oven to 375 °F.
Thoroughly mix the cream cheese, Sweet Tea Leaves, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.
Roll out, flip, spread, stretch, and toss the pizza dough until thin and about 12” in diameter (rough circle or oval shape—it’s not important) with flour-dusted hands, a flour-dusted rolling pin, and floured parchment paper to ensure the dough does not stick.
Thinly slather the sweetened whipped cream cheese mixture over the top of the dough, leaving a ½” border.
Sprinkle with pecans and raisins.
Roll the filled dough into a long log, twist and turn, and then twist and roll into a round mound.
Line a round baking vessel with parchment paper and bake for 30-45 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and cool for 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving.
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