There’s just something about a cup of hot tea. It’s comfort you can hold in your hand. It warms. It soothes. It restores. And people have been drinking its healing properties for centuries. My father’s favorite was a strong and slightly smoky black tea called Russian Caravan (from my grandparent’s native land) sweetened with a heaping teaspoon of dark cherry jam. Fruity jam is such a lovely sweetener to add to a cup of tea as it brings out the natural flavors of the tea with a little sweet treat at the end when you slurp that little nugget of fruit at the bottom of the cup on the last swallow, and is a nice change of pace to honey on occasion. Low sugar or no sugar jam works perfectly for those who need to watch their glycemic levels.
As winter approached, I started making a peach, ginger and turmeric tea for Eric and I that has become a favorite for us both. I sweetened the steeped tea with our homemade Apricot Orange Jam (you can find the jam recipe on Eban’s Bakehouse website in the condiments section of the recipe collection), adding thin slices of homegrown ginger root and a big wedge of juicy lemon. Eric said it was like having a fruit cup and hot tea all in one, with all those lovely bits of apricot, orange, peach, and lemon. This tea is just one in a bottomless pot of possibility of flavor when you use your favorite tea sweetened with your favorite fruit spread! Try Earl Grey with Lemon or Orange Marmalade for example. Or how about Berry Zinger Tea with Mixed Berry Jam? And one of my favorite’s to start the day: English Breakfast Tea with a swirl of Strawberry Jam.
Fruit Cup Tea makes one cup
Ingredients
- 8-12oz boiling Water (depending on the size of your cup!)
- 1 tea bag Peach Ginger Turmeric Tea (or your favorite flavor of tea)
- 3-4 slices fresh Ginger (optional)
- 1-2 tsp Peach Jam (or any fruit jam or marmalade of choice)
- 1 wedge Lemon
Preparation
- Place tea bag, ginger and jam in your favorite tea cup.
- Pour boiling water into cup and allow tea to steep several minutes until brewed to your desired strength.
- Squeeze lemon into cup and stir to incorporate all ingredients into the tea.
- Enjoy carefully while hot.