Thinking about Shrewsbury cakes, or tea cakes. In short, I am thinking about cookies. The tea cake was brought to the American colonies by the British in the mid eighteenth century. The tea cake has evolved to what is now basically the American sugar cookie. They were either round or cut into shapes like diamonds, stars, and animals. A tea cake was enjoyed freshly baked with tea in the afternoon or evening, sometimes made with currants or other dried fruits. The British now call the tea cake a 'biscuit'. There is a more complex connection to colonial biscuits or hard tack, a biscuit not as sweet as the tea cake that was made to last the length of a sea voyage, but that is more for another day. Here are some Shrewsbury cakes for Felicity in my Etsy bakery. They are lightly sprinkled with faux cinnamon sugar. Cheers.