Earl Grey Tea Cupcakes
MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE. (I do have a million absolute-favourites though)
This recipe definitely takes the cake (see what I did there?). I never knew there was going to be a better type of cupcake than Red Velvet. Yes, I’m a classic RV sucker, and yes, I know that it’s just red colouring but who cares?!
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I’ve always been pretty fond of tea in general, so much so that I could easily drink 10 cups of tea per day. I could, I’m not saying I would. Anyway, the usual thought popped into my mind as I was having a cup of earl grey tea some time ago. “What should I bake tonight…?” Et Voila, the earl grey cupcake was born!
Probably not an interesting story compared to my madeleine love story, but this cupcakes seems to be THE crowdpleaser now. A testament to how well-loved these cupcakes are is how angry my fiancé was when he found out that I’d given away 3/4 of the batch of cupcakes I made to our neighbours. He ensured that I was reminded of his displeasure during breakfast, tea time and supper the entire weekend……
What I love about it is that it brings a pleasantly-light-with-zero-guilt feeling on consumption. I’ve made this flavour so many times in the past year that I’ve ensured that the earl grey taste is spot on, i.e. HEAVY. If you are a tea lover, this recipe is definitely worth a try because you will FALL IN LOVE with it. I can vouch my cat’s life on it.
TIPS on grounding the tea leaves
If you are chopping up the tea leaves, I’ve a neat little technique. Use a cling film to cover over the tea leaves and chop over the cling film. You will be able to stop the leaves from flying around your kitchen counters and avoid a huge mess. In fact, I tend to prefer this method as a food processor may be inefficient with extremely small objects.
Earl Grey Tea Cupcakes
Ingredients
Tea-infused Milk
- 3 tsp Earl Grey tea leaves (can be replaced with 2 Earl Grey teabags)
- 240 ml Milk
Earl Grey Cupcakes
- 180 g All-purpose flour , sifted
- 2 tsp Baking powder
- 3 tsp Earl Grey tea leaves , finely ground *
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 116 g Unsalted butter , softened
- 175 g Caster sugar
- 1 Egg , large
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 200 ml Tea-infused milk (see above)
Vanilla Buttercream Icing
- 230 g Unsalted butter , softened
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 370 g Icing sugar
- 2 tbsp Heavy cream
Instructions
Tea-infused Milk
- Add the milk and tea leaves into a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring liquid to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and leave to steep for 15 minutes or longer. ** Strain the tea leaves out and you should have 200ml of tea-infused milk (top up if necessary). Leave aside to cool.
Earl Grey Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- Add the sifted flour, baking powder, salt and finely grounded tea leaves together into a bowl. Leave aside these dry ingredients.
- Cream the softened butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer until pale and smooth, around 4 minutes. Add the egg and the vanilla extract into the mixture, continue mixing to incorporate.
- Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and 1/2 of the steeped milk into the large mixing bowl. Fold until just combined. Repeat the process with another 1/3 of the dry ingredients and 1/2 of the milk. Do one last fold procedure with the remaining 1/3 dry ingredients.
- Using an ice cream scoop or 2 spoons, scoop the batter evenly in your prepared pan – filling 2/3 of the cupcake liner. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a clean toothpick comes out when you insert into the centre of the cupcake. Let the cupcakes cool completely.
Vanilla Buttercream Icing
- Beat the butter and vanilla together until pale and fluffy, around 5 minutes. Add the icing sugar by 3 portions and continue beating. Add the heavy cream and continue to beat about 3-4 minutes until smooth. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.
Notes
One Comment
Ella
Soft and fluffy cupcakes!