Earl Grey Cake Recipe

I recently experimented with a new cake recipe for my boyfriend’s birthday. He requested an Earl Grey cake after I raved about how good the Earl Grey donuts were from Cartems. I searched the internet for an earl grey cake recipe and couldn’t find anything good, so I decided to create my own and share it with you. Happy Baking!

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (sifted)
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs (room temperature)
½ of a vanilla bean
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons of good quality loose leaf Eary Grey tea (whole leaf)
1 tablespoon of good quality loose leaf Eary Grey tea (ground)

Directions:

(This recipe makes one 8-inch cake)

1. Preheat oven to 345F. Lightly grease and flour an 8-inch round cake pan.

2. In a bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.

3. In your mixer, beat butter, sugar, vanilla and 1 tablespoon ground tea leaves until light and fluffy. The scent of the tea leaves will emerge.

4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.

5. In a small saucepan, heat milk and 3 tablespoons of whole tea leaves until just boiled, remove from heat and let steep for a few minutes until the milk changes colour. Strain out the tea leaves and set the “tea milk” aside.

6. Add the combined flour mixture into the wet mixture, and finally pour in the “tea milk”. Mix just until blended.

7. Immediately pour into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. (bake time may vary depending on your oven, watch closely near the end and check for doneness with a toothpick)

Icing:

1 ½ cups icing sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 ½ tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of ground earl grey tea

Combine all ingredients in your mixer and whip until the scent of the tea emerges.
You can adjust the recipe for thicker or thinner icing by using more or less icing sugar and butter.