Rich and moist chocolate cupcakes paired with delicious, silky Earl Grey buttercream frosting and drizzled with homemade Earl Grey sugar syrup.

My love for tea has begun a couple of years ago. I first started drinking green tea instead of coffee, mainly for health reasons. I couldn't imagine drinking tea without honey, I thought it would be too bland and at first, it was a little weird. Those 'healthy' teas were certainly lacking some flavour.

But that fact only led me to explore the magic world of tea. What an aromatic and beautiful world that is! I was surprised at how much I loved aromatic, spicy black tea. With a little splash of milk, it totally makes me feel like a classy English lady - and I embrace that feeling haha.

Earl Grey tea has quickly become one of my favourites. I couldn't resist its gorgeous citrusy, bergamot aroma - I fell in love in an instant. Naturally, I had to find a way to incorporate that wonderful flavour into my desserts.

First up was my Earl Grey Tea Layer Cake , which is one of the most popular recipes on the blog. Thank you! I know a lot of people were sceptical when I told them the flavour, but that cake won them over completely! 🙂

I paired that cake with orange cream cheese frosting, because I was afraid of having too much Earl Grey flavour if the frosting was the same. But, honestly, is there really something like too much Earl Grey? I don't think so. 😉

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST EARL GREY FROSTING

So now I owe you a recipe for Earl Grey frosting. And boy do I have a great one!

It all starts with a little magic thing called EARL GREY MILK. You know I adore my Flour/Ermine Buttercream frosting and I use it pretty much everywhere. It's so versatile and this recipe proves it!

Since the process begins with cooking a milk "pudding" using flour, sugar, salt and milk, I switched regular milk with Earl Grey one. That essentially means that I steeped some loose leaf Earl Grey tea in hot milk for approx. 20 minutes. I warn you though - you might fall in love with that gorgeous smell. 🙂

You are going to end up with a little less milk than the amount you started with, that's fine. Just top it with regular, full fat milk until you have the right amount.

Then follow the steps written in the recipe - cook the earl grey pudding (you'll want to eat it, but try to resist it haha), leave it to cool and stiffen and then mix with beaten butter. Easy peasy! But so delicious, you'll want to put it on EVERYTHING.

IF YOU'RE A CUPCAKE LOVER, THEN TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF MY FAVOURITES:

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Sauce
Perfect Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
Caramel Applesauce Cupcakes

If you make these addictive cupcakes, let me know by tagging me on Instagram @anasbakingchronicles or tell me all about it in the comments section down below - I love seeing your creations! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask! Happy baking! 🙂

Big hugs,
A.

Recipe in English:

📖 Recipe

Chocolate cupcakes with Earl Grey frosting

serves

Ana Zelić

4.77 from 30 votes

Prep Time 2

Cook Time 25

Total Time 2 25

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Description

ingredients

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 large egg (room temperature)
75 g vegetable oil (I used sunflower)
130 g full fat sour cream (room temperature)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
115 g all-purpose flour
50 g dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
⅓ teaspoon salt
150 g white granulated sugar
45 g brown cane sugar
75 g hot water
zest of one orange

Earl Grey syrup

150 g hot water
150 g white sugar
10 g loose leaf earl grey tea

Earl Grey Milk

10 g loose leaf earl grey
250 g whole milk

Earl Grey Buttercream Frosting

30 g all-purpose flour
150 g granulated sugar
250 g earl grey milk
¼ teaspoon salt
225 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

for chocolate cupcakes

Preheat your fan oven to 160°C (325°F) or 175°C (350°F) if you're not using a fan oven. Line your cupcake pan with paper cases. Depending on their size, this recipw will yield 12 to 14 cupcakes.
In a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add sugars, whisk until combined and set aside.
In a small bowl or a measuring jug, whisk together eggs, vegetable oil, sour cream and vanilla extract. These are your wet ingredients.
In a small pot, bring your water to a boil or simmer, it's important that it's hot. Add the wet ingredients to dry ones, stir a little bit, it'll be somewhat dry. Then add the boiling water and whisk until combined. I usually add the water in two stages to minimize clumps forming.
Divide the batter evenly among the paper cases, filling them ¾ of the way full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until they're springy on the top. You can poke one with a toothpick - if it comes out with a few moist crumbs, they're done.
When they're done, leave them in pan for 5-10 minutes to cool. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

for earl grey milk:

In a small pot, bring milk to a simmer. Add loose leaf earl grey tea, cover with a small plate and let it steep for 15-20 minutes. Once it's done, strain it to get rid of tea leaves and leave it to cool to room temperature before using. You're going to end up with a little bit less milk than you've started with. Just add regular whole milk to reach 250 g.

for earl grey syrup:

Bring water to a boil, combine it with tea leaves and let it steep for 5 minutes. Once the tea is done, strain it a small saucepan and combine with sugar. Cook on a medium to high heat until it thickens a bit and form a syrup. Leave it to cool to room temperature before using. (You're not going to use all of it in a cake, but it's hard to make it with smaller quantities.)

for earl grey buttercream:

In a small saucepan combine flour, sugar, salt and earl grey milk. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a whisk until it thickens.
Once it's done, transfer it to a clean bowl, put a cling film over it touching the surface to prevent "skin" forming and let it cool to room temperature. This is your pudding base. You can do this in a fridge, but before using it let it come to room temperature.
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 5 minutes until it's pale and fluffy. Then add spoonful by spoonful of previously made pudding. Mix until it's all nicely incorporated and with no lumps. Add vanilla extract and mix until everything is combined.

Assembly:

Put the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with 2D tip (or whichever you prefer ? ) and frost the cupcakes. Drizzle them with earl grey syrup and sprinkle some chopped chocolate.
They are best eaten at room temperature. You can keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or longer in the fridge. Just let them come to room temperature before eating them. Fridge makes cakes and cupcakes drier so bear that in mind.

Notes

You can use a hand mixer if you don't have a stand mixer.
If you still don't own one, I advise you to buy a kitchen scale - they're cheap and easy to use, and always guarantee the same results in baking!
Not all ovens are the same. I suggest to check the cupcakes at 18 minute mark and then adjust the baking time accordingly. Get to know your oven!

IMPORTANT

All the recipes are developed and tested using only metric measurements and a kitchen scale. The U.S. cup and spoon measurements are provided for your convenience, but I highly recommend getting a digital kitchen scale and measuring in metrics. It's easy and always guarantee the same results in baking!

The nutritional information and US conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this is important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or unit conversion tool.

Have you tried this recipe?Tag me on Instagram @anasbakingchronicles or use the hashtag #anasbakingchronicles - I love seeing your creations!

Recipe in Croatian / Recept na hrvatskom:

📖 Recipe