Earl Grey Tea Cake

Earl Grey is such a lovely fragrant tea, and in a fluffy, moist cake like this one it just sings. 

This recipe was kindly shared by my good friend Genevieve from Cake Chemistry by Genevieve. She uses our French Earl Grey teabags, available for purchase here. 

Fun fact:  Gen is a trained pharmacist, who has a passion for making the most beautiful cakes. For some time she would swap her baking apron for her pharmacist's coat out of hours, but in 2021 took the plunge and established herself full time in her small business. She's incredibly creative and very precise, but the thing I love most about her cakes is they not only look amazing but they taste amazing too. 

Enjoy this one at your next tea party. 

Earl Grey Tea Cake (London Fog Cake)

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of full cream milk
7 Inspirational Tea Co. French Earl Grey Teabags Inspirational tags
200g unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp lemon zest, finely grated
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease an 8-inch cake tin and line it with baking paper.
2. Place 2/3 cup of the milk in a microwave-safe bowl or jug and heat it for 90 seconds (until hot, not boiling). Add the tea bags and dunk. Leave teabags in the hot milk and cover with a piece of foil.
3. Infuse the hot milk for about 15 -20 minutes, until a caramel colour. Add the remaining 1/3 cup of cold milk to the infusion. Let the milk cool until about room temperature. Very carefully squeeze the tea bags over the milk to extract all of the flavour. Take care as the tea bags may still be quite hot.
4. Use the foil to wrap and discard the used tea bags.
5. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl until pale and creamy.
6. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour, lemon zest, baking powder and milk infusion until combined. Spoon mixture into prepared tin and bake for 1 hour until a skewer comes out clean. Leave the cake in the tin for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Decorating tips from Genevieve:

Simply dust with icing sugar and enjoy with a cup of tea and a dollop of cream.
If you’d like to get a little more creative, double the above recipe and make two cakes. Fill and stack with buttercream or white chocolate ganache. I personally love rich, creamy ganache.

Here’s my recipe.

Ingredients:

600g white chocolate
200ml pure cream

Method:

1. Place the chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl and heat for 1 – 2 minutes in the microwave on high. Remove and whisk by hand repeating this heating and stirring until the ganache is smooth. Note: Do not use an electric whisk as this will aerate the ganache which is not desirable.
2. Allow to cool completely and set. The best way to do this is to refrigerate until solid then bring back to a peanut butter consistency prior to use by placing in the microwave for 20 second bursts and stirring well
3. Smooth the ganache between the layers and around the outside of the cake. Decorate however you like. Try adding dried or fresh edible flowers or garnish the top with non-toxic, organic fresh flowers such as roses.