Earl Grey tea cupcakes - recipe by Hummingbird Bakery...

All things small, "cakey" things, are very popular in my house. All the muffins, cupcakes and cookies are disappearing quickly! My Husband calls them "individual cakes", which is quite true to be honest. Your own little cake, occasion or not, you can enjoy it anytime you want!

Original recipe comes from The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook and called for thick, butter based icing. I'm not a fan of those, and I know it wouldn't go down well in my house either, so I simplified. I made a simple icing of strong Earl Grey brewed tea mixed with icing sugar, but the cupcakes looked "sad". I started thinking what goes well with a good "cuppa" and lemon was one of the first things I thought of. Luckily I had some mixed peal, which both looked pretty and gave a little bit of "zing" to the cupcakes!

The original recipe called for milk and eggs, but I swapped these for their plant based equivalents - it's actually very easy to veganize recipes from cookbooks etc once you know what to swapped the eggs for (you can read all bout it here) and these days it's super easy to look for dairy substitutes.

How to make it...

Ingredients:

For the sponge:
- 3 Earl Grey teabags
- 3 tablespoons just-boiled water
- 80 g unsalted vegan butter, softened (like Flora)
- 280 g caster sugar (I used only 150 g)
- 240 g plain flour

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 200 ml oat or soy milk
- 2 flax/chia eggs (2 tablespoon ground flax/chia seeds with 6 tablespoon water, whisk together until thick and foamy)
 
For the frosting (as per the cookbook):
- 50 ml oat/soy milk
- 500 g icing sugar
- 160 g unsalted vegan butter, softened

Method:

- Place the teabags in a bowl and add the just-boiled water, then leave to brew for 30 minutes.

- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F), Gas mark 5, and line a muffin tin with muffin cases. 

- Use a hand-held electric whisk or freestanding electric mixer with paddle attachment to mix the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt on a low speed until the texture of fine breadcrumbs.

- Pour the milk into a jug, add the flax/chia eggs and whisk by hand. 

- Add the brewed tea, squeezing every last drop from the teabags into the milk mixture, then set the teabags aside for the frosting.

- Pour three-quarters of the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix on a low speed to combine. Then mix on a medium speed until smooth and thick. 

- Scrape the sides of the bowl, add the remaining milk mixture and beat until all the ingredients have come together and the batter is smooth.

- Divide the batter between the paper cases, filling each two-thirds full. If there is batter left over, spoon it into more cases in a separate tin. 

- Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until risen and springy to the touch, then leave to cool slightly in the tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool fully.

- While the cupcakes are cooking, place the used teabags in a small bowl with the milk for the frosting and leave to infuse for 30 minutes. 

- Remove the teabags and give them a good squeeze to extract maximum flavour. 

- Using the electric whisk or freestanding mixer with paddle attachment, whisk the icing sugar with the butter on a low speed until no large lumps of butter remain and the mixture is still powdery. 

- Pour in the tea-infused milk while mixing slowly, then increase the speed to high and whisk until soft and fluffy. 

- Divide the frosting between the cold cupcakes, smoothing the tops and swirling with a palette knife.

✅ Anula's simple frosting:
- saved Earl Grey tea bags, + 1 tablespoon warm water
- icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped mixed peal

Mix infused Earl grey tea with enough of icing sugar to make a little runny paste. Quickly cover your cupcakes before the sugar sets. Sprinkle some chopped mixed peal on top. Leave to set.


Smacznego!


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