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Light and delicious, these Earl Grey cupcakes topped with fresh lavender buttercream give a unique spin to a classic recipe!
Okay, first of all, let’s pause for a moment and reflect on the fact that this is the first cupcake/cake recipe I’ve posted here on The Baker’s Almanac. Say what?
Whenever people ask me what my favorite food is, I usually say cake. I’m that person that could easily eat several slices of her own birthday cake without batting an eye, meanwhile looking forward to even more leftover cake the next day. With all that established, how in the world is this the first cake recipe on TBA?
Well, if this is going to be the first, I am glad we are going in strong. Because guys: these earl grey lavender cupcakes are so. freaking. good.
Earl Grey is by far my favorite kind of tea, and I knew I wanted to try and incorporate the flavor into a cupcake. Top the cupcake with fresh lavender buttercream, and you’ve got a winner!
What is Culinary Lavender?
Before making this recipe, I had never baked with culinary lavender before, and I’m guessing a lot of you have not either. The most common variety of lavender that is used for cooking is Lavandula angustifolia because of its sweet fragrance.
To prepare lavender for cooking, lavender farms or manufacturers will dry the lavender out by snipping the stems off after the flowers open and hanging them to dry. When it comes to baking with lavender, you do want to make sure you buy the kind that is specifically labeled ‘culinary lavender.’
I bought my culinary lavender from Lavender by the Bay at the Union Square Greenmarket. I would recommend checking out your local farmers’ market to find fresh lavender, or you can pick some up online.
How to Make Earl Grey Cupcakes
All in all, these cupcakes don’t take too long to whip up. They have a nice Earl Grey flavor without it being too overpowering, and you get the flavor from using both infused milk and actual tea leaves.
- To start, you’re going to make the Earl Grey infused-milk by steeping the tea bags in milk for about 15 minutes. You will use the milk later to get that amazing Earl Grey flavor in the cupcakes!
- Then, you can start on the cupcake batter by creaming together the butter and sugar. Once fluffy, add in the eggs and vanilla and make sure everything is well incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. To get an even stronger Earl Grey flavor, you’re going to use the tea leaves from a few more Earl Grey tea bags.
- Alternate adding the dries and the Earl Grey-infused milk into the creamed butter mixture, and you’ll be good to go!
- Finally, spoon the cupcake batter into liners and bake.
How to Make Lavender Buttercream
While your cupcakes are cooling, you can get to work on making the lavender buttercream.
- Pulse together the lavender and granulated sugar in a food processor or spice grinder until it becomes a fine powder.
- In another bowl, cream together the butter and vanilla extract, then add in the lavender-sugar mixture.
- Next, gradually add in the powdered sugar, then finish off with the milk to reach the right consistency.
- If desired, add food coloring to get this gorgeous purple color! This part is totally optional, but I love a good colorful cupcake myself.
- Finally, it’s time for the fun part: decorate the cupcakes to your heart’s desire! I put the buttercream in a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton 2D tip to make these buttercream rosettes.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and that you feel extra fancy after baking with lavender. If you do give this recipe a try, make sure to take pictures and tag me in them on Instagram so I can see your recreations!
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Earl Grey Lavender Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 24 cupcakes 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Light and delicious, these Earl Grey cupcakes topped with fresh lavender buttercream give a unique spin to a classic recipe!
Ingredients
Earl Grey Cupcakes:
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk (292 g)
- 2 Earl Grey tea bags (5 g) – I used Twining’s
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (165 g)
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (254 g)
- 2 eggs (100 g)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (5 g)
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (310 g)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (10 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (2 g)
- 3 Earl Grey tea bags, opened to use the leaves (5 g)
Lavender Buttercream:
- 1 1/2 tablespoons culinary lavender
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (227 g)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (7 g)
- 4 cups powdered sugar (500 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (2 g)
- 1 tablespoon milk (10 g)
- 2–3 drops food coloring (I mixed blue and pink)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.
- Make the Earl Grey cupcakes: In a medium saucepan, combine milk and Earl Grey tea bags and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, remove from the heat, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes are up, strain the Earl Grey-infused milk into a separate container and set aside. Discard the tea bags. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a handheld mixer), cream together the unsalted butter and granulated sugar until fluffy, about 5-7 minutes. Once fluffy, add in the eggs one at a time, scraping well after each addition. Next, add in the vanilla extract and scrape well to incorporate. In a separate bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and Earl Grey tea leaves. For the tea leaves, simply cut open the tea bags and use the leaves inside, discarding the outer bag. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the Earl Grey-infused milk into the creamed butter mixture in 3 additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
- Spoon batter into the liners until they are about 2/3 of the way full.
- Bake cupcakes for 16-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the lavender buttercream: In a food processor or spice grinder, pulse together the culinary lavender and the granulated sugar until it becomes a fine powder. If you still have larger pieces of lavender, sift the mixture before using. Set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a handheld mixer), cream together the unsalted butter and vanilla extract until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add in the lavender-sugar mixture and mix until combined. Gradually add in the powdered sugar, scraping the mixture after each addition. Once the powdered sugar is all incorporated, add in the salt and milk and mix until well combined. If desired, add in food coloring to create a purple color for the buttercream. I used a combination of blue and pink food coloring to get this shade.
- Once the cupcakes are cool, decorate them with the lavender buttercream as desired and enjoy!
Notes
- If you are using loose leaf Earl Grey tea in the cupcakes, I recommend grinding the tea to achieve a finer texture in the cupcakes.
- If desired, you can make the cupcakes ahead of time and freeze them for up to two months. Just be sure to pack them tightly in a reusable container or bag!
- The food coloring for the buttercream is totally optional—if you prefer not to use it, you can simply omit it from the recipe or use other flavors like blueberry juice to modify the buttercream color.
Keywords: earl grey lavender cupcakes, earl grey, lavender
I made this the other night. I enjoyed it, but it came out rather ” heavy”. Like a muffin. I was hoping for something lighter as in a cupcake. What did I do wrong?
★★★★
Hi there! This can sometimes happen if you overmix the batter — you want to make sure to only mix until the flour has disappeared and the mixture is just combined. It could also happen if you overbake the cupcakes a bit.
I hope that helps!
I made these tonight, everyone raved about them! The earl grey and lavender complement each other so perfectly. Definitely bookmarking this one!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! 😊
Wow! I made these today and they are incredible. Highly recommend!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed! 🙂
Could you use this recipe for a cake ? I want to
Make a 6in 4 layer cake. Do you think it would be enough batter. ?
I know somebody used the recipe to make a 2-layer 6 inch cake! You might want to double it to make a cake larger than that, however. Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Hello! If I’m taking the lavender from my garden should I dry it beforehand or leave it fresh?
Awesome recipe! A big hit for everyone that tried it. One recommendation is if you use loose leaf tea to grind the tea leaves as there were occasionally some larger leaves that left a tricky texture.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And thanks for the recommendation – I will add that into the notes so others know to do the same.
You list salt in the recipe for the buttercream but do not say when to add it in the instructions. Is it necessary at all?
Thanks for the catch! It’s definitely a small amount of salt, but I do recommend adding it in. I edited the recipe to include this in the instructions.