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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 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, while simultaneously looking forward to even more leftover cake the next day. All that being said, 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 that cupcake with fresh lavender buttercream, and you've got a winner!
Jump to:
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. And 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.
Tips for Making These Cupcakes
Here are a few tips to get perfect cupcakes every time:
- After adding in each ingredient, make sure to scrape the bowl very well. This is especially important to do after adding in the eggs and dry ingredients. In order to get an even cupcake that rises well, you want to make sure all the ingredients are homogenous.
- Once you add in the dry ingredients, don't overmix. When it comes to cupcakes, you always want to mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. Overmixing can cause the cupcakes to taste tough, which nobody wants.
- Use a toothpick to test if the cupcakes are done. To test if the cupcakes are done, insert a toothpick or cake tester directly into the center of one of the cupcakes. If it comes out clean with just a few crumbs, it's done baking. If it comes out liquidy, continue to bake the cupcakes and check every two minutes or so. To learn more about testing if a cupcakes are done, check out this article.
Common Questions About These Cupcakes
Yes, definitely! Once baked, you can store these cupcakes in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. I would recommend frosting them right before serving to have the best flavor. Alternatively, you can also freeze the unfrosted cupcakes for up to 2 months—just thaw them completely before serving.
After removing these cupcakes from the oven, I recommend cooling them in the pan for at least 10 minutes. Then, transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely at room temperature.
I decorated these cupcakes using a piping bag fitted with a star tip. However, you can decorate them however you'd like! If you don't have a piping bag at home, you can always cut a hole in a Ziploc bag and use that instead.
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Earl Grey Lavender Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 50 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 ¼ cups whole milk (283 g)
- 2 Earl Grey tea bags (4 g)
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened (170 g)
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar (248 g)
- 2 eggs (100 g)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (9 g)
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (300 g)
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder (10 g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt (1 g)
- 3 Earl Grey tea bags, opened to use the leaves (5 g)
Lavender Buttercream:
- 1 ½ tablespoons culinary lavender (1 g)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (24 g)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (226 g)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (14 g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt (1 g)
- 4 cups powdered sugar (454 g)
- 1 tablespoon milk (15 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 it aside.
- Prepared the Earl Grey-infused milk: 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.
- Make the Earl Grey cupcakes: 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 and periodically scraping the bowl to make sure the mixture is homogenous.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared liners until they are about ⅔ of the way full.
- Bake the cupcakes for 16-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake 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, then set it aside. If you still have larger pieces of lavender, sift the mixture before using. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a handheld mixer), cream together the unsalted butter, vanilla extract, and salt 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 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!
- Stored tightly in an airtight container, these cupcakes will stay fresh in the fridge for 3-5 days or up to two months in the freezer.
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 natural flavors 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.