food

Earl Grey Tea Cakes

These deserve to be eaten pinky out.

food

Earl Grey Tea Cakes

These deserve to be eaten pinky out.

Ingredients

Earl Grey Tea Cakes

  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 5 Earl Grey tea bags
  • 7 ounces unsalted butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated
  • 1 1/3 baking powder

Earl Grey Glaze

  • 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
  • 3/4 ounces butter
  • 3-4 tablespoons Earl Grey tea (strongly steeped)
  • 1-2 drops of purple food coloring (for a lilac color)

Steps

Earl Grey Tea Cakes

  1. Place the milk in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat it for 90 seconds or until it is hot but not boiling.
  2. Add the tea bags and stir briefly. Cover with a piece of foil.
  3. Infuse the hot milk for 12-15 minutes, until the milk is a caramel color and very fragrant.
  4. Pour the milk through a wire strainer into a measuring cup, to remove the tea bags. Squeeze the bags over the milk to extract all of the flavor. You should have 1 cup of milk.
  5. Cool until the milk is room temperature.
  6. Preheat the oven to 325 F.
  7. Grease an 8-inch cake tin and line it with baking paper.
  8. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl until pale and creamy.
  9. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  10. Using a spatula, fold in the flour, lemon zest, baking powder and milk until combined.
  11. Spoon mixture into prepared tin and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon.
  12. Bake for 1 hour until a skewer comes out clean.
  13. Leave the cake in the tin for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Earl Grey Glaze

  1. For the glaze, place all the ingredients in a heat-proof bowl and melt over a double boiler until the icing is melted, glossy, and smooth.
  2. Cut the cake into even squares and cover entirely with the glaze.
  3. Let dry on a wire rack positioned over a baking sheet to catch the drips.
  4. Decorate with edible flowers.