Delicately flavoured Earl Grey Lemon Cupcakes topped with tangy lemon Cream Cheese Frosting are another tasty addition to my Small Batch recipes. A simple to follow, easy to make recipe, the bergamot from the tea leaves provides a a beautiful fragrant, soft sponge that pairs beautifully with the citrus lemon.
I’ve been loving creating these small batch recipes for those living in small occupancy households during lockdown and the numerous covid restrictions that we are all under. Without the ability to visit family and friends or travel to work, it's impossible for many to bake a multi layered 9 inch cake or 12 cupcakes. I’ve had lots of beautiful comments letting me know how useful these small batch recipes are, for which I’m so grateful for. As with all these recipes, they can be doubled to create a standard size batch to suit larger families.
1. Ingredients 2. Steep tea leaves and milk 3. Cream butter and sugar
4. Add egg & milk and mix 5. Add dry ingredients and mix 6. Add milk and mix
7. Spoon batter in cupcake case and bake 8. Decorate with frosting and zest
What’s in these Earl Grey Lemon Cupcakes?
The ingredients within these cupcakes are pretty standard. The usual butter, sugar, egg, flour, milk, baking powder and salt.
What sets these apart are the Earl Grey Tea Leaves which transcend this cupcake to a thing of cupcake beauty. Can you tell I’m a fan of Earl Grey?! Seriously, its one of my favourite add ins to sweet treats and pairs so perfectly with blackberry, lemon and even chocolate.
If you love it too then make sure to have a look at my other three Earl Grey recipes on my website:
- Earl Grey Crème Brûlée Tart
- Earl Grey Cupcakes with Blackberry Curd Filling
- Earl Grey French Toast with Blackberry Jam
My recipe calls for half the tea leaves to be infused into the milk and the other half to be added straight into the sponge. I love the ground tea leaves to be in the actual sponge batter as it adds more texture and taste. If this isn’t your ‘thang’ then I recommend not cutting open the tea bag to release the leaves. Instead put the whole tea bags into the milk to steep. Then remove them just before adding the milk to the batter. You’ll get a slightly softer bergamot flavour but one that is delicious none-the-less.
How to Store your Earl Grey Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
These cupcakes are best stored in an air tight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
For more small batch recipes please check out these favourites:
Gluten Free Orange and Almond Cake
Raspberry White Chocolate Pop Tarts
Earl grey lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting, Small Batch
Ingredients
Earl grey cupcakes
- 4 g ground earl grey tea leaves
- 120 ml milk
- 60 g unsalted butter, softened
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 1 medium egg, room temperature
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 120 g plain flour (all-purpose)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp fine salt
Lemon cream cheese frosting
- 30 g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 60 g cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- ¼ tsp fine salt
- 180 g powdered icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar), sifted
Instructions
Earl grey cupcakes
- Place the contents of one teabag and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat and gently bring to a simmer. Place lid on the saucepan, remove the pan from heat and set aside for the tea to ‘brew’.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Prepare the cupcake pan by placing the cupcake paper cases into the pan moulds.
- In the bowl on a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy; this takes about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat for a further two minutes. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl. Fold in these dry ingredients along with the remaining earl grey tea leaves. Pour milk into the mixture and stir until combined.
- Pour mixture into cupcake cases until ⅔ full. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack.
Lemon cream cheese frosting
- Beat butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer for 3 minutes until well combined. Add lemon zest, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and salt and beat till mixed in. With your mixer on low, gradually add your powdered icing sugar into the bowl until fully combined. If the icing is too thick, then add more lemon juice and mix thoroughly. If the icing is too runny, then thicken it up with ¼ cup of powdered icing sugar at a time.
- To decorate, once the cupcakes are at room temperature, spoon cream cheese frosting over each cupcake and sprinkle with more lemon zest. The frosting is designed to have a soft dollop consistency and is not meant to be piped as it will not hold its shape.
All recipes are developed and tested in Metric grams. I strongly recommend that you bake using digital scales for a more accurate result. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Notes
Nutrition
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