Gloverly Cupcakes

It must be time for some Easter baking! This year I haven’t had time to bake a big cake, so I decided to make a couple of batches of cupcakes –  some for our family trip this weekend and some for the local baby group I go to on a Thursday morning. I hadn’t managed to go shopping this week, so I had to pick a flavour that had only store cupboard ingredients in – I really struggled, but found that Earl Grey tea cupcakes were the same as the vanilla ones and the only extra ingredients were a few tea bags.

The cupcakes have a very subtle flavour and not surprisingly they go very well with a cup of Earl Grey tea! In addition to the Hummingbird recipe, I made an Earl Grey tea syrup to drizzle on top of the cupcakes before putting the buttercream on to bring out more of the tea flavour. I made these gluten free – I substituted the plain flour for Doves Farm gluten free self raising flour and still added the baking powder as I find that gluten free cakes don’t rise as much. Here’s the recipe:

Earl Grey Tea Cupcakes (adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days)

Makes 16 (the recipe says makes 12-16 but I always get 16!)

3 Earl Grey tea bag

3 tbsp just boiled water

280g caster sugar

240g Doves Farm Gluten Free self raising flour

80g unsalted butter

1 tbsp baking powder

pinch of salt

240ml milk

2 eggs

Line 2 muffin trays with 16 cases. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5, 190 degrees C.

Place the tea bags in a bowl and add the boiled water, leave for 30 mins.

Mix the sugar, flour, butter, baking powder and salt together in a stand mixer (or rub in with your hands) until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Beat the milk and eggs together in a jug. Add the brewed tea, squeezing every last drop out – but be careful not to burst the tea bags. (Keep the tea bags for the buttercream – add them to 50ml of milk in a separate bowl.) Then gradually beat into the dry ingredients until smooth (ensuring that you scrape down the sides of the bowls after each addition).

Divide the mixture evenly between the 16 cases and then bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes until they are lightly browned on top and spring back when pressed (and a skewer comes out clean). I usually check them and turn them around after 15 minutes.

Take out the tins immediately and leave to cool on a wire rack. Decorate once completely cool.

Earl Grey Tea Syrup

2 tea bags

50ml boiled water

40g caster sugar

Pour the boiled water over the tea bags and add the sugar, leave to stew. Once stewed, remove the tea bags and squeeze out every last drop. Leave the syrup to cool.

Once the syrup and cakes are cool, carefully spoon some over the top of each cupcake and allow it to soak in.

Earl Grey Tea Buttercream (also from Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days)

500g icing sugar

160g butter

50ml milk (with the tea bags added)

Beat the icing sugar and butter together on a very slow speed until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. I always put a tea towel over the top of my KitchenAid to prevent icing sugar going everywhere! When you are ready to add the milk, squeeze the tea bags out and then slowly add the milk. Once it’s all been added increase the speed and beat on high for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.

Please note that this is meant to make enough for one batch of cupcakes i.e. 16 but I find it makes way too much! I actually halve it and still end up with plenty to ice 16 cupcakes!

The decorations were time consuming, but not too complicated. I started by colouring the sugar paste and cutting out all the shapes before assembling them. The ears were made from florist sugar paste and were made the night before so they were hard and I was able to poke them into the sugar paste covering the cupcakes. Happy Easter!