Light and delicious, these Earl Grey cupcakes topped with fresh lavender buttercream give a unique spin to a classic recipe!
Recipe by Leslie Jeon on February 22, 2022
Prep time: PT30M
Cook time: PT20M
Total time: PT50M
Rating
4.8 stars ( reviews)
Keywords
earl grey lavender cupcakes, earl grey, lavender
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups (283g) whole milk
2 Earl Grey tea bags
3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups (248g) granulated sugar
2 eggs (100g)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (300g) all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 Earl Grey tea bags, opened to use the leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons culinary lavender
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups (454g) powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2-3 drops food coloring (I mixed blue and pink)
Categories
Dessert
Cuisine
American
Steps
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners and set it aside.
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 and periodically scraping the bowl to make sure the mixture is homogenous.
Spoon the batter into the prepared liners until they are about 2/3 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.
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.
Reviews
Emily on 2020-05-02 (5 stars): 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.
Sharon on 2021-05-27 (5 stars): I made a cake with 2 8 inch layers and it turned out beautifully with a little too much frosting which I froze and used in macarons later. Making it a second time today for a party.
V Olson on 2020-06-09 (5 stars): Wow! I made these today and they are incredible. Highly recommend!
Katie on 2020-08-11 (5 stars): I made these tonight, everyone raved about them! The earl grey and lavender complement each other so perfectly. Definitely bookmarking this one!
CL ryan on 2020-11-07 (4 stars): 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?
Mary Katherine on 2021-03-28 (5 stars): I love these cupcakes!!! I'm curious, about how much batter do you put in each cupcake? I only managed to get 20 standard-sized cupcakes out of the recipe and they vary in size a lot more than I would like.
I made a few modifications. I used London Fog from Harney & Sons rather than Earl Grey. I'm so glad I read the notes and pulsed it in our coffee grinder a few times to make the tea finer so nobody got a mouthful of dried tea leaves. I made Italian Meringue Buttercream and used lemon juice in the sugar syrup and it pairs so well with the lavender.
I can't wait for you to upload new recipes to try!!!
Laura Thomas on 2021-06-29 (5 stars): Thank you so much—these are fantastic! In fact, my son and his fiancee have asked me to bake them for their wedding in August! Literally, everyone who has tried one says it's amazing. 🤗
Sylvia on 2021-09-28 (5 stars): These cupcakes were delicious, light and moist. Thanks for posting the recipe!
Becca on 2022-02-22 (5 stars): I made this lavender buttercream recently to pair with my own earl grey layer cake and the buttercream was fantastic! Pulsing the lavender and granulated sugar together before sifting into the buttercream is the perfect way to get the flavor without the grittiness of the lavender. Can't wait to make again in the spring and summer!!
Lisa on 2022-05-01 (5 stars): I made this recipe last evening and the cupcakes turned out perfectly! I am gluten and dairy free, so I substituted all purpose gluten-free flour for the regular, coconut milk for the whole milk and plant-based butter for the regular. I followed the instructions and tips to a tee and the cupcakes were absolutely delicious. Thanks for sharing your recipe, Leslie!
Erica on 2022-09-10 (5 stars): Great cupcake recipe! I've used it twice so far Nd they turned out well each time - nice and fluffy with a hint of Earl Grey. You could probably add an extra tea bag to the milk if you want a stronger flavour. I can't speak for the buttercream recipe since I made a lavender swiss meringue buttercream that paired nicely.
I'm sure the recipe posted would be delicious since the cupcakes were delicious.
Thank you for the recipe, it's a keeper 😀
Ginger on 2023-07-31 (5 stars): Sounds delicious! I will be gridding loose tea for this recipe. How much do I use?
Sumaiyah on 2023-08-09 (4 stars): These cakes came out perfect! The lavender buttercream was utterly delicious, everyone enjoyed them.
However, the taste of earl grey was quite subtle so I will try to strengthen the taste next time I make them.
Thank you so much for this recipe!
Missy Hash on 2024-05-25 (5 stars): Fabulous recipe! These cupcakes were so delicious and the lavender was not overpowering. Definitely making them again. I used the large pampered chef scoop and it made exactly 24!
Julie on 2024-06-28 (4 stars): I made these and while the flavor was delicious, they turned out on the dryer side and I was wondering if you had any suggestions on what I could do to correct that if yours don’t turn out dry. Thanks!
Jenna on 2024-10-11 (5 stars): The earl grey sponge is really delicious. The earl grey flavour come through but it's still sweet and soft and spongy. We made a different flavour icing.
Leah on 2026-05-17 (5 stars): Quite literally the best cupcakes I’ve ever had. Will be making these again & again THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!