Earl Grey Tea Cake

If you follow me on Instagram, this Earl Grey Tea Cake is not new for your eyes to behold. Back in the day when I was a dedicated food blogger, a photo shared to my insta would have been quickly followed with recipe here. That sadly doesn’t appear to be the case anymore. Nowadays, I take more of a relaxed stance on the whole blogging thing. If the inspiration to write or bake isn’t there, I don’t push myself. It might result in a little less posting, but I’m trying to put less pressure on myself. Largely because I found several white hairs dotted around my head recently, and I’m only 24. Send help & hair dye. 

Moving on, let’s talk cake. This Earl Grey Tea Cake was a very unexpectedly delicious test recently. I needed to check if my hand-me-down bundt tin was capable of evenly baking a cake in my temperamental oven. It was a big ask, and honestly I wasn’t expecting much. I’d had my eye on Betty’s bundt cake for a while, and decided I’d tweak it to my tastes, test my luck, and pray to the bundt cake gods. I was already obsessed with earl grey tea, so the thoughts of an Earl Grey Tea Cake was almost too much for me.

Not only did the bundt tin still have magical non-stick powers, but the cake was beyond perfection. Moist, fragrant, flavourful, & lathered in lemon icing. And it really did taste just like earl grey tea! I had thought there’d be just a hint of earl grey, but it’s actually quite strong. If you’re less of an earl grey fan, I’ve left notes in the recipe if you’d like a weaker flavour.

Happy baking!

Earl Grey Tea Cake

A simple bundt cake, flavored with earl grey tea and drizzled with lemon glaze.
Yield: 8 inch cake
Author: Vicki

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 cups plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 3 earl grey tea bags
  • 1 cup + 2 tbsp salted butter, at room temp
  • 1.5 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup icing sugar, sifted
  • 1 lemon zest & juice

DIRECTIONS

  • Heat the buttermilk slightly in a bowl in the microwave & leave the earl grey tea bags to soak inside the bowl for 10-15 minutes. Stir the tea bags around & when removed from the bowl the buttermilk should be fragrant and tinged slightly brown. (For a weaker taste, leave the tea bags to soak for 5-7 minutes and stir only lightly.) 
  • Preheat the oven to 180C. Liberally grease the bundt tin (We do not want a broken cake after all this work!) with butter & then dust lightly with flour. Set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda.
  • In a different bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale & fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract & beat until well incorporated, about 1-2 minutes.
  • Add in the eggs, one at a time, making sure it is well incorporated after each addition, being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
  • Alternate between adding 1/3 of the flour mixture and then ½ of the buttermilk into the batter until everything is incorporated, mixing gently each time until just combined – do not over mix the batter.
  • Pour the batter evenly into the prepared bundt tin & lightly tap it against a surface to remove any air bubbles. Bake the cake for one hour, until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Invert the finished cake onto a wire rack & leave to cool for another hour.
  • To make the glaze, mix together the zest & juice of the lemon with the icing sugar in a small bowl until it becomes a paste. Add more or less of each ingredient to get the desired consistency. 
  • When the cake is completely cooled, drizzle with the lemon glaze. 

Did you make this recipe? I’d love to know! Please leave a comment & a rating below, or tag me on Instagram @imvcki. Thank you so much for supporting Passionate Baker!

related posts:

Blood Orange Bundt Cake



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe