For Tim’s birthday, I asked Sarah, what flavor(s) should his cake be? When she responded with chocolate and Earl Grey, I was ecstatic. I would be happy to make that (and eat that)! They turned out great if I do say so myself, and Lon backs me up.
* I made these cupcakes again for Liza’s birthday so I updated the finished product photos. 12/09/10
Chocolate Cupcake with Earl Grey Frosting
~about 38 cupcakes
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large (or 5 small) eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour cream
Earl Grey Frosting
- 2 Earl Grey tea bags
- 12 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 6 cups confectioner’s sugar
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin trays with muffin liners.
2. In a medium bowl, dissolve cocoa in boiling water. Set aside to cool.
3. In stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. In a seperate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to batter, alternating with the sour cream. Add cocoa mixture and mix well.
4. Spoon into muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full. They rise a lot and I love to over-fill. =(
5. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in pan. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting
6. Empty contents of tea bags into a coffee or spice grinder. Grind until fine powder. Sift together with confectioner’s sugar. Set aside.
7. Beat butter, cream cheese, and vanilla with paddle attachment on medium speed for 5 minutes. Beat in sugar/tea mix a little bit at a time. When it is all in, beat another 5 minutes on medium speed. Spread on cupcakes.
earl grey frosting? what a very cool idea!
Wow, that’s a pretty batter! I heart the beater blade.
Oh yayyy! So glad to hear they came out well for the bday boy 🙂
Mmmmm. Chocolate and tea – can’t go wrong with that!!
Can you use something besides earl grey tea, I don’t know if I could find that brand.
Trust me when I say they were ***** DELISH. That is a HIT on a tray there.
Marjnhomer, earl grey is the type of tea. Numi was the brand. You can experiment with any brand and any tea you like. Let us know what you do!!Send us pics!
OOOH,Yes! this recipe is a winner! i love to bake with tea!! I love the whole package!
that’s a very interesting combination. and by interesting, i of course mean fabulous. awesome gift. 🙂
The frosting was tasty yet never too sweet. It was a great combo of flavors in tea and chocolate. Just fantabulous!
Wow, those cupcakes look amazing! As per the Early Gray taste, I tried chocolate tea before (and loved it) so why not try the Early Gray frosting on my cupcake, right? I will definitely give this recipe a try. Thanks for sharing. By the way, visit Dove Chocolate Discoveries website for similarly interesting (and yummy) chocolate combinations.
What a lovely idea for frosting! I kind of want to try with other tea varieties!
Hey guys, if you remember, I gave you guys suggestions for what to do in Chicago when you visited last year.
I know this is old but I was looking for some Earl Grey frosting recipes and stumbled upon this. I’m having a dinner party this weekend and decided to serve an Earl Grey angel food cake, inspired by an Earl Grey pound cake I had at Pastry House Hippo in Chicago (my attempt to copy that is here: http://www.filtsai.com/cooking/earl_grey_poundcake/ )
So I thought I’d drop you a note and say Hi!
Hi Phil, thanks for dropping by. I love Earl Grey! It looks like you did pound cake too, not angel food or am I missing something?
Oh yeah, pound cake was before. I’m working on the angel food cake as we speak, er, type… I won’t have time to take pics and do a write-up though since I’m also making egg noodles, french onion soup and a pork ragu, and that’s just my prep day. I’ve got more to work on for a dinner party tomorrow
Phil, sounds great.
Hi! I was wondering if the frosting tastes like cream cheese? I’m guessing it isn’t overpowering, but do you taste it? Or does the earl grey cover it up? The only reason I ask is because I’ve been searching for a recipe that REALLY showcases earl grey flavor, rather than just using it to surprise people. I think this may be it! But like I said, do you mostly taste the tea? Thank you!
Hi Caroline, sorry for the delayed response. The earl grey here is pretty strong but that also depends on the earl grey you use. Some brands of tea are stronger than others. You can ad more to taste. The cream cheese frosting doesn’t taste like cream cheese but if you are familiar with cream cheese based frostings, you would be able to identify it.
I frst want to thank you for this delicious recipe! I have been searching for the perfect chocolate cupcake recipe, and this is it! They came out so light and fluffy, I was so happy! The frosting I tweaked a bit. I used butter, shortening, vanilla, confectioners sugar, and starbucks brand earl grey, and instead of milk, I poured from my cup of earl grey tea and it came out fantastic! I used my little mortar and pestle to crush the tea, and even though I was worried about the texture, it was nice and smooth. However, after I piped some frosting on a few cupcakes I had an idea. I decided to try inserting the tip into the cupcake, being that its so light, and make them creme filled. Well my idea worked wonderfully! And to cover the hole, as I pulled out the tip, I piped a small star of icing, and then garnished them with a mini chocolate chip! Hands down, these are my new favorite! Thank you again for this recipe! I have pictures, and would love to share if anyone wannts to see! 🙂
Hi Jolene! That’s wonderful! I’d love to post your pics in our fan pics section. Please send to me Jessica@[blogname].com
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