I've never liked making ordinary white, vanilla or chocolate cupcakes; they need some extra pizazz or an interesting ingredient for me to want to make them. I stumbled upon these cupcakes a while back on Pinterest, but never really thought to try to make them. It was definitely one of those pins I pinned to my never-ending food board and forgot about.
After enjoying a cup of tea the other day, I remembered the Earl Grey cupcakes I had thought about making but never attempted. These cupcakes are elegant, yet simple enough, for a bridal shower, ladies brunch or just because. You could even frost them with a pretty pink frosting for a Valentine's Day treat.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and begin to make the tea. The original recipe calls for ½ cup of 2 percent reduced fat milk and later on says to use ½ teaspoon of almond extract. I didn't have either of those ingredients, but I did have almond milk. So I steeped the tea in almond milk to get the almond flavor and liquid element from the milk.
Once the almond milk begins to boil, steep four Earl Grey tea bags for 30 minutes. As soon as the tea completely steeps, squeeze the bags to release all of the tea and herbs into the milk, then throw away the tea bags.
Next, sift ¾ cup and two tablespoons of self-rising flour, and ¾ cup and 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour.
Then, cream one cup plus two tablespoons of sugar with one stick of unsalted butter. Beat in two eggs, one at a time, then, mix in the flour and milk, starting and finishing with flour.
Now, fill the cupcake liners with the batter and bake for 25 minutes. These cupcakes are not overly sweet and balance well with a lemon frosting or plain vanilla frosting; the sweet addition of frosting enhances the Earl Grey tea inside the cupcakes.
If you're in need of an easy and sophisticated cupcake, try these Earl Grey tea cupcakes; they're perfect for any occasion and they turn any plain cupcake into a unique treat.
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