Earl Grey Cupcakes

I'm a big tea drinker and Earl Grey is one of those I like. I don't usually add milk to my tea, but I remember a nice drink from NYDC (New York Dessert Cafe) in Singapore called Earl Grey Elephanccino which was ice Earl Grey with vanilla ice cream. So when I flip through this book given to me by Sylvia (who got married this week!!), I knew I had to make it, and I even made it twice in two weeks.It's good on its own but the icing in this case makes it just a touch better without being overly sweet.

 

 

Ingredients (Makes 12 regular cupcakes) 

125ml milk at room temperature

4 Earl Grey teabags

110g unsalted butter, room temperature

225g sugar

2 large eggs

125g self raising flour or 125g plain flour mixed with 1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder and slightly less than 1/4 teaspoon salt

120g plain flour, sifted

Vanilla buttercream (enough for 15-20 regular cupcakes)

110g unsalted butter, room temperature

60ml milk, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

500g icing sugar, sifted

Steps

1. Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it just begin to come to a boil, Remove it from the heat and add the teabags, allowing it to soak for about 30 minutes, then discard the teabags.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until it is pale and smooth, then add the eggs one at a time. Preheat the oven at 160°C.
   
   
   
3. Combine the flours in a separate bowl. Add one third of the flour, followed by one third of the infused milk to the butter mixture. Repeat until all the flour and milk have been added.
   
   
   
   
4. Spoon the mixture into a lined 12-cupcakes muffin tray, about two-third full in each cupcake. Bake it for about 25 minutes until they are slightly raised and golden brown. Let it cool in the tray for about 10 minutes before removing it to cool completely on a wire rack before icing.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. For the icing, just beat the butter, milk, vanilla extract and half the icing sugar until smooth. Gradually add the remaining icing sugar and mix it in until the it is smooth and creamy. You can store this in an airtight container in the fridge for quite a while.