A few years back, I had the pleasure of meeting and Chef’ing for a class led by Stephen Twining – a 10th generation Twining and Tea Ambassador. He was introducing a new line of tea which I used to make some Earl Grey shortbread cookies (https://foodinspires.com/2016/03/01/twinings-london-strand-earl-grey-tea-cookies/). Last week I ran across a recipe for a cake using Earl Grey and Chocolate. Perfect cake for making any day of the week, or dress it up with some frosting – completely optional, delicious either way (and I’m showing it to you both ways). 

Couple of things (I always have a couple of things to tell you) with this cake. Use a good quality Earl Grey tea, such as the London Strand Earl Grey (Twinings and nope, this is not a paid advert, I just happen to like it). Open up the bags to measure and if you have a mini food processor, add the contents of 2 tea bags along with ½ cup flour and pulse a couple of times to grind up the tea leaves, not to a powder but just smaller pieces. Earl Grey is a naturally fragrant tea, the London Strand brand is over the top. I also made a frosting using light cream cheese and tea steeped milk (among other things). If your tea is not fragrant toss it, it’s probably been in your cupboard too long. It happens, like spices that have lost their scent. You will be disappointed with the results. If there is a distinct Earl Grey aroma, but you are not sure how old the tea bags are – just double the quantity in the cake and the icing.

There isn’t a lot of height to this cake but a really lovely taste pairing with the dark chocolate. I used a 9” spring form pan and got about 2” height. If you have an 8” spring form or regular cake tin, you will get more height – just increase the baking time by 5 – 10 minutes. In the 9” pan it took exactly 35 minutes, but I like to give the range of 30 – 40 minutes as every oven is different. You can make this without the dark chocolate, but why??? The dark chocolate complements the flavor of the tea really well, so don’t skip on this ingredient. If you are on a dietary/allergy restriction, you could cut back to ½ or (heaven forbid) ¼ cup of chopped dark chocolate (sigh!). 

Enough said, make this cake! Cut it in sections, freeze some if you like. Just wrap it up – without frosting, really well with plastic wrap and place in a (labelled) freezer bag. We are almost at the end of January 2021. We have come so far and for the most part we have survived. Look after yourselves and call/text/email someone you haven’t heard from in a while. I guaranty it will be welcomed. Wash your hands, wear a mask, socialize responsibly and stay safe. As always – enjoy!

Ingredients for the cake:
½ cup/115g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups/190g all-purpose flour
2 bags Earl Grey tea, leaves only (or 1 generous tbsp. loose leaf)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp kosher salt
1 cup/200g sugar – I used orange citrus sugar
Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup/120ml whole milk
¾ cup/45g chopped dark chocolate  

 

Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 350f and grease/butter and line with parchment a 9” round cake tin (I used a spring form) 
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, tea (I pulsed the tea leaves in a mini processor with 1/2 cup of the flour) baking powder, orange/lemon zests and salt – set aside
Using a stand or hand mixer, beat the butter and orange citrus sugar with light and fluffy, about 3 minutes
Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary
Beat in the flour mixture on low, until just combined, then beat in the milk and mix on low until incorporated – fold in the chocolate using a spatula
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top
Bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs
Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack for about 15 minutes
If using a spring form pan remove the edge, and let cool further – or tip over carefully and let cool completely before frosting (optional but so good)

For the icing:  
1 package (8oz) light cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup+ icing sugar
¾ cup whole milk
2 tea bags Earl Grey tea 

To a microwave safe measuring cup, add the milk and tea
Bring to barely a boil – about 1 minute in a microwave, stir, then return to the microwave – 30 second bursts (these are my microwave instructions, you know your microwave! You want to steep the tea bags to infuse the Earl Grey scent into the milk) – set aside to cool
Whip the cream cheese until fluffy – add ½ cup icing sugar – and whip, add more if it is too runny – whip until smooth
Add the cooled infused milk slowly and continue to beat until you have a smooth creamy mixture
This is not a sweet frosting, it should have a distinct tea taste (you can make it sweeter with additional icing sugar thinning with milk
Pour the frosting over the top of the cake and spread evenly

Substitutions and/or changes:
Instead of using milk in the cake batter, using a food processor, pulse up an entire orange to get ½ cup of pulp
Split the cake in two and frost the middle and top – additional height and flavor; spread orange marmalade in the middle and icing on top
Citrus sugar is just plain white sugar mixed with fresh zest of any citrus fruit – lemon, orange etc.
Substitute matcha or fragrant herbal teas for the Earl Grey