French Earl Grey Tea Cake with Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Adapted from: Kasey & Kaylee Wells and Allie Roomberg

Serves: 10-12

Prep time: 25 minutes
Rest time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

300 ml (1.25 cups) milk

1/3 cup French Earl Grey loose leaf tea, crushed/minced and divided

2.5 cups flour (or GF alternative)

2.5 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp culinary lavender

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup canola oil

113 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Frosting:

2 lemons, zested and juiced

Use this recipe minus raspberries (skip steps 1 & 2) and add lemon zest & juice at step 7 of that recipe. There's enough buttercream to cover this two layer cake.

Have your cake and drink it too? No, have your tea and eat it too... Either way, this cake is not for the flavour-faint-at-heart. It punches lavender, bergamot, rose petal. This cake is excellent beside a cup of (regular) black tea—unless earl grey is your jam and you want to roll in its flavours any way you can. Alice (in Wonderland) might have been rumoured to enjoy this dessert as well as Luna Lovegood and Lucy Pevensie. 

Can you imagine? I originally thought ‘let’s make an Earl Grey Swiss meringue butter cream for this French Earl Grey cake’. And so I made butter tea. I melted butter and simmered it with tea leaves. Then I removed the tea leaves and re-solidified the butter in the fridge so that I could use it as proper butter in the Swiss meringue butter cream. Whilst it was an excellent frosting which did not hint, but rather, scream “I am Earl Grey!!”, it was quite overpowering against the French Earl Grey cake. So if you’re keen for an Earl Grey Swiss meringue butter cream recipe, I can share the special steps. 

On my second go of this cake, I countered the rich warmth of the cake with the tartness of a lemon buttercream instead. I preferred Swiss meringue for this cake as the cake is fairly sweet and I thought American buttercream might cause a tooth ache. As an egg-less cake, the texture is softer than a typical cake without compromising character. We have applesauce and bicarb soda to thank for that! Everything has been adapted just perfectly for you to invite forest friends and your magical family for a cuppa and a slice. 

Ingredients:
300 ml (1.25 cups) milk

1/3 cup French Earl Grey loose leaf tea, crushed/minced and divided

2.5 cups flour (or GF alternative)

2.5 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp culinary lavender

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup canola oil

113 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Frosting:

2 lemons, zested and juiced

Use this recipe minus raspberries (skip steps 1 & 2) and add lemon zest & juice at step 7 of that recipe. There's enough buttercream to cover this two layer cake.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 177 C / 350 F and line two 19 cm / 7.5" springform cake pans with parchment paper. 

2. In a small saucepan, heat milk and 2 tbsp + 2 tsp tea to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to steep for 15-30 minutes. 

3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, lavender, and remaining 2 tbsp + 2 tsp tea) and set aside. 

4. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy (5 minutes), then stir in the applesauce. 

5. To the milky tea, whisk in the vinegar, vanilla, and oil and set aside.

6. Using a low speed on the mixer, alternate mixing in 1/3 dry ingredients with 1/3 wet ingredients to the butter mix until all is just mixed in. 

7. Divide batter between cake pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean from the centre of the cakes (20 minutes). 

8. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting with lemon Swiss meringue buttercream. Cakes can be covered in cling wrap and refrigerated or frozen until ready to decorate.