Baking journey - Earl Grey Tea Cupcakes

So, over the past 1 week when I took a weeks leave from work to recover from my facial laser ( I hope to blog about that soon), I had ample of time on my hand as I wasn't able to leave the house to protect my skin from the harsh  sun rays & scaring people with my highly "disfigured" face. 

I decided to indulge myself in my hobby, which is baking. I baked 3 times that week, a chocolate loaf, fruit tarts and finally the Earl Grey tea cupcake. I was very satisfied with my chocolate loaf and I loved loved my earl grey tea cupcake! It was such a success except that the frosting was way too sweet. I guess I should modify the reciepe the next time I baked it again.

Please do not judge my piping skills as this was my first time doing it! Ugly piping skills but delicious cupcake! 

So here goes the recipe. I used the recipe from Nilssons Ambrosia's baking blog.

Ingredients

3 Earl Grey teabags (Tip: According to a friend of mine, it is super important to use a good quality earl grey tea bag like TWG. She recommended Dilmah as well so I used Dilmah & it was pretty good) 

3tbsp just-boiled water

80g (3oz) unsalted butter, softened

280g (10 oz) caster sugar

240g (8 ½ oz) plain flour

1tbsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

200ml (7fl oz) whole milk

2 large eggs

For the frosting:

50ml (1 ¾ fl oz) whole milk

500g (1lb 2oz) icing sugar

160g (5 ½ oz) unsalted butter, softened

(Please modify the amount of ingredients for the frosting yourself because it was way too sweet! 500g of sugar is like diabetes inducing!) 

Method for the cupcake :

Place the teabags in a bowl and add the just-boiled water, then leave to brew for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190°C and line a muffin tin with muffin cases.

Use a hand-held electric whisk or freestanding electric mixer with paddle attachment to mix the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt on a low speed until the texture of fine breadcrumbs.

Pour the milk into a jug, add the eggs and whisk by hand. Add the brewed tea, squeezing every last drop from the teabags into the milk mixture, then set the teabags aside for the frosting.

Pour three-quarters of the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix on a low speed to combine. Then mix on a medium speed until smooth and thick. Scrape the sides of the bowl, add the remaining milk mixture and beat until all the ingredients have come together and the batter is smooth.

Divide the batter between the paper cases, filling each two-thirds full. If there is batter left over, spoon it into more cases in a separate tin. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until risen and springy to the touch, then leave to cool slightly in the tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool fully.

Method for the frosting: 

While the cupcakes are cooking, place the used teabags in a small bowl with the milk for the frosting and leave to infuse for 30 minutes. Remove the teabags and give them a good squeeze to extract maximum flavour.

Using the electric whisk or freestanding mixer with paddle attachment, whisk the icing sugar with the butter on a low speed until no large lumps of butter remain and the mixture is still powdery. Pour in the tea-infused milk while mixing slowly, then increase the speed to high and whisk until soft and fluffy.

Alright, that's all for baking a cupcake! Pretty simple and easy to follow recipe! 

Hope yours will be a success too! :)