Happy Mother's Day!!! Oh wait, that hasn't happened yet has it? Well look at me getting things done ahead of schedule. Well actually, I think most intelligent bloggers have already published their mother's day recipes, so I am probably behind, ah well. I tried to get this one to you sooner, but I had to make this recipe four whole times before I got it right! Four delectable, scrumptious, oh this recipe isn't quite right, better try again, times. Oh the pain.
 
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While it's true I made four batches of these babies before nailing the recipe, it wasn't a hardship or a burden at all. It was pretty damn fun. When I thought of the idea of making Vegan Earl Grey Cupcakes, I did some good 'ol internet research. What did I find? A million and two recipes. Ok, I exaggerate, google actually found about 107,000 results. Dang. At first I tried steeping the tea in hot milk like most of the recipes suggested, but that really didn't get much earl grey-ness into the cupcakes, and also it was difficult (almost impossible), to make just the right amount of steeped milk as an unpredictable amount evaporated or got sucked up by the tea bags. Plan 1, fail. 
 Plan 2 happened when I came across this genius recipe by The Gingered Whisk. The difference here is that instead of trying to steep the tea in something, she just went right ahead and tossed the tea leaves in the batter. I mean come on, so easy peasy, the earl grey flavour is insane, and the cupcakes just turn out so darn cute with their little speckled tea look. So I used the inspiration and adapted my Vegan Vanilla Cupcake recipe to Vegan Earl Grey Cupcake bliss. Plan 2, you are my new favourite.  
This cupcakes taste like if a cup of earl grey tea, and marshmallow had a baby, and now you just want to eat that baby... but it's totally vegan I swear. The cupcakes have a potent earl grey taste, but are still light, fluffy and sweet. The frosting has just a kiss of earl grey, so not to over power your taste buds, and adds a creamy dreamy, lift your pinky, then shove the whole cupcake in your mouth in one go (what?), delectableness.
Now on to the beautiful baking of cupcakes.
First cut the end off of your tea bags and dump the tea out into a small dish. If it is finely ground like in my picture, you are good to go. If it is a coarser tea with bigger leaves, toss the tea in a food processor or blender and pulse, or grind it in a mortar and pestle until finely ground, but not powder. I used Stash Double Bergamot Earl Grey Tea.
Add the tea to a large mixing bowl then add in all of your other dry ingredients. Whisk to combine.
In a separate bowl whisk all the wet ingredients. Pour the wet into the dry, then using a spoon (a whisk will get too goopy), to mix the batter until just combined. Don't over mix the batter or your cupcakes will be sad.
Divide the batter evenly among 12 cupcake liners, or a lightly greased cupcake tray. Bake 18-20 minutes, until a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
To make the frosting, brew one very strong cup of tea. Let the teabag sit in the tea, until it is completely cool. You can do this ahead of time or even the day before so the tea is cool and good to go when you get to making your frosting.
When the tea is cool, use an mixer to beat the vegetable shortening and vegan butter together. Add in ½ cup of powdered sugar at a time. When all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, add the vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of the extra strong cooled brewed tea. If you like the frosting a little softer, add another tablespoon of the tea until you reach the desired consistency.
Use a frosting bag or knife to frost your cupcakes. Or if you are like me, just use a regular old plastic bag. I always choose the strongest bags, and I tape the corner before I snip a hole in the end to reinforce the tip so it doesn't break. Sneaky deaky tricks. Cupcakes are always best served the day you make the, but still pretty delicious the next day. Whether you are a mother or not, I hope you enjoy the cupcakes!
Vegan Earl Grey Cupcakes
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 4 earl grey teabags, (or 4 teaspoons loose earl grey tea)
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients:
- â…” cup non-dairy milk, (such as soy or almond)
- â…“ cup light oil, (such as canola or vegetable)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting:
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 earl grey teabag, (or 1 teaspoons loose earl grey tea)
- Boiling water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners, or lightly grease the pan and set aside.
- For the cupcakes: cut 4 teabags open and empty the contents into a small bowl. If the tea is a fine grind, you are good to go. If the tea you are using has big leaves or is coarser, pulse it in a food processor, blender, or grind in mortar and pestle until it's a finer grind, but not powder.
- Add the tea to a large mixing bowl along with all of the dry ingredients: the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix together.
- In a medium bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients: the non-dairy milk, canola oil, apple cider vinegar and vanilla. Pour the wet into dry, and using a spoon mix until the ingredients are just combined. Don't overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly among the 12 cupcake liners and pop in the oven for 18-20 minutes until the cakes have risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- For the frosting: let cupcakes cool completely before frosting. Put the teabag into a small mug and pour in the boiling water. You will only need about 2 tablespoons of the brewed tea, but make a bit extra just in case. Let steep until cool, do not remove the teabag! You want the tea to be very strong.
- In a mixer, blend the vegetable shortening, vegan butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract along with 1 tablespoon of the cold extra strong brewed tea. Add 1 more tablespoon of the brewed tea if needed to reach desired consistency. Frost cupcakes as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Featured Ingredient: Earl Grey Tea.
Bon Appetegan
Sam.
Leni says
Every year on my bf's birthday I make him your apple pie recipe because he requests it, but this year he wanted earl grey cake. Lo and behold, you also have a recipe for earl grey cupcakes!!! I just finished making these and they turned out great. Your recipes make my bf happy every year. <3
Monique says
I love these and have made them many times over the years. Excellent flavour and texture. I love that its all simple and cheap ingredients and there is no need for vegan butter which is expensive where I live. Change up the tea type to chai sometimes 🙂
Émilie says
This is so good, I don't know how I didn't eat them all at once! I love that you can taste the Earl Grey, but it's subtle and not overwhelming.
Will bake again!
Priya says
I made these yesterday and they were great! I very slightly reduced the amount of oil and sugar in the cupcakes, and significantly reduced the salt, and they came out great with the perfect amount of sweetness. I didn't end up making the frosting, but the cupcakes on their own were delicious and gobbled up very quickly at my house. Thank you for the quick and easy recipe!
Sawyer says
Perfect!
I make these fairly often and all the non-vegans absolutely love them. I always follow the recipe exactly and they’re simply the tastiest cupcakes I’ve ever had. Always a hit when I take them to holiday dinners.
Thank you for creating this recipe! Definitely a family favourite in my house.
Linda says
I made this recipe for a cake and it tasted awful. Really bitter and way too strong. The batter didn't rise properly and sunk in the middle. Luckily I made a cupcake with the leftover batter to do a taste test before I frosted and served the cake.
I'm going to remake the cake with a classic vanilla cake recipe I like and add around 50% less black tea. Hopefully this comes out nicely.
Ocean says
I made these cupcakes for my friend’s birthday party and they were a huge hit! EVERYONE loved them and I was the only vegan at the party. These cupcakes are absolutely delightful! Super moist, very flavourful and the icing to cupcake ratio is perfect! I substituted Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free1:1 Baking Flour instead of All Purpose Flour and they held together beautifully. Not to mention the icing itself was impeccable! It was the perfect texture for piping rosettes to make the cupcakes look like roses!
Hannah says
Hi 🙂 I was just wondering, I don't have plan flour, only self-raising? So could I still make them if I don't add the baking soda?
X
Hannah
Wendy says
Self-raising flour (sold in Australia) has 2 tsp of baking powder rather than baking soda per cup. Not sure how the substitution would affect the recipe.
Agnes says
This was such a great vegan recipe! I made them into mini cupcakes and the recipe made about 22. The only thing that went wrong was that they tasted a bit salty. I could've added too much salt or baking soda, but I'll definitely try baking these again!
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed them, Agnes. Be careful with measuring, and you can always reduce the salt if you prefer. ENjoy!
Autumn Maddox says
also going to add lemon zest of one full lemon to the cake mix to add back some flavor from the additional sugar density of the powdered sugar...
Autumn Maddox says
I FIGURED OUT HOW TO MAKE A PERFECT GLUTEN FREE VERSION!!!!!! After about 6 tries I finally figured it out... First, I used King Arthur gluten free flour (each G-F flour is different). Keep all measurements the same, except add a heaping 1/4 teaspoon of xantham gum and substitute powdered sugar instead of standard white crystal sugar.... the xantham gum gives it that springy-ness and the powdered sugar absorbs all the oil and gives the cakes actual structure. they look exactly like normal cupcakes! No gooeyness, no burnt tops, totally intact! Still moist.. I also added a couple drops of lavender to the wet cupcake mix. I also wanted a more thick buttercream lemony frosting so I did 1 1/3 cup powdered sugar, 1/3 cup cold vegan butter, a couple drops lavender, 1 1/4 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice, and one full earl grey tea bag.
The first 5 times I tried, my cakes were soggy, oily, gluten-free sponges. One attempt I tried stevia sugar instead because I had been using raw sugar and figured maybe its the sugar texture that's the problem...thinking, could this be even better sugar-free? the powdery textured stevia sugar made the cakes look amazing but they were still a little too oily and crumbly when you unwrapped them. And the 1:1 ratio of stevia was disgusting.. too much of that nasty aftertaste. After another try of raw sugar and xantham gum turned out yet soggy again, although better formed, it hit me to combine the powdery texture that worked for the stevia attempt with the xantham gum. 6 hours later it was all worth it!!! Spread the word 😀 powdered sugar subbed + xantham gum= a gluten free clone of the original ♥♥♥
Sam Turnbull says
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Christie says
I have previously commented on this recipe and it’s a go-to if mine (you’re one of my top bloggers for food and positivity!).
I do have another question... C you make these into into a cake? I moved and don’t have a muffin tin. Do I just follow the recipe and cook it longer?
Also, I’m hoping to buy your book and to get a copy of it added to my local library’s catalog! I hope you have an amazing day!!
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Christine! Thrilled you love my recipes so much! yes, this would work as a cake you would just have to cook it longer. You'll know when it's done when you insert a toothpick into the center of the cake and it comes out clean. Thank you so much for your support!
Christie says
I have to be gluten free now, but I want to let you know that I made this into a cake version with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour (the blue bag) and it came out great! The texture is a little different, but still soft and delicious! It held moisture well, too (I forgot to cover leftovers). I’m assuming it would freeze well like your regular recipe. If I ever try doing that I will let you know so you can have the info for other people (and this goes for any recipe I turn gluten-free).
Thanks for getting back to me!
Sam Turnbull says
So happy it worked well, Christie 🙂
Melissa says
My bff and I have a shared loved for london fog lattes so I made these and brought 6 to her place when I went over for dinner. I had one and it was the tastiest cupcake I have ever made; moist, perfectly fluffy, and super flavourful! My bff and her boyfriend managed to eat the 5 other ones that night and were raving about them and could not believe how good they were; they even went out and bought the ingredients to make more the next day! Thanks for such a delicious and simple recipe, I'm not the best baker but they still came out perfectly!
Sam Turnbull says
Wow!! That's so amazing, so happy you enjoyed them so much, Melissa 🙂
Yulca says
Super easy & super yummy (although I think I'll reduce the amount of sugar next time). Another keeper - thanks!
Sam Turnbull says
You're most welcome 🙂
julia says
for some reason each time i've made these i found the amount didn't quite make 12 cupcakes, and if it did, they were quite small. I feel that i'm following the steps correctly but..
I'm using self raising flour...and adding a bit of extra baking soda.
could that be the culprit or are they supposed to be quite small?
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Julia, it could contribute, I would always recommend using the ingredients as written especially when baking as it is chemistry. It could also be the size of your cupcake pan. Hope that helps!
Samantha says
This recipe is wonderful on its own, but I wanted to share a modification I made to fit a themed event we had. I’m just new enough to baking that I don’t have any baker’s intuition to go off of. I know I can trust your recipes, so I always go to you for what I need. I’m hosting a tea party for my son and his friend, so I decided to make something special that the adults would love too. I wanted to make lavender cupcakes, but I also wanted to stick to the tea theme, so I steeped 2 TBSP fresh lavender from our garden into some soy milk, let it cool for about an hour, then used the lavender-infused soy milk in this recipe. It tastes exactly like a Starbucks London Fog Tea Latte (earl grey with lavender and steamed milk with vanilla). Absolutely delicious, and our house smells incredible! Thank you again and again for reliably delicious recipes.
Sam Turnbull says
Wow that sounds like a delicious variation! Thrilled you enjoyed them so much, Samantha 🙂
Marsha Amanova says
Have I mentioned before that I think your recipes are amazing?
I made these for mother's day today and as an added bonus my super-skeptical dad loved them as much as the rest of us did.
Thanks for another winner!
Sam Turnbull says
Aww thank you so much, Marsha! Thrilled you are enjoying my recipes so much 🙂
Cade says
These look so amazing I love the lil tea bag in the cupcake! Can I use coconut oil instead of vegetable shortening and mix it with the vegan butter?
Sam Turnbull says
Thanks, Cade! You can but coconut oil melts very easily so make sure to keep everything very cold or the frosting may melt. Enjoy!
Manasa Rajendran says
Hi! I’m so happy to have found you! I had been looking for and tried different vegan Earl Grey tea recipes, and this has been the best! Maybe it’s the combination of baking soda and apple cider vinegar, which I haven’t seen before or thought of myself. What I did change was, I baked mine as a bread loaf (5x9) at 350F for
35-40 minutes. I actually ate a lot of it myself. My parents love it! I have made a couple of loaves for friends and they love it. I will be using your recipe as a basis for all my baking now! Thank you.
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful! So happy you enjoyed it, Manasa. Happy baking!
Amber says
Don't even like Earl Grey tea but made these for my husband's birthday as he loves it.
Turns out, it was maybe the best cupcake I've ever had. Shared the leftovers with my omni coworkers and they were impressed.
Sam Turnbull says
Hahahaha! That's amazing! So thrilled you loved them, Amber 🙂
Sonya says
I love these cupcakes! I was wondering how would I make this into a cake? Should I double the recipe and put the icing in between or should I make one recipe but then split it in half to put the icing in between?
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Sonya, so happy you like it! One batch of cupcakes would make a 1- 9" layer cake. I would double it to make 2 9" layer cakes and put the frosting in between and on top. The baking times will be a bit longer, so just keep an eye on them. You will know they are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy! 🙂