Earl Grey cupcakes

Those of you who follow this blog and/or the Poupette in the Kitchen FB page know that I recently entered a hopefully long-term relationship with Piotr.

We decided to take things slow at first and opted for simple cupcakes. Nothing too fancy, but fun. No pressure :)

I'd been surfing the net in hopes to find a new flavor to play with, and this recipe at Fork and Flower caught my eye. I mean, Earl Grey? Cupcakes? Buttercream frosting? Gimme!


INGREDIENTS (approx. 18-20 regular sized cupcakes):
for the cupcake batter:
- 240g AP flour
- 280g sugar
- 200ml whole milk (I didn't have it, so I mixed 150ml fat free milk and 50ml heavy cream)
- 2 large eggs
- 80g softened butter
- 3tbsp loose leaves Earl Grey tea (I used some high quality from Teavana, but I guess if you only have tea bags, that would work too. Just make sure that you brew it extremely concentrated)
- 1 cup boiling water
- a pinch of salt
- 1 tsp baking powder

for the frosting:
- 4 cups confectioner sugar
- 1 cup of softened butter (2 sticks)
- 1 tsp crushed Early Grey tea (I used the contents of two Tazo tea bags, and crushed it even more with a pestle and mortar)
- a pinch of salt
- a few tbsp of milk to soften the frosting


 RECIPE:
- first things first: brew the loose Earl Grey leaves in the cup of boiling water. Let steep for 30 minutes, until you get a very concentrated brew. It should be about as dark as coffee. You will not use the whole cup of brewed tea, just 3 tsbp.

- preheat your oven to 375F
- mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter on low speed with the beater attachment until it resembles very fine fresh bread crumbs

- beat the eggs in the milk and cream and add 3 tbsp of brewed Earl Grey

- resume beating on low speed and gradually add the egg/milk/tea mixture until the batter is smooth

- dress a cupcake tray with cupcake liners

- transfer the batter into a jug to make filling the liners easier and fill about 2/3 up

- bake in the oven at 375F for 18 minutes
- once the cupcakes are cooling on a rack, you can start preparing the frosting
(oops, this one's for me, yeah?)
- whisk the confectioner sugar and butter until powdery

- add the salt, crushed tea and adjust the quantity of milk until you are satisfied with the texture

- proceed to frosting the cupcakes when they are completely cooled

- Enjoy!