Today I'm making a slightly modified version of the Earl Grey Cupcakes recipe found in Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery by Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas.
Instead of using early grey, I'm using spiced cinnamon chai tea. There are two reasons for this: first off, I don't have any earl grey tea. Second, I absolutely hate this tea and want to use it up and get rid of it.
At this point you are probably guffawing at my reasoning. If you hate a tea, why would you ever want to use it to flavor anything else as well?? Surely this will lead to you only hating these cupcakes as well! (And then some others are just wondering how I don't own any earl grey.)
Well, the reason I don't like this tea is because it is crazy strong, and tastes like straight up cinnamon. Have you ever tried plain cinnamon, or even something with just entirely too much cinnamon in it? It doesn't taste good as the sole flavor. It's really only supposed to compliment and enhance.
This strong cinnamon flavor, balanced out with lots of other ingredients, would seem to do well in a cupcake.
(For you others: I'm not a big black tea person, thus generally only have one box of some sort of black tea at a time. And right now, that box is this horrid cinnamon chai, and not earl grey.)
The Ingredients
- ½ cup milk
- 4 cinnamon chai tea bags
- 1 stick butter, room temp.
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup + 2 tbsp self-rising flour
- ¾ cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
The actual recipe calls to use 2% milk, which I don't have; I mixed a little bit of whole milk into skim. But honestly, with a whole stick of butter, you could get away with using just skim milk.
No self-rising flour? No problem. Just use all all-purpose flour, and add 1 1/8 tsp baking powder and 3/8 tsp salt.
The almond extract is optional.
And of course, feel free to use any tea you want.
The Process
In a teeny-tiny pot or pan, heat the milk over medium heat, until it just begins to boil.
Remove the milk from the heat and add the teabags. So that there'd be enough height to fully immerse the teabags in the milk, I poured the milk back into the Pyrex measuring cup I used.
Cover and let infuse for around 30 minutes. I ended up waiting a little longer, for no real reason.
During the last ten minutes of your wait for the tea, mix your butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, like a cherub's golden locks (approx. 3-5 minutes with a hand mixer).
Preheat your oven to 350°F
Then add the almond extract and the eggs one at a time, mixing for "a few minutes" after each egg. Your mixture should be as light and fluffy as a golden retriever puppy (and that is super light and fluffy)!
Mix the two flours together in a small bowl. Add the flour, followed by the milk, to the main mixture in thirds.
And of course, don't forget to scrap down dem sides! I generally scraped after each time I mixed in flour.
Line a muffin pan, then spoon the mixture into your cupcake liners. The recipe book says to fill until about 2/3 full, but I filled mine to around ¾ full, knowing that I wouldn't be adding frosting to the tops. And seriously, cupcakes that don't even go over the top of the liners are just ugly.
Bake for ~25 minutes, until slightly raised and golden brown. And as always, your toothpick should be as clean as a whistle.
The Final Product
Some Notes
The recipe says this makes 12 cupcakes. Even though I filled my liners more, I still had enough batter for 12 cupcakes.
You can definitely taste the almond extract in the cupcakes. Something to keep in mind if you think that flavor might not go well with your tea.
If you want to make a frosting for this, I'd suggest something very light and fluffy but still creamy, and not very sweet. I'd also suggest cutting down the sugar amount for the cupcakes a little.You have to eat these cupcakes with your pinkies out, because they are just so fancy and refined.
If I Could Do It Again....
I'd just use skim milk.
The Final Verdict
Good Lord above, these cupcakes are seriously so freaking tasty. They are light and fluffy, sweet and moist, and the tops are just barely crispy. The almond extract mixed with the cinnamon tea is just so perfect.
I mean, I legitimately hate this tea. But if I ever decided to make this for a party or event (and that will most likely happen at some point), I'd consider buying this tea again just for the cupcakes. For those of you who are curious, the specific tea is Lipton's spiced cinnamon chai.
This is one of my favorite items that I've made so far. It is divine.
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