Earl Grey Cake with Lemon Buttercream
This Earl Grey Cake is the perfect afternoon dessert for tea lovers, with its tender and robust cake layered with silky lemon buttercream.
Earl Grey Cake
I had wanted to go to Scotland for as long as I can remember, but I wasn’t going for the food, more for the rich history and gorgeous scenery, but after getting into Edinburgh, we were hungry and headed to the Elephant House where J.K. Rowling wrote the majority of the Harry Potter series. It was there that I became acquainted with Earl Grey Cake, and it was then that I fell in love with it too. I’m a huge fan of tea-laced desserts like my Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies, but in a cake, it’s something else, I tell ya.
A bold beautiful flavor that reminded me of afternoon tea with my grandmother after school. The cake in the cafe was served with cream cheese frosting, which was delicious, but for me, there’s no greater pairing than tea and lemon.
The lemon buttercream is bursting with vibrant citrus notes thanks to the lemon zest and freshly squeezed juice. And when it hugs that Earl Grey Cake, it’s pure bliss. I thought this cake would make the perfect addition to any tea party!
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Earl Grey Cake with Lemon Buttercream
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 bags Earl Grey tea
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon loose Earl Grey tea leaves
- ½ teaspoon salt
Frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
Cake
- In a small saucepan, heat the 1 cup whole milk and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract over medium heat until it begins to simmer.
- Remove from heat and add in the 4 bags Earl Grey tea, cover, and steep for 20 minutes.
- Gently squeeze the tea bags to get the liquid out and pour the milk back into a measuring cup. Add additional milk if necessary to get the volume back to 1 cup. Let the milk cool to room temperature.
- Once the milk has cooled, preheat oven the to 350°F. Line the bottom of three 6-inch pans with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together the 1 cup unsalted butter and 2 cups granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add 4 large eggs one at a time, mixing and scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition.
- In a large bowl, stir together the 3 cups all-purpose flour, 2½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 tablespoon loose Earl Grey tea leaves, and ½ teaspoon salt. Add to the butter mixture alternating with the tea milk, starting and ending with flour. Mix just until flour is combined.
- Add 2 cups of batter to each prepared cake pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until tops of cakes spring back when touched. Remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
Frosting
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together the 1 cup unsalted butter and 1 tablespoon lemon zest until smooth.
- Add 8 cups powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, alternating with the ¼ cup fresh lemon juice and 2 tablespoons heavy cream, scrapping down the sides as needed.
- Whip on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the frosting is too soft, add a bit more sugar, if it's too stiff, add a little more heavy cream 1 teaspoon at a time.
Assemble:
- Place the bottom layer of cake on a cake stand and add a light coat of frosting over it. Repeat with the next two layers, keep the crumb coat of frosting thin, and place in the fridge for 20 minutes to chill.
- Remove and finish frosting the rest of the cake as desired. Garnish with fresh flowers and lemon slices if desired.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Just wondering if you grind up the 1 tablespoon of earl gray tea leaves or just add them whole to the batter??
If the tea has large leaves I would grind it up, you want smaller specks of tea.
I made this cake for my birthday! The cake itself is great with plenty of earl grey flavour. I think the buttercream has too much sugar though as it’s very sweet which detracts from the lemon flavour.
About how many cupcakes would this make?
I’ve never made it as cupcakes but it should be between 12 and 18.
Do you think the baking time would be generally around the same as well? Thanks so much.
I’m going to try the cupcakes today and will let you know !
UPDATE: I made 24 cupcakes with the recipe above and baked the for 25 minutes. They turned out great!!! My new favorite cupcake recipe !
Delicious and fun to make.
Hi,
“Keep the crumb coat of frosting thin and place in the fridge for 20 minutes to chill.” — means to refrigerate the whole cake?. Once its fully frosted, do the cake need to be refrigerated?
can i replace granulated sugar with castor sugar? if yes, any changes in measurements?
Kindly advise! Thanks!! 🙂
Hi Phylicia, Yes, the whole cake should go in the refrigerator after the crumb coat is applied. The cake does not need to be stored in the fridge once complete, but it can be. It will last about 2 days at room temperature in an airtight container or 3 to 5 days in the fridge.
As for castor sugar, you can generally use castor sugar instead of granulated in equal parts.
The frosting says 2 tsp lemon and 5 Tablespoons lemon juice.
What is the 2 tsp lemon? Extract? Rind?
Hi Pamela, that should be zest, sorry about that! Will fix it now!
Hi! I made this once and it was delicious! Could I add chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts to the recipe?
Hi Salehha, I’m so glad you enjoyed it, I don’t think chopped nuts wouldn’t be an issue at all!
Just wanted to say I made this for a birthday picnic and it came out so delicious!!!! The cake was very moist and the lemon complimented it perfectly. I added a little lemon zest to the sugar for the cake batter like Sallie suggested though I’m sure it would taste just as good without. Thank you for the recipe!!!
So glad you enjoyed it, Aimee!
Amazing recipe! 🙂 I baked this cake for my sister to take to work (she works in a hospital) and she left it in the tea room for everyone to help themselves. She got plenty of praises by the end of the day and the cake was, according to her, DEMOLISHED! Thank you for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Can I use cake flour in place of all purpose? If so, would the measurements be the same ?
Thanks!
You can but the measurements will not be the same. For every cup of all-purpose you substitute with cake flour you need to add 2 additional tablespoons of cake flour. Since this recipe calls for 3 cups of AP flour you’ll need to use 3 cups plus 6 tablespoons of cake flour.
Such a lovely recipe! The flavor of the earl grey tea comes out perfectly, and it’s incredibly moist and delicious. I used a different buttercream but I think next time I will try the lemon, and maybe add a touch of lemon or orange zest to the cake batter.
Not sure what the other comment about it being crumbly is about- mine was absolutely perfect! Thank you for posting this recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, what flavor buttercream did you use?
Horrifically crumbly. I popped it out of the cake tin and it immediately fell apart.