Earl Grey Cake with Italian Meringue Buttercream

Know anyone who loves tea? I have the perfect cake for that tea lover in your life. This Earl Grey cake has just the right balance of tea and citrusy bergamot essence which makes this unique blend of flavor. Delicious on its own or frosted with my homemade Italian meringue buttercream this cake is perfect to serve as a weekend dessert or to celebrate a special milestone such as a birthday, anniversary or wedding. 

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Earl Grey is a tea blend made with a distinct citrus flavor and aroma derived from the addition of oil extracted from the rind of a bergamot orange which is a fragrant citrus fruit.  So often I get this flavor requested from customers who have tasted it and who usually are tea lovers. I think it’s very common to find an Earl Grey cake at a coffee shop in England. Around the world, it is often served at high-end restaurants for high tea. Though times are changing now and exotic flavors aren’t just for the high-end market anymore. Right? 

About this cake

This cake is very rich, light, airy and fluffy. If you’ve been following my recipes for a while then you know I like my cakes refreshing. I do love those dense chocolate cakes sometimes but in general, I will make every effort to keep my cakes light. The light texture and flavor of this cake pairs very well with vanilla or lavender Buttercream as well as an orange marmalade filling. In fact, if you love orange curd… oh yes, please. Try my orange curd as a filling in this can and frost it with my Swiss meringue or this Italian meringue buttercream. 

I once had a request for a Lavender chocolate Buttercream but personally, I think the strong chocolate takes away from the light and delicate Earl Grey flavor. But the lady that ordered it said she loved it.  If you make it for yourself – have fun trying new flavors but if you are making it for a customer I highly recommend checking twice if the flavors combination is something they will enjoy. 

This cake can be used in a tiered cake structure and can also be covered in fondant. 

Best Earl Grey Cake Recipe, Tea-infused cake recipe, Earl Grey Cake with IMBC

Best Earl Grey Cake Recipe, Tea-infused cake recipe, Earl Grey Cake with IMBC

Useful Tips and Tools

• If you bake often, it would be a good idea to invest in a cake mixer. Because often we try to mix by hand and then we are too tired to give it enough creaming or mixing. So, if you are making this cake go ahead and remove that K-Mix or Kitchen Aid from your kitchen cabinet.You don’t have to buy an expensive stand mixer, a simple hand mixer works great too.
• Having said that, a simple Bowl, whisk and Spatula with a little extra effort will do the trick too.
• Personally, I believe in weighing ingredients by weight, which makes my kitchen scaleone of the most valuable items when baking.
• The same goes for mymeasuring cups and measuring spoons. It’s always a good idea to have these handy and use them when baking rather than trying to guess measurements.
• I think one set of baking pans is a must for anyone a home baker. Personally, I like to bake three layers rather than torte my cakes and it bakes faster too. For most of my layer cake recipes on this blog I use 3 x 6-inch round pans or 2 x 8-inch round pans.
• Once baked always invert your cakes on a cooling rack. This encourages air circulation and prevents the steam from pooling at the bottom of the pan.
• Every oven works differently. So the baking times are just guidelines. In the case of cakes, a skewer inserted in the center is a great indication. If the cake bakes too quick or too slow compared to the time given it might be a good idea to check if your oven needs calibration. An oven thermometer is a great little gadget to help keep the oven temperature in check. All you need to do then is adjust the temperature accordingly

Best Earl Grey Cake Recipe, Tea-infused cake recipe, Earl Grey Cake with IMBC

Recipe – Earl Grey Cake with Italian Meringue Buttercream (Save/Pin)

Ingredients

For the cake

• 170 grams Unsalted Butter (3/4 cup)
• 190 grams All-purpose flour (1 1/2 cup) 
• 200 grams White sugar (1 cup) divided
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 3 large Eggs
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
• 60 ml Milk (1/4 cup)
• 30 ml Sour cream (1/4 cup)
• 1 Vanilla bean or 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp Bergamot extract
• 1/2 tsp earl grey tea leaves (optional) 

For the filling and frosting

• 4 cups Italian Meringue Buttercream
• 30 ml Sugar Syrup
• 1/4 tsp Bergamot extract (optional)

Best Earl Grey Cake Recipe, Tea-infused cake recipe, Earl Grey Cake with IMBC

Method

Prepare

• Preheat the oven to 160 °C/ 320 °F 
• Grease and line two 6-inch baking pans with parchment paper
• Sift together – flour, baking powder, baking soda, Earl grey leaves, and salt – set aside

Infuse milk

• Place milk on low heat, scrape the vanilla pods and add it to the milk (if using paste add with a teaspoon)
• Once the milk comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add the tea bags.
• Leave in the hot milk until cool.
• When cooled squeeze lightly (do not squeeze too much as the tannin will add a bitter taste to the cake)
• When cooled add sour cream to the milk and whisk to ensure you have a smooth blend.

Whip eggs 

• Break eggs in a mixer, add cream of tartar – start whipping on medium-low speed
• Gradually add about the sugar 
• Once sugar is in whip until light and foamy – ribbon stage.
• Remove egg whites and Set aside.

Cream the batter

• Working quickly – using the same mixer bowl (no need to wash)
• Cream butter and remaining sugar until light and fluffy. 
• Add flour and infused tea in three batches. The mixture will be dense at this stage.
• Combine 1/3 of the whipped egg mixture vigorously so it loosens the batter.
• FOLD the rest of the egg mixture with a spatula by hand.

Bake

• Divide batter equally into the baking pans. 
• I prefer to use baking strips to avoid a dome. 
• Bake on the middle rack for 20 to 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes clean
• Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes invert onto a cooling rack.

Best Earl Grey Cake Recipe, Tea-infused cake recipe, Earl Grey Cake with IMBC

Decorate

• Prepare Italian meringue buttercream as shown in this recipe and video 
• Add extract to the buttercream – combine well
• Once cooled – cut off any dome on the cake to level them 
• Cut each layer in half horizontally so you have flour layers 

Best Earl Grey Cake Recipe, Tea-infused cake recipe, Earl Grey Cake with IMBC

• Spread buttercream on three layers and stack them 
• Crumb coats or spread a little buttercream around the cake. (this helps seal the crumbs)

Best Earl Grey Cake Recipe, Tea-infused cake recipe, Earl Grey Cake with IMBC

• Chill the cake if necessary for 10 to 15 minutes so the layers won’t move.
• Divide the buttercream into three – dye each with a color – I used pink, peach and cream
• Put all colors of buttercream in a piping bag with a star piping tip nozzle
• Pipe buttercream lines with the tip facing towards the cake from the bottom towards the top. 

Best Earl Grey Cake Recipe, Tea-infused cake recipe, Earl Grey Cake with IMBC

Storage 

• The cake will stay fresh for up to four days at cool room temperature, longer if kept in the fridge. 
• It can be frozen for a month or more. 

Best Earl Grey Cake Recipe, Tea-infused cake recipe, Earl Grey Cake with IMBC

Earl Grey Cake with Italian Meringue Buttercream

Know anyone who loves tea? I have the perfect cake for that tea lover in your life. This Earl Grey cake has just the right balance of tea and citrusy bergamot essence which makes this unique blend of flavor. Delicious on its own or frosted with my homemade Italian meringue buttercream this cake is perfect to serve as a weekend dessert or to celebrate a special milestone such as a birthday, anniversary or wedding. 

5 from 17 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cakes, earl grey, IMBC, Layer cake

Adjust Servings Here: 12 servings

Calories: 562kcal

Author: Veena Azmanov

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 25 mins

Total Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

For the cake

• 170 grams Unsalted Butter
• 190 grams All-purpose flour
• 200 grams White sugar
• 1 tsp  Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 3 large Eggs
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
• 2 bags Earl Grey Tea
• 60 ml Milk
• 30 ml Sour cream
• 1  Vanilla bean pod (or 1 tsp paste or extract)
• 1 tsp Bergamot extract
• 1/2 tsp earl grey tea leaves

For the filling and frosting

• 4 cups Italian Meringue Buttercream
• 60 ml Sugar Syrup
• 1/4 tsp Bergamot extract optional

Metric - US customary

Instructions

Prepare

• Preheat the oven to 160 °C/ 320 °F
• Grease and line two 6-inch baking pans with parchment paper
• Sift together - flour, baking powder, baking soda, Earl grey leaves, and salt - set aside

Infuse milk

• Place milk on low heat, scrape the vanilla pods and add it to the milk (if using paste add with a teaspoon)
• Once the milk comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add the tea bags.
• Leave in the hot milk until cool.
• When cooled squeeze lightly (do not squeeze too much as the tannin will add a bitter taste to the cake)
• When cooled add sour cream to the milk and whisk to ensure you have a smooth blend.

Whip eggs

• Break eggs in a mixer, add cream of tartar - start whipping on medium-low speed
• Gradually add about the sugar
• Once sugar is in whip until light and foamy - ribbon stage.
• Remove egg whites and Set aside.

Cream the batter

• Working quickly - using the same mixer bowl (no need to wash)
• Cream butter and remaining sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add flour and infused tea in three batches. The mixture will be dense at this stage.
• Combine 1/3 of the whipped egg mixture vigorously so it loosens the batter.
• FOLD the rest of the egg mixture with a spatula by hand.

Bake

• Divide batter equally into the baking pans.
• I prefer to use baking strips to avoid a dome.
• Bake on the middle rack for 20 to 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes clean
• Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes invert onto a cooling rack.

Decorate

• Prepare Italian meringue buttercream as shown in this recipe and video
• Add extract to the buttercream - combine well
• Once cooled - cut off any dome on the cake to level them
• Cut each layer in half horizontally so you have flour layers
• Spread buttercream on three layers and stack them
• Crumb coats or spread a little buttercream around the cake. (this helps seal the crumbs)
• Chill the cake if necessary for 10 to 15 minutes so the layers won’t move.
• Divide the buttercream into three - dye each with a color - I used pink, peach and cream
• Put all colors of buttercream in a piping bag with a star piping tip nozzle
• Pipe buttercream lines with the tip facing towards the cake from the bottom towards the top.

Storage

• The cake will stay fresh for up to four days at cool room temperature, longer if kept in the fridge.
• It can be frozen for a month or more.

Chef's Tips

Storage The cake will stay fresh for up to four days at cool room temperature, longer if kept in the fridge. It can be frozen for a month or more.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 562kcal | Carbohydrates: 80g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 261mg | Potassium: 117mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 64g | Vitamin A: 8.7% | Calcium: 4% | Iron: 6%

The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you

Tried this recipe?Mention @veenaazmanov or tag #veenaazmanov!

More Cake Recipes? 

Take a look at my selection of layered cakes as well as coffee cakes including bundt cakes and more.