Earl Grey Cake with Italian Meringue Buttercream

Name: Earl Grey Cake with Italian Meringue Buttercream
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients: 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; 4 cups Italian Meringue Buttercream; 60 ml Sugar Syrup; 1/4 tsp Bergamot extract (optional)

September 25, 2014 *Updated* July 6, 2019 By Veena Azmanov 34 Comments

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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.

This Earl Grey Cake is the best tea flavored cake frosted with Italian Meringue Buttercream. Simple easy recipe that quick too.

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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 cake 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.

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Let’s talk ingredients and substitutes (Save/Pin)

Butter – I prefer to use unsalted butter so I can control the quantity of sugar in my recipe but if salted butter is all you gave go ahead and use it. Just omit salt in the recipe.
Eggs – Always use large size eggs when baking unless specified. The size of eggs varies significantly these days so as a guide on large eggs weighs between 50 to 60 grams
All-purpose flour – yes, regular plain flour (maida) is all you need for these cakes. Do not use any self-raising as those contain more leavening.
Sour Cream – gives the cake a soft crumb. If you don’t get sour cream where you are you can make sour cream at home. Here’s how to make sour cream at home for baking. If you must you can also use milk or buttermilk. Buttermilk can also be made at home in just 5 minutes – here’s my tutorial for homemade buttermilk.
Vanilla – I love the little specs of bean paste scattered around the cake so I love using a vanilla bean. You can use bean pas or extract. Always use a good quality vanilla extract. I know it’s expensive which is why I make my own vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste as well as vanilla sugar.
Earl Grey tea – I love to gain as much flavor as I can, mostly because by the time you add the filling and frosting the cake flavor can go a bit mild. I would love the Earl Grey flavor to shine thru in my cakes. So this cake has milk infused with tea bags, tea leaves in the batter, vanilla bean, as well as Bergamot Extract.
Bergamot Extract – this is the essence of the earl grey tea. If you cannot find Bergamot Extract – double the quantity of the tea bags used and you will still have a nice strong flavor.
Earl Grey tea leaves – While they do add some flavor they are more for an aesthetic appeal. I love the black speck of the little tea leaves in the cake. You can omit these as well.

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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.
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. 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

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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)

If you do not want to use Italian meringue try Swiss meringue or others. You know I love frosting so I have lots of options for you to try. Check out my 30 plus homemade buttercream frosting recipes

Over 30 homemade buttercream frosting recipes by Veena Azmanov all in one place.

30 Plus Homemade Buttercream Frosting Recipes

Need a buttercream recipe in 5 minutes? Have a buttercream related question? Wondering what buttercream to use for your cake? It's all here in one place. 30 plus homemade buttercream frosting recipes for you to explore. With recipes, tips, trick, and troubleshooting, as well as popular questions, answered.

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.

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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.

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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

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

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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.

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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.

Don’t forget to save this recipe on Pinterest for later.
You can find a collection of my tutorials and recipes here on Pinterest.

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Earl Grey Cake with Italian Meringue Buttercream

Author: Veena Azmanov

5 from 17 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course - Dessert

Cuisine - American

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 25 mins

Total Time: 35 mins

Calories: 562

Adjust Servings Here: 12 servings

Description