Vegan Earl Grey Cupcakes

When Sarah visited California recently, and the duo was reunited for a week or so, we decided to explore vegan baking with a recipe that combines some of our favorite things: Earl Grey tea and cupcakes! We found this recipe on itdoesn’ttastelikechicken.com, and decided to give it a try.

The only real modification that we made was that we doubled the frosting amount. The original recipe stated that the cupcakes were lightly frosted, which is fine if you aren’t a sugar addict like we are! Besides, when is having leftover frosting ever a bad thing?

Vegan Earl Grey Cupcakes

Dry Ingredients:

• 4 Earl Grey Teabags (or 4 teaspoons loose earl grey tea)
• 1¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
• ¾ Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• ½ teaspoon Salt

Wet Ingredients:

• ⅔ Cup Non-Dairy Milk (such as soy or almond milk)
• ⅓ Cup Canola Oil (or other light flavourless oil)
• 2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar (or white vinegar)
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Frosting Ingredients:

• ¼ Cup Vegetable Shortening (I like Earth Balance non-hydrogenated shortening)
• ¼ Cup Vegan Butter (I like Earth Balance)
• 1½ Cups Powdered Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 Earl Grey Teabag (or 1 teaspoons loose earl grey tea)
• Boiling Water

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350°
• Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners, or lightly grease the pan and set aside.
• Cut 4 teabags open and empty the contents into a small bowl. If the tea is a fine grind, you are good to go. If the tea you are using is has big leaves or is coarser, pulse it in a food processor, blender, or grind in mortar and pestle until it’s a finer grind, but not powder.
• Add the tea to a large mixing bowl along with all of the dry ingredients: the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix together.
• In a separate bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients: the non-dairy milk, canola oil, apple cider vinegar and vanilla.
• Pour the wet into dry, and using a spoon mix until the ingredients are just combined. Do not over mix.
• Divide the batter evenly among the 12 cupcake liners and pop in the oven for 18-20 minutes until the cakes have risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Making the Frosting:

• Bring water to a boil. Put the teabag in a small mug and pour in the boiling water. You will only need about 2 tablespoons of the brewed tea, but make a bit extra just in case.  Let steep until cool, do not remove the teabag! You want the tea to be very strong.
• In a mixer, blend the vegetable shortening and vegan butter, together until creamy. Add in the powdered sugar ½ a cup at a time. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the cold extra strong brewed tea. If you are happy with the frosting consistency, stop here, if you want it a bit softer, add in another tablespoon of the brewed tea until you are happy with the consistency.
• When the cupcakes are completely cooled, scoop the frosting into a piping bag, use a knife to spread the frosting, or cut a hole in the tip of a plastic bag for a DIY frosting bag.