Recipe: Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Icing

The perfect cupcake for spring, Sarah Still's Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Icing.

If you're a little bit tired of chocolate this Easter, why not try this fantastic cupcake recipe?

Ingredients

• 8oz unsalted butter or margarine
• 16oz caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 12 plain flour
• 8 teaspoons baking powder
• 8 floz milk
• 7 Earl Grey tea bags (tear open and put the loose tea into a dish)
• Lemon Buttercream Icing
• 4 1/2oz unsalted butter
• 14oz icing sugar
• Juice of 1 whole fresh lemon

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until it is light and fluffy. 
3. Add the eggs, one at a time.  Mix together the flour, tea, baking powder and beat in half of this dry mixture with the wet mixture. 
4. Add the milk and the rest of the dry mixture mixing together until just combined. 
5. Fill the cupcake cases until just over half full.
6. Place in the centre of the oven ( I tend to use rather large cupcake cases so you get 12 - 15 really good sized cupcakes, you could use smaller and get a few more cakes out of the recipe. 
7. Bake until slightly golden and springy to touch, roughly 25 minutes. Make sure they are fully cool before frosting.

To make the buttercream frosting:

Cream the butter, then add the sugar and beat together, add the lemon juice and beat until smooth.  Add a little milk if the mixture is too thick and continue to beat until smooth.  Spread or pipe over the cooled cupcakes.