Earl Grey Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Note To Self:  Keep Calm and Eat Cupcakes!

After spring teased us with a perfect few days she decided to truly come in like a lion.  The weather has been cool and rainy and the forecast is calling for snow overnight!  Which has me stressed out - I need to get outside and play in the dirt SOON!  Enough with the cool weather! I am rapidly reaching the end of my patience!

Some women fuss and moan when they get stressed.  I clean and bake.  During the downpour we had yesterday, I scrubbed my house til it begged for mercy.  Today I baked.  I have no idea where I got this recipe from.  I found it a while back, handwritten by me, but placed in with a bunch of recipes torn from magazines.

The aroma that filled the house while these were cooking was utterly divine.  They are so good!  Pierce, who isn't a tea person, liked them enough to eat 3!

Earl Grey Cupcakes

1/2 cup milk, room temperature
4 earl grey teabags
8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons self rising flour
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350.  Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.  Heat milk in a saucepan until almost boiling.  Remove from heat, add teabags, cover, steep for 30 minutes and discard teabags.  (I used looseleaf Cream Earl Grey tea so I just stirred it in and strained the milk after infusing). 

In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar till smooth.  Add almond extract.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each.  Sift the two flours together and add one third of flour mixture to mixing bowl followed by one third of the infused milk.  Mix well.  Repeat flour and milk additions until all has been added.

Spoon into cups, filling them about 2/3 full.  Bake for 25 minutes or till tests done.  Cool completely before icing. Makes one dozen.

Buttercream Frosting

8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/4 cup milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
A few drops of food coloring

In mixing bowl, beat milk, butter, vanilla and half the sugar until smooth.  Gradually add the remaining sugar, beating until smooth and creamy.  Add food coloring if desired.

I made a note at the bottom of my recipe to use Lavender frosting for the cupcakes.  I don't have any culinary lavender or voilet food coloring in the house at the moment so I used Buttercream. But I have a feeling the lavender icing would definitely take these cupcakes up another notch!  If you try the recipe with Lavender Icing, please let me know!

Lavender Icing

1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon dried lavender
3 cups confectioners sugar
Violet gel paste food coloring

Bring milk and lavender just to a boil in small saucepan.  Remove from heat and let steep 10 minutes.  Strain and discard lavender.  Whisk in sugar until smooth.  Strain again.  Add food coloring until desired shade is reached.  Use immediately.