Lavender Earl Grey Cupcakes

My second daughter is a picky eater. She can eat a lot if she likes what she's eating. Otherwise, she can stay hungry for many hours. Cakes happen to be her favourite &, ironically, she is more adventurous  to try new cake flavours. She once tried a lavender earl grey cake from a cafe she used to work at & fell in love with it. And recently, she persuaded me to bake one & assured me that it would be worth it. Well...... I was quite hesitant at first because, unlike her, I'm more old fashioned. I like to stick to the traditional..... vanilla, chocolate or pandan. But I gave in as I was convinced that she'd like it & besides,  I got to blog about a new recipe! It's a win-win situation! 

If you are a milk tea drinker, it's easy for you to imagine the taste of these cuppies. But with the addition of dried lavender flowers, the soft & moist cakes also have a light & sweet floral smell. Pairing the cakes with cream cheese frosting was a good choice as the tangy frosting gives a good balance to the sweet cakes. The sprinkled lavender on the frosting not only makes the cupcakes pretty, but it gives off a stronger floral smells, but I wouldn't overdo it as it can be quite overwhelming...

Lavender Earl Grey Cupcakes.
Ingredients:
80 ml (1/3 cup) milk
2 Earl Grey tea bags
100g cake flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp dried lavender
1/4 tsp salt
65g butter
90g sugar
30g honey
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 egg

Frosting (I used cream cheese frosting, recipe follows.)

dried lavender for sprinkling on top of cakes

Method:

1. Heat the  milk until very hot but not boiling. Place the tea bags in the milk and steep until very strong. You’ll know the milk is ready to be used when it turns a deep caramel color (about 10-12 minutes). You can even choose to do this step the day before you plan to make the cupcakes. Steeping the tea overnight will create a pronounced tea flavour in the baked cupcakes.
2. Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line muffin cups with paper bake cups. (I used 10 medium paper scouffle  cups.)
3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, dried lavender & salt. Set aside.
4. In another mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, honey & vanilla & beat until combined. Add egg & beat well.  Alternately add flour mixture & milk to butter mixture, beating on low speed  after each addition just until mixture is combined.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire rack for 10 minutes. Then remove cakes from pan & cool completely on wire rack.
6. Pipe or spread frosting on the cuppies & sprinkle with dried lavender.

Adapted from Heather Baird @ BHG

Cream Cheese Frosting

130g cream cheese

30g butter

75g sugar

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl & beat until creamy.