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Earl Grey Tea Cake

ByJo-Anna Rooney Posted Updated
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This Earl Grey Tea Cake has hints of lavender and bergamot orange mixed into a delicious vanilla cake.

It’s Friday…I do declare it’s time for tea and cake.  Yes?  I made you an Earl Grey Tea cake. Yes, a cake with tea baked right into it, and it’s as good as it sounds!

I have been dreaming of this cake for quite a while now.  Something about baking with tea is very intriguing to me.  I mean sipping tea with desserts is a perfect after dinner past time isn’t it, so why not add tea to the dessert itself?  YES.  I’m not sure all teas are cut out for baking, but Earl Grey tea certainly is.  It’s flavour lends itself perfectly to a simple vanilla cake.

Earl Grey Tea Cake {A Pretty Life}

I have a love affair with Earl Grey tea…on a side note, have you ever tried the Earl Grey Tea Latte from Second Cup?  If not, you should, it’s delicious.

Earl Grey Tea Cake {A Pretty Life}

I used a Lady Grey Earl Grey tea for this cake, which has hints of lavender and bergamot orange…so good.  (Lady Grey tea is Earl Grey tea with the addition of lavender)

Earl Grey Tea Cake {A Pretty Life}

Steeped in whole milk, and added to my basic vanilla pound cake recipe, this cake is divine.  Oh my.

Earl Grey Tea Cake {A Pretty Life}

The flavour is light and sweet and perfect for breakfast, or lunch or really any time.  Because cake needs no excuse does it?  😉

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Earl Grey Tea Cake

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★★★★★

4.8 from 33 reviews

This Earl Grey Tea Cake has hints of lavender and bergamot orange mixed into a delicious vanilla cake.

  • Author: Jo-Anna Rooney
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 1 Bundt cake 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 Earl Grey Tea bags
  • icing sugar for garnish

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Prepare a Bundt pan by buttering the pan and lightly dusting with flour. Set aside.
  3. Heat up the 1 cup of milk (I just microwaved mine until hot), then add the 2 tea bags to the hot milk and let steep at least 10 minutes. Set aside.
  4. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
  5. Add the eggs, one at a time.
  6. Then add vanilla, and mix well.
  7. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, and baking powder.
  8. To the butter mix, add 1/3 of the flour mix, then 1/2 of the tea milk. Repeat until all combined.
  9. Pour into the prepared Bundt pan.
  10. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
  11. Once the cake has baked, let it cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then turn the cake out onto a plate, and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Keywords: bundt cake, cake recipe, Earl Grey Tea cake

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Earl Grey Tea Cake {A Pretty Life}

Earl Grey Tea Cake {A Pretty Life}

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Have a delicious day!

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Hi I'm Jo-Anna Rooney, the creator, director, baker, maker and home decorator here at A Pretty Life in the Suburbs! I'm sharing a simple home life through fresh and easy recipes and uncomplicated home tips and home decor.

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106 Comments

  1. just want to let you know that your save link no longer is valid . Ziplist does not exist anymore . can you change your link to epicurious?

    Reply

    1. Hi Deb! Thank you for pointing that out – I had no idea! So I looked into it, and the only option now with this program is a site called Big Oven (Epicurious unfortunately isn’t an option provided to me). I’ve enabled Big Oven, so I hope that helps?

      Reply

  7. That looks wonderful! My favourite is Earl Grey madeleines. The lavender in the Lady Grey would add such a delicate, fragrant touch to your cake!

    Reply

  10. Hello again. In your post you mention you used a Lady Grey tea (which should have lavender added), and in your photo it looks like a Tazo teabag. However I can’t find any Lady Grey tea by Tazo — only Earl Grey. I think Lady Grey is only made by Twinings, but they don’t use lavender in it — just orange and lemon flavours. Can you specify what brand of tea you used? I can always just use regular Earl Grey but the lavender sounds so yummy! 🙂

    Reply

  12. Hi! Me again! I finally got around to making this cake this past weekend. It was delightful! I used Lipton’s regular Earl Grey tea and it gave a subtle flavour, just perfect. I accidentally doubled the sugar when creaming the butter and sugar together so I just doubled the whole recipe, with the intention of making two cakes. All the batter fit in my bundt pan so I made one big one and watched it carefully. Exactly 45 minutes later it was done – even with doubling the recipe. A great cake! Light, moist, not too sweet. Will be making this again for sure 🙂

    Reply

  15. YUM! I’m an EG fan, too. Have you ever tried the Governor Grey from the Charleston Tea Plantation (i.e., American Classic Tea)?? It’s positively divine!!! Love that you shared this at Snickerdoodle Sunday and I hope to see you again this weekend!

    Sarah (Sadie Seasongoods)

    Reply

  19. I love having chai tea with cake so why not Earl Grey baked right in? What a cleverly delicious idea! Thanks for sharing with Small Victories Sunday Linkup. Pinning to our linkup board and hope you found some great posts to visit this week!

    Reply

  23. What a great idea. I don’t like tea myself, but ALL my girl friends love Earl and Lady Grey so this would be great for our next meet up. Thank you so much for linking up to #AllAboutYou

    Reply

  24. Early Grey is a favorite of mine. Have you ever tried a London Fog? Earl Great with foamed milk and a dash of sugar. Yum. This cake looks delish-just Pinned. Thanks for sharing at Fridays Unfolded!

    Alison
    Nancherrow

    Reply

  25. Earl Grey is one of my favorite teas! So this tea cake is a must try for me. Thanks for sharing your recipe at the #HomeMattersParty – we’re looking forward to what you have to share next week. 🙂

    ~Lorelai
    Life With Lorelai

    Reply

  27. I have yet to bake with tea, but I am totally intrigued by your recipe. I have been collecting a few different types of tea to experiment and I think I will also use Earl Grey – this cake is just stunning! I featured your post this week at #FoodieFriDIY – thank you so much for participating!

    Reply

  28. My bestie is obsessed with Earl Grey tea, this tea cake would be a make a lovely gift alongside my Earl Grey truffles I make! Pinning this and making it soon!

    Reply

  29. May i know why you use so much baking powder.. 3 tsp? I think 2 tsp should be enough. Too much baking powder will give funny aftertaste to your cake.

    I tried dilmah earl grey before for my cakes. You don’t have to discard the tea leaves n they will give beautiful flecks to your cake.

    Reply

    1. Hi Audrey! It’s just the recipe that I have been using for years for my Bundt cakes…I’ve never noticed any aftertaste. I’m not sure how the cake would turn out with only 2 tsp of baking powder vs 3.

      Reply

      1. This recipe called for 4 tsp which I thought was a ton – but this review says 3? Can you confirm?

        Reply

  30. I’ve only ever made a chocolate earl grey tea cake and it was fab! Does this cake absolutely have to be baked in a bundt pan? I don’t have one and no way to go get one at present.

    Reply

    1. Hi Kai! I’ve only ever made it in a Bundt pan, but I think it would bake perfectly in a 9×13 baking pan. I would just watch the baking time and check it around 25 minutes, then monitor the baking after that point. I think it would take less baking time in the 9×13 pan.

      Reply

  32. I made this yesterday with a raspberry earl grey. It is quite delicious. I’m thinking of making the same recipe with Rose tea, because I think that will be completely divine. Instead of topping with powdered sugar. Made a light earl grey glaze(steeped tea bag in 3 TB of whole milk and 1.25 cups of powdered sugar) this added even more light earl grey flavor which of course was delightful. My only problem is that my cake turned out a bit dry. I am at 5000 feet. I considered adding a third egg. What do you think?

    Reply

  33. Hi there! I was looking to make this cake for someone with a gluten allergy. Would I be able to make this cake with using a box gluten free pound cake mix? And if so, how would I go about infusing the Earl Grey?

    Reply

    1. Hi Reilly! If I were to use a gluten free pound cake mix, I would just infuse the Earl Grey tea into the liquid required to make your cake. Let it seep for at least 10 minutes for maximum flavour. Good luck!

      Reply

  34. I just made this delicious cake and it turned out exactly like the picture ! It was a big hit for tea/coffee time 🙂 the only thing was I wanted a bit more earl grey flavour but I used a different earl grey than the recipe asked for so that might be why.

    Reply

  36. Lovely recipe! I would just adjust it to 2 tsp of baking powder as opposed to 4. Gave my bread a bitter aftertaste and had to throw it out =( I used a regular bread loaf pan so not sure if that’s the difference. King Arthur Flour gave a guideline of adding 1 tsp of b. powder to 1 cup of flour. I wouldn’t want others to throw out their breads as this is a beautiful recipe (great with added lemon zest too).

    Reply

  37. This is my new favorite recipe! It works every time and is an easy crowd-pleaser. Personally, I needed a stronger tea flavor so I just used three tea bags in the milk and cut open another bag to sprinkle on top. This is definitely a great recipe to try!

    Reply

    1. 5 stars
      I just made this lovely little cake. My whole family loved it and asked for even more Earl Grey flavour! We are tea drinkers and this cake is wonderful. One question: I have small buntlette pans and I’d love to use them for this recipe – how should I adjust the bake time? Thank you!

      ★★★★★

      Reply

      1. Hi! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe! To answer your question about using Bundlette pans…I have never baked cakes in this type of pan before, but after doing a bit of research, it looks like they should bake about 18-20 minutes. I would just make sure to keep an eye on them as they bake so they don’t burn. Happy baking!

        Reply

  41. Hello! I was wondering if I can use a 9×9 cake pan if I don’t have a bundt cake pan

    Thank you!

    Reply

  42. So excited to have come across this recipe! I have to go to a royal wedding tea party celebration today and thought it’d be perfect. I’m short on time though. Would I be able to use box mix as a base? In particular yellow cake mix? The only liquid is oil so wasn’t sure if that would work. Thank you!

    Reply

  43. 5 stars
    I’m amazed how easy this recipe is and the result was an aromatically delicious Earl Grey cake. I used Marks and Spencer’s earl grey teabags and they turned out great!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  44. 5 stars
    I honestly can’t bake to save my life (took me 3 hours to make a 2 ingredient chocolate cake once ahh) but this recipe was SO easy to do! I didn’t have Earl Grey so I used Assam tea (also ended up using 3 tea bags instead of 2 because the tea bags were really small) and I really had to stop myself from eating the batter because it smelt so good.
    Cake came out really tasty, soft, and moist. Was a little dense, but I think I just didn’t whisk for long enough.
    Am really wanted to try this again!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    1. Hi Char! I typically use a 12 cup Bundt pan for my cakes. And non-stick pans are the best to use because getting the cakes out of the pan can be tricky. If you don’t have a non-stick pan, just make sure you prep your pan by greasing and flouring it really well first. Happy baking!

      Reply

  47. 5 stars
    My husband has recently fallen in love with Earl Grey tea (decaf). So, when I say your post, I thought, “Gotta make this for him”. I only had Earl Grey in the house-so I threw in some dried lavender just to try to keep to the recipe. Oh my goodness. This is my new ‘take and wow people’ cake. I live in Beirut, where overly sweet cakes are not popular…so, this one is perfect! Just the right sweetness with new and exciting flavors people haven’t tried together before. Thank you sooooo much for the recipe! And, keep posting bundt cake recipes…and buying new shapes/designs! Life is too short for boring square cakes 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  48. Hello, I scrolled up and down the comments and couldn’t find an answer to my question. It may be trivial but did you use a 9 inch bundt or a 9.5 inch bundt?

    Reply

    1. Hi Ashley! I typically use a 10 cup Bundt pan for my recipes, which is about 9 inches. You can use either size you mentioned though. If you’re concerned about overbaking in the 9.5 inch pan, maybe just check the cake a few minutes earlier.

      Reply

  49. I want to try to make a tea cake, like this but I was wondering if anyone has ever used a spherical cake pan for this recipe. I want to make a tea pot cake and I am not sure how well it would hold up after baking in a spherical cake pan.

    Reply

  50. 4 stars
    Hi there! I tried this recipe dairy free, so I subbed in sweetened apple sauce for the butter and almond milk for the milk. Because I used sweetened applesauce I cut down on the sugar by 1/4 cup but I think that was too much to reduce. It wasn’t sweet enough and the texture was a little more chewy/bouncy than id like. I can see that this cake would be incredible with the regular ingredients! I just wanted to give some feedback in case anyone else is attempting this as dairy free and with sweetened apple sauce! Next time I’ll try vegetable oil to see if that gives a nicer texture.

    ★★★★

    Reply

  51. 5 stars
    Delicious cake with a subtle earl grey flavour. I followed the recipe word for word and it was great! I took mine out of the oven after only 30 minutes and it was perfect.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  52. 5 stars
    Great recipe! I like that it’s not too sweet or heavy; just a nice delicate cake perfect for a snack.

    I baked mine in a 9×9 pan for 45 minutes and it came out almost perfect. The edges were a bit dry so maybe I’d do 40 next time. I sprinkled sugar on top before putting it in the oven for an added crunch.

    Tea-wise, I did 3 Marks & Spencer earl grey bags in milk microwaved for 90 seconds. I added foil on top of the cup to keep it hot, steeped for around 20 minutes and squeezed out all the tea goodness before I added it to the mixture. I thought the end result had the perfect amount of tea but my bf said it didn’t have any tea taste. I do like a good smack in the face of tea flavor so next time I’ll be trying 4 tea bags and if that isn’t enough, doing icing sugar with the tea leaves on top. PERHAPS even adding tea leaves to the raw mix?! My tea bags have a pretty fine tea so this is definitely a possibility. If you’re using the fancy tea with large leaves you’d probably have to give it a good chop or grind before trying this.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  53. Thanks for the share! What would you think of frosting the bundt cake with cream cheese frosting? I have some leftover from a carrot cake and would love to use it.

    Reply

  54. I have made this recipe vegan for friends of mine. I used ground flax seed as the egg replacer, vegan butter and almond milk. I squeezed the tea bags to get the most flavor out and added a tsp of dried lavender. It was a hit and requested again within a week.

    Reply

  55. 5 stars
    This was a great base recipe. As other comments have said, I used half the amount of baking powder. And instead of powdered sugar on top, I made a simple syrup infused with more tea and some orange zest to drizzle on top which really upped it. For anyone trying this – the batter will look very runny but that’s OK! – it still turns out great.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  57. 5 stars
    This Earl Gray Tea Cake is delicious! Light, fluffy, and fragrant! I made an earl gray infused icing to top it off. So good!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  58. Love the idea of lady grey tea. I didn’t have any so I steeped some lavender with the milk. Tasted nice with the earl grey and lavender.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  59. Your recipe looks amazing. I’m going to try it tmr. Just want to ask a question how long will the cake last in the refrigerator? Thank you so much

    Reply

    1. Hi! This cake is best stored, tightly covered, on your counter…the fridge may dry it out. It’s also best enjoyed the day it’s made (or 1-2 days after). Hope this helps!

      Reply

  60. This recipe looks divine! I didn’t see this questions, so I thought I’d ask: if you only have loose-leaf Earl Grey tea (I specifically have Cream of Earl Grey from DavidsTea), what would the measurement be of that? I have a tea-strainer, so steeping is no issue, but I’m not sure how much is in each tea bag? Hope you can help!

    Reply

  61. I FINALLY baked this. I made one for my neighbors and one for us – so easy to make. For ours, I substituted Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 (gluten-free) Baking Flour and the cake turned out perfectly. 40 minutes in our oven was long enough. I’m going to add more tea bags next time and see how that turns out. It was delicious though.

    Reply

  62. Hi! I made this last year and remember it was pretty tasty. It’s best eaten within a few days though – I rememebr the longer I kept it the drier it got. (Tea flavor stayed strong though!) I was wondering – has anyone tried this recipe with another tea? I was thinking chai could be really nice, but haven’t tried it yet.

    ★★★★

    Reply

  63. Just made this. Simple and lovely. Mine only filled the Bundt maybe halfway so it’s petite. Any tips for getting the bottom (top when baking) flat so it sits flat on the plate? I checked it at 40min and it was already done and very brown.

    ★★★★

    Reply

  64. What do you think about possibly trying to add some lavender icing? Maybe a buttercream with some ground lavender added in? I think I read somewhere above that the cake was nice and light. Do you think that would be overpowering or could it potentially pair well with the hint of lavender in the tea?

    Reply

  65. came out great! used loose leaf tea (3 teaspoons for 1 cup milk). used cake flour, added an extra 4 tablespoons to even out the substitution. mine was ready after 39 mins. can def taste the earl grey in the cake with 3 teaspoons. did 3.5 teaspoons of baking powder as well & worked fine.

    ★★★★★

    Reply