Earl Grey Cake

Total Time Prep: 35 min. + standing Bake: 25 min. + cooling
Yield 16 servings
Test Kitchen Approved
Earl Grey makes a curious addition to this frosted sponge cake, but its subtle bergamot aroma adds an elegant flourish. You’ll taste the syrup in each layer.

Ingredients

  • SIMPLE SYRUP:
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 Earl Grey tea bags
  • CAKE:
  • 3/4 cup 2% milk
  • 3 Earl Grey tea bags, divided
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1-1/2 cups sugar
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • FROSTING:
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1 tablespoon 2% milk

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line bottoms of 2 greased 9-in. round baking pans with parchment; grease parchment.
  2. For simple syrup, in a small saucepan, bring sugar and water to a simmer until sugar is dissolved, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat; add tea bags. Steep 10 minutes; discard tea bags. Set aside to cool.
  3. In another small saucepan, bring milk to a low simmer. Add 2 tea bags; steep 10 minutes. Discard tea bags. Set tea-steeped milk aside to cool. Remove loose tea leaves from third sachet, finely mince.
  4. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, reserved minced tea leaves and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with tea-steeped milk, beating well after each addition. Pour into prepared pans, dividing batter evenly.
  5. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks; remove parchment. Cool completely.
  6. For frosting, in a small bowl, beat butter and vanilla until blended. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth.
  7. To assemble cake, brush each layer with earl grey simple syrup; top middle with 1/2 cup frosting. Stack layers on top of each other; spread top and sides with remaining frosting. Slice and serve.

Nutrition Facts

1 slice: 439 calories, 22g fat (13g saturated fat), 89mg cholesterol, 171mg sodium, 59g carbohydrate (44g sugars, 0 fiber), 4g protein.

This delightful layer cake gets a triple wallop of Earl Grey flavor: steeped milk and finely minced tea leaves go in the batter, then each of the delicate cake layers is brushed with a tea-infused simple syrup. A lovely vanilla frosting adorns it all. —Taste of Home Test Kitchen
Recipe Creator

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