White Velvet Cupcakes with Earl Grey Buttercream
Tender white cupcakes are topped with an earl gray infused buttercream for the perfect tea time dessert! The cupcakes are light and fluffy, not dense.
What’s unusual about these cupcakes is they don’t follow the usual creaming method. For this reason, I was originally very skeptical of them because they break the baking rules.
But they’re sooooo good. They’re fluffy and light and…velvety =) Their light texture and delicately delicious flavor called for a really tasty buttercream, and while I was browsing the aisles of the grocery store, I thought EARL GREY!!!
And holy smokes…white velvet cupcakes with earl grey buttercream…it’s just divine.
White Velvet Cupcakes with Earl Grey Buttercream
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 3 extra large egg whites at room temperature
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 7 oz cake flour, by weight sifted (if you don't have a scale, sift your flour in 2 cups, and level it off)
- 1 cup sugar
- 2.25 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter between 65 and 75 degrees F
For the buttercream:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 4 egg yolks at room temperature
- .75 cups butter diced into small cubes
- 3/4 tsp vanilla
- 1 bag earl grey tea cut it open and dump the tea in the buttercream
Instructions
- To make the cupcakes: Place an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg whites, 3 tbsp of the milk, and the vanilla until combined.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the rest of the milk (about 7 tbsp) and mix on low until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 90 seconds, until nice and smooth. Scrape down the bowl, make sure to scrape down below where sticky batter may settle.
- With the mixer on medium-low speed, slowly add half the egg mixture, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom wells of the bowl. Repeat with the other half of the egg mixture. Scrape the bowl again to make sure all the batter is homogenous. Fill a cupcake pan with your liners, and fill them up 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out cleanly. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan set on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes and let them cool on the rack completely.
- For the buttercream: In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks on high speed for 8 minutes until they are very pale. In the meantime, combine the sugar and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, and let the sugar syrup simmer toward the soft ball stage (238 degrees on an instant read thermometer). When both the egg yolks and the sugar syrup are ready, pour the sugar syrup into the mixing bowl (the mixer should still be on high speed), aiming as best as you can to pour between the wire whisk and the side of the bowl. Now, touch the bottom of the bowl. Very hot, right? Beat the egg yolk sugar mixture until the bowl feels neither hot nor cold (about 5 minutes).
- Turn the mixer down to medium and add the earl grey tea. If you taste the buttercream and it doesn’t taste Early Grey-y enough, don’t worry, the earl grey needs time to infuse into the buttercream. Add the butter, a couple cubes at a time to the bowl, over the course of 10 minutes. Wait until each installment of butter is absorbed until you add the next batch. Pipe or spread your buttercream on your cupcakes, and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
42 Comments on “White Velvet Cupcakes with Earl Grey Buttercream”
Hiii! Going to try this soon 🙂 I was wondering about the butter you put in the cupcake, it’s melted right? at temperature of 65 and 75 degrees F and for the frosting, will it melt while travelling by commute? or it should be fine if i refrigerate it? sorry if too much questions mehehe 😀 Thank youuuuuuu! :3
Hi Maiko, no, 65 to 75 is not melted, that is softened, room temperature butter. Also, the frosting won’t melt if it’s left out, but I do recommend refrigerating it if possible. Enjoy!
Hi Joanne,
I just discovered your site recently and things here look so good, so scrumptious. I made these cupcakes and they came out good, but the butter cream – sooo sweet, my teeth started to hurt. Is it supposed to be that sweet? Is there anyway to remedy it now, cut the sweetness down somehow? I should have gone with my old family recipe for butter creme – softened butter and condensed sweetened milk – it never fails and would work great with these cupcakes.
Hi Julia, you could add more butter to dilute, but I’ve never tried reducing the sugar syrup so I don’t know how that would turn out. If you try it, let us know how it turns out =)
Hi Joanne!
I was wondering how you add the butter in this recipe— do you just dunk the stick in or do you cut the butter into cubes?
Thanks
Hi Tori, are you referring to the butter for the cakes or for the buttercream?
Hi! Just saw your video on the strawberry cupcakes so my confusion was cleared(I had wondered about the butter in the cake— sorry for not replying for so long!) I also wanted to ask, what kind of mixer do you have? I recognize the KitchenAid brand, but could you tell me the model?
Thanks!
Fantastic to hear! It’s the professional 600 series from Kitchen Aid, it’s just got a bit more power than the classic ones.
Making this tomorrow with your strawberry buttercream for an Easter brunch this weekend! Any thoughts on how to adapt the cooking time if we do 8 inch cakes instead?
Hi Paola, it should be around 30 minutes, but you should be able to peek at the cake and see if the center is liquidy or cooked. Try not to over bake, and hope you enjoy it!
I’m a retired elementary teacher that loves to cook from scratch, natural recipes. I’ve been looking for a good homemade white cake recipe and real buttercream frosting. Can’t wait to try your recipes. I’m also looking into starting a cooking school to promote healthy, economical eating for all ages.
On my radar for Mothers Day …. Can they be made ahead and frozen?
Hi! Hm, I’ve never tried it before but I know cake in general freezes pretty well as long as it’s wrapped up very well (and when I ate my wedding cake one year later, it actually still tasted good lol). So anyway, while I won’t make any promises, it’s very likely that it would work out.
I wont take the chance but if any are left over I will freeze one to see how it fares. The egg yolks make me a bit apprehensive. I will let you know if I have any left over to test. Somehow I dont think I will as baking cupcakes smell heavenly. Thanks for your speedy reply .
The egg yolks make you nervous, because they’re raw? I eat raw eggs all the time in stuff (some 1 in 80,000 eggs has salmonella, it’s very low risk). but in this case, that 238 degree syrup is super hot and will definitely kill off any bacteria present. The mixing bowl will be VERY hot (like you might burn yourself if you touch it kind of hot), so don’t worry =)
Sorry for the confusion on the egg yolks. I’m not sure how raw egg yolks will effect the freezing process of the frosting. Will the frosting become runny or separate? I have no issue with fresh raw eggs.
These are now my favourite cupcakes. Made then Friday and froze them for Mothers Day luncheon. Added a strawberry on top just before serving. They defrosted quickly and were enjoyed by all. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Wonderful!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cupcakes, I love the idea of putting the strawberry on top….that’s absolutely brilliant. One of the things I love about the blog is how many great ideas I get from my readers, and I’ll definitely be doing that from now on. Happy cooking!
Omg…anyone who thinks of making these is a Goddess! I can’t wait to try!
These look and sound delicious. I’ve been snowed in, so I think I will make these tomorrow. I may rename them “Dirty Snow Cupcakes”, though. LOL 🙂
HAHAHA dirty snow cupcakes?! LOL that’s awesome. I live down South right now so fortunately I haven’t been hit with any of that snow…but my friends have been telling me about all the madness! It’s a good reason to stay in and cook/bake though!
What a sweet treat to try this Valentine & Birthday month…great canvas for confection artistry as well! Thank you for sharing!!
Thanks for visiting! I’m trying to decide what my next cupcake will be. I bought some lavender the other day and am having fun experimenting with that!
I just stumbled across your site and wow, you’ve made some lovely things, i’m taking lots of notes 🙂
I don’t drink tea but these look delicious! I’ll definately be trying out your professional buttercream.
Professional buttercream is SO worth making. “Quick” butter and confectioner’s sugar buttercream is gritty! Eek. I want a smoooooooth and luscious buttercream =)
Hey! Found my way over from Cupcakes Take the Cake….these look wonderful! I made red velvet cupcakes by special request once and I was SHOCKED when it said to dump a whole thing of red food coloring! I mean, it worked, but yowza! Definitely going to give these a try, and I love the tea frosting idea. Sounds delicious, thanks for the recipe!
They look perfect! Love your photos. Earl grey tea is one of my favs. And I agree with you about the red food coloring! Bring on the white velvet!
Thank you! I got a new camera, the Nikon d3100. I still have a lot to learn about how to use it, but the photos are so much better! Happy cupcake making!
Dude, you just blew my mind. Tea and Buttercream?! Holy cow! I’m so excited to try it. You inspired me to get regular flour (so I can make bread and sweets…) and I happened to also get Lady Grey Tea…This is going to be fun!
It is SO good! I love to experiment with flavoring foods with tea! I just love the flavor. Let me know how it goes!
This is one of those moments I wish I could reach through the computer screen! Those look so yummy! The perfectly browned cake and that awesome frosting–Earl Grey tea is my favorite, so I can’t wait to try these!
I wish you could reach through the computer screen and have one too! I have too many 🙁
I’ve never thought to infuse tea in buttercream frosting . . . what a delicious-sounding idea! Love it!
I’ve been having lots of fun lately with infusing stuff! Teas are really fun to experiment with….they have such good flavor!
These look delicious! I love that you use the egg yolks in the buttercream so they don’t go to waste. I’ll be saving this recipe!
-Carly
Tart to Heart
http://carlysulli.wordpress.com
Thank you Carly! That’s a great point!