Earl Grey Tea Cakes with Cardamom

A few months ago, I made some vegan Earl Grey French Macarons. Last month, the recipe was one of my most popular pins on Pinterest!

I wanted to do something else with Earl Grey tea. It’s such a versatile and distinct flavor. For this recipe, I left the leaves as is — you can run them through a spice grinder (or coffee grinder) to make a finer powder for your baked goods.

Now I don’t want to call these cakes cupcakes; the texture’s a little different. They’re not entirely like a muffin or bread either. These cakes are a delightful hybrid. You can add some vegan buttercream icing and you have a delicious treat. Without the icing, these tea cakes have no refined sugar, which is an added plus!

For those of you not familiar with cardamom, it’s a spice that’s used frequently in India, often in place of cinnamon. You can find it in chai tea and other fall spice mixes. It marries well with Earl Grey, that’s for sure!

As a side note, I tried making some maple butter — and it failed miserably. It turned into maple candy, so I made some flower cut outs as decorations. I will try again to make the butter and let you know how it goes 🙂

Earl Grey Tea Cakes with Cardamom

Recipe by Aileen MetcalfCourse: Uncategorized

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Calories

300

kcal

Ingredients

• 1/2 of a pureed banana (ripe)

• 1 c. pure maple syrup

• 1 c. non-dairy yogurt (soy, almond, or coconut)

• 1/4 c. coconut oil, softened

• 1 tsp. vanilla-infused bourbon (learn more about infusing your own liquor)

• 2 1/3 c. whole wheat pastry flour

• 1 T. Earl Grey tea leaves

• 1 tsp. cardamom, ground

• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

• pinch baking powder, aluminum-free

• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a muffin tin with baking cups.
• In a medium sized bowl, combine the dry ingredients: tea, cardamom, baking soda, baking powder, flour, and salt. Set it aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the banana, syrup, yogurt, coconut oil, and vanilla. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients to the mix. You don’t want to over mix the batter.
• Fill your baking cups about half full — these cakes do tend to puff up. Bake the cakes for about 20 minutes.
• To make a vegan buttercream, see my recipe and technique for making roses out of icing!
• Enjoy these adorable tea cakes and a little spicy taste of fall 🙂
  
  Cheers!
  
  -Aileen