Cuppa Tea Cupcakes

My sister is getting married in September, and today we hosted her bridal shower with lovely friends and family. As the maid of honor my only real duty was to head up organization and the usual pitching in financially and day-of for setup–but I just have to be an over-achiever. So, knowing that she wanted a Victorian-esque feel to her wedding, we went with similar for the theme of the bridal shower and that meant I wanted tea flavored confections. Okay, part of the deal with the confections was cost-saving because we needed some vegan-gluten free options and the serving fee for bringing in a cake from outside (or getting one through the venue) was fairly expensive… let alone needing essentially two to make sure everyone could enjoy. So the venue did all the brunch foods (since a variety of foods means everyone can have something), and I took on the task of cupcakes.

One would think I would have done all the research and testing during the long year of 2020 while covid had us all sequestered at home, but flour was as scarce as my motivation so that didn’t happen. Instead I sort of crammed it all (well, most of it anyways) into the past month and a half and got really, really lucky that it all worked out. Hahaha… oi. Don’t procrastinate. This was also my very first foray into recipe designing, so there was that too… definitely don’t procrastinate (like me).

To start with I sourced the original base recipe from here, and made sure it was a decent cake (and it is). Then I made it gluten-free for a birthday for a friend of mine, to make sure it would work that way too (because the best way to experiment it to only change one thing at a time). Once I knew it would work both as a regular cake and as a gluten free cake it was then time to procrastinate for a while before getting into the flavors.

First and foremost I had to figure out what teas I wanted to use from among my sister’s favorites, and those ended up being Earl Grey, Raspberry Mojito, and Berries n’ Cream Matcha from David’s Tea. The next step was figuring out not only how much tea will flavor the cupcakes, but what extracts to use with them.

So before I received the tea from David’s I bought Earl Grey from Stash (which is usually a fantastic brand) and wow was that disappointing. Too much bergamot in their tea. So the first one (with teabags) was a total flop simply because the tea was not good. The second set wasn’t great because I started with orange extract (to pair with the citrus nature of the bergamot) in the [much better] David’s Tea, and it was still too much citrus. So I went back to vanilla extract and it was much better. Thankfully the Raspberry Mojito I nailed right out of the gate with coconut rum and some peppermint extract, and the Berries n’ Cream Matcha worked great with vanilla again.

Second challenge was then taking these cupcakes and moving them from gluten fabulous with eggs and butter, to gluten free and vegan. Since I already knew how to make the base recipe gluten free that was no issue (thank you Lindsay and your Celiac-fueled knowledge about Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 replacer), but the eggs, butter, and milk all needed to be changed to go vegan and THAT was intimidating.

I love to challenge myself to bake to meet different dietary needs, but vegan was not one I had tackled yet. Did a lot of research on eggs since those are the only multi-purpose ingredient (they’re both a binder and a leavener), and then went to town. I was able to nail two of the three animal products easily: the butter I replaced with vegan butter, specifically Earth Balance; and the milk I replaced with oat milk, which I selected because research said it imparted the least flavor overall among the non-dairy milks, and because I am morally against almond milk (it’s not sustainable as we farm almonds presently and kills honey bees). The eggs would be a different story though, and the first thing I tried didn’t work–that being the 1-to-1 egg replacer from Bob’s Red Mill (sadness), as it just made the batter too soupy and since it was also gluten free I didn’t want to add in as much extra “flour” as I would need to in order to make it work. So next with the eggs I tried the fruit-pulp-and-baking-powder method, starting with banana since it doesn’t have much liquid, and I basically made banana bread. The tea flavor could not compete. Luckily third time’s the charm, and boiled apple worked well, though I did have to compensate for the extra liquid.

Some people asked me why I didn’t just use applesauce, and that was for two reasons. First, I wanted to make sure that there were no extra sugars or spices added in. There’s plenty of sugar in the recipe itself, and the apple will have its own sugar content on top of that, and spices could (and likely would) alter the flavor. Second, and very important, I wanted to do my best to control the extra liquid. Making the puree myself meant I could achieve both very easily.

So, armed with my replacements I had my recipes and could go to town. Well, at least as far as the cakes were concerned. The second challenge was the buttercream, but delightfully that went together super easy. I based the recipe off of what I learned from Cupcake Jemma on YouTube, and ended up with great results. Even the vegan version where I replaced the milk and butter with oat milk and vegan butter went really well, so I cannot complain! One thing to note though, since this is real buttercream it will melt if left for too long in higher temperatures, so for best results put your finished cake/cupcakes in the refrigerator until you’re within an hour or so of serving time.

It was a process, but it came out really well and I’m really pleased. You can use virtually any tea (loose, ideally), but you’d have to adjust extracts accordingly. Here are the recipes that I came up with though, all six of them, for what I have affectionally named Cuppa Tea Cakes. And hey, you can also bake them as a cake in an 8″ x 8″ pan or 8″ round.

Overall the only real issue I never fully figured out was why the cupcake liners weren’t sticking to the vegan-gluten free cupcakes. I used the same liners for both the gluten-fabulous and just gluten-free versions without issue, so I know it’s something to do with the vegan aspect. My best guess is that it’s the vegan butter, since it’s more vegetable oil based than anything else, and perhaps that makes them not want to stick. I honestly don’t know, so I just tried to hook them back to the cake with some extra buttercream. Hahaha.

If you make these, I’d love to know what you think of them! If you use different tea flavors I’d also love to hear about that. I have tried to provide links to anything that isn’t standard baking stuff, and you can rest assured that none of them are sponsored links (sadly they’re not affiliate links, either). Without further ado, the recipes!

Gluten-Fabulous Cuppa Tea Cakes

Note 1: If you cut this recipe in half, use 1 tsp. Baking Powder.
Note 2: You can make these gluten free (and not vegan) by replacing the All Purpose Flour with the 1-to-1 Gluten Free Flour.

Directions:

1. Let your butter come up to room temperature so it is soft but not melting.
2. Weigh out your loose tea into a small dish, and pour your milk over it. Let steep for a minimum of 30 minutes. With the matcha you will need to whisk it in and make sure it’s fully combined.
3. Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Grease (and flour) your 8″ x 8″ baking pan (or 8″ round), or line your muffin tin with paper liners.
4. In a medium bowl cream together the sugar and butter, until well combined.
5. Add in the eggs one at a time to the butter & sugar mixture, mixing well each time.
6. Stir in the extract(s) to the mixture.
7. Combine your flour and baking powder, and then add it to the mixture, stirring well to combine. It will sort-of form a ball.
8. Strain the loose tea out of your milk (straining the milk back into a liquid measuring cup), squeezing the tea a bit by pressing it against the strainer to get as much of the liquid as you can (tea leaves will absorb it). Top off the lost milk to bring it back up to 1/2 C. total.
   NOTE: Skip this step for the matcha.
9. Slowly add the tea-milk into the mixture, stirring until it is just smooth and creamy (it’s important not to overbeat the mixture at this point).
10. Either pour your mix into your greased and floured cake tin/round, or spoon it into cupcake liners (3/4 of the way full). Cakes will bake for 30 to 40 minutes, whereas cupcakes will bake for 20 to 25 minutes. They are complete when when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. With cupcakes you’ll get approximately 12-14 total.

Vegan Gluten-Free Cuppa Tea Cakes

Note1: If you cut this recipe in half, use 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder in with the apple puree, and 1-1/2 tsp. Baking Powder in with the 1-to-1 Gluten Free Flour.
Note 2: If you want to just make these vegan, then simply use All Purpose Flour instead of the 1-to-1 Gluten Free Flour

Directions:

1. Make your apple puree.
   1. Peel, core, and chop up two apples (one per egg), I prefer Honeycrisps for this.
   2. Add to a saucepan and fill with water until apple pieces are just covered/start to float.
   3. Boil apples until they are fork tender, then remove from heat and drain.
   4. Mash the apples like you would potatoes, being sure to get rid of any chunks. The softer the apples are the easier this is to do.
   5. Put a coffee filter in a mesh strainer over a bowl, and add the apple puree to this, let drip for 1 to 2 hours to remove excess liquid.
   6. Scrape the apple puree into a container and store in the fridge until ready to use. Discard excess liquid.
2. Let your vegan butter come up to room temperature so it is soft but not melting.
3. Weigh out your loose tea into a small dish, and pour your oat milk over it. Let steep for a minimum of 30 minutes. With the matcha you will need to whisk it in and make sure it’s fully combined.
4. Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Grease (and flour) your 8″ x 8″ baking pan (or 8″ round), or line your muffin tin with paper liners.
5. In a medium bowl cream together the sugar and vegan butter, until well combined.
6. Add in the apple puree plus 1 tsp. of the baking powder to the vegan butter & sugar mixture, mixing well.
7. Stir in the extract(s) to the mixture.
8. Combine your gluten free flour and 2-3/4 tsp. baking powder, and then add it to the mixture, stirring well to combine. It will sort-of start to clump up.
9. Strain the loose tea out of your oat milk (straining the oat milk back into a liquid measuring cup), squeezing the tea a bit by pressing it against the strainer to get as much of the liquid as you can (tea leaves will absorb it). Top off the lost oat milk to bring it back up to 1/2 C. total.
   NOTE: Skip this step for the matcha.
10. Slowly add the tea-oat milk into the mixture, stirring until it is just smooth and creamy (it’s important not to overbeat the mixture at this point).
11. Either pour your mix into your greased and floured cake tin/round, or spoon it into cupcake liners (almost all of the way full). Cakes will bake for 30 to 40 minutes, whereas cupcakes will bake for 20 to 25 minutes. They are complete when when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. With cupcakes you’ll get approximately 12 total.

Standard Buttercream

Directions:

1. Let your butter come up to room temperature so it is soft but not melting.
2. Whip butter on medium speed for 5 minutes with electric mixer until it has become pale and fluffy.
3. Sift in half of your confectioner sugar, and whip another 5 minutes to combine before repeating with the last half of the confectioner sugar (beating for another 5 minutes).
4. Add in your extract and milk, and whip for about 30-60 seconds or until combined.
5. Either spread on a cake or fill a piping bag to pipe onto cupcakes. This makes enough frosting for 1 8″ x 8″ cake (or 8″ round), or approximately 12 cupcakes.

Note: This is real buttercream and it will start to melt if left out too long in higher temperatures (71ºF+), so store your finished cake/cupcakes in the refrigerator until your within 2 hours of serving for best results.

Vegan Buttercream

Directions:

1. Let your vegan butter come up to room temperature so it is soft but not melting.
2. Whip vegan butter on medium speed for 5 minutes with electric mixer until it has become pale and fluffy.
3. Sift in half of your confectioner sugar, and whip another 5 minutes to combine before repeating with the last half of the confectioner sugar (beating for another 5 minutes).
4. Add in your extract and oat milk, and whip for about 30-60 seconds or until combined.
5. Either spread on a cake or fill a piping bag to pipe onto cupcakes. This makes enough frosting for 1 8″ x 8″ cake (or 8″ round), or approximately 12 cupcakes.

Note: This is real buttercream and it will start to melt if left out too long in higher temperatures (71ºF+), so store your finished cake/cupcakes in the refrigerator until your within 2 hours of serving for best results.