Earl Grey Tea Cupcakes with Lavender Frosting

These cupcakes are pretty temperamental, but after a couple of not so successful attempts and a bit of tweaking this recipe works a treat. If you're going to make these I'd recommend sticking to the recipe to avoid ending up with a sticky, doughy mess! If you can't come across any lavender for the frosting, or lavender's just not your thing, they also taste good with a simple lemon icing. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup non-dairy butter, melted
1 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
rind of one lemon
1/2 cup boiling water
5 earl grey tea bags
1 3/4 cups plain flour
1/2 cup almond (or any non-dairy) milk
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line the cupcake tin, and lightly grease.

Place 4 of the tea bags in the boiling water, and leave to the side to infuse.

Mix together the sugars, salt and melted butter until well combined, and the sugar starts to dissolve a little. Mix in the baking soda, vanilla extract and lemon rind. Remove the tea bags from the water, squeezing out as much liquid as you can. Add the tea to the mixture, as well as the tea leaves from the remaining tea bag (just tear it open and add to the mix). When the liquid is well combined, slowly add one cup of flour and mix well. When adding the remaining 3/4 cup flour, alternate with the almond milk, a little bit at a time, until both the milk and flour have been incorporated, without over mixing. Then add the vinegar, stirring after each tablespoon is added.

It is quite a thin batter, but it will sort itself out in the oven! Fill the cupcake liners so that they're 3/4 full, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick or a knife poked in the middle comes out clean.

Allow to cool before Icing.

Lavender Frosting

Ingredients
1 Tbsp. non-dairy butter
1 cup icing sugar
3 Tbsp. almond milk
5 or 6 sprigs of fresh lavender or 2 tsp. dried lavender
A couple of drops purple food colouring (without it, the lavender makes the icing a go funny brown colour!)

To dry the fresh lavender, spread the flowers over a paper towel in a microwave over, and heat for 1 minute on the highest setting. If the lavender is not yet dry, microwave again in 30 second increments until it is brittle. When it is done, rub between your palms to break up the buds.

Heat the almond milk in a small glass in the microwave. When it is hot, but not boiling, add 2 tsp. dried lavender, and allow to infuse for 5-10 minutes. Strain with a tea strainer, and discard the lavender.

Cream the butter and the icing sugar. Add the lavender infused almond milk, one teaspoon at a time. You will not need to add all of the milk, as it will taste very floral. So continue adding the milk to taste; 1-2 tablespoons for a nice subtle lavender flavour, or 2-3 for a more intense flavour. You may need to add a little more icing sugar if the mixture gets too runny. Finally, add a couple of drops of purple food colouring, and when it has all been well combined, ice the cooled cupcakes.

Lemon Icing

Ingredients
1 cup icing sugar
3-4 tsp. lemon juice

Add the lemon juice to the icing sugar, one teaspoon at a time. It will be quite a thin mixture, so that when icing the cakes it will drip down the sides a little. However if it is too watery, add a bit more icing sugar. Ice the cupcakes, and leave (in the fridge if you would like) for for the icing to set.