These dairy free earl grey lavender cupcakes are perfectly soft vanilla cupcakes infused with the subtle flavour of bergamot and citrus thanks to the earl grey tea, topped with a fresh and floral lavender buttercream. These pretty cupcakes are sure to impress for your next special occasion.
These are my signature cupcakes. You know, if someone was to ask me for my go to dessert for a special occasion, these are it! I first published this recipe waayyy back before this blog was called Eight Forest Lane in 2016 and over the years these still remain my favourite cupcake.
The original cupcake recipe used lady grey tea rather than earl grey, which is a Twinings brand tea that I was rather obsessed with. It’s softer and more subtle than earl grey but still has those key notes of citrus and bergamot that are so delightful when infused into a sweet vanilla cake.
Over the years I’ve found this tea harder to find so I’ve adjusted the recipe but just know, if you have lady grey tea in your collection then it works well in this recipe, otherwise stick to earl grey – it’s just as delicious I promise!
The perfect pairing to these tea infused cupcakes is my smooth and creamy dairy free lavender buttercream. This frosting has subtle floral notes that compliment the flavour of the tea, not overpower it.
Honestly, these cupcakes are just so delicious you need to try them. Being a little bit different to your usual flavours, they are perfect for Mother’s Day, birthday’s, weddings / anniversaries or any other special occasion.
If you love tea infused desserts, definitely also check out my vegan matcha cupcakes or this chai spiced tea cake.
Key Ingredients
To make the earl grey cupcakes you’ll need your usual combination of baking ingredients.
Note all ingredients and their quantities are laid out in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Almond milk – I have written this recipe using almond milk as I think it works best in this recipe however you can use oat milk or soy milk with similar results.
- Earl grey tea – using teabags is going to be easiest. This is allowed to steep in the warm milk and then used to add flavour to the cupcakes.
- Dairy-free butter – Unlike a lot of my dairy free cupcake recipes, we’re using dairy free butter rather than oil to provide a rich flavour to the cake. Use a quality dairy-free butter substitute here for the best flavour and texture. I love and always use Nuttelex Buttery which is an Australian product. In the US, the closest alternative is Earth Balance which I understand to be very similar.
- White sugar – not only making our cakes sweet but also locking in moisture and keeping the texture super soft.
- Eggs – make sure they are at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract – giving a vanilla undertone to the earl grey flavour of the cupcakes.
- Plain flour – also known as all purpose flour in the US.
- Baking powder – helping our cupcakes rise and become light and fluffy.
In addition, you’ll also need a few ingredients for your lavender frosting.
- Dairy-free butter – this is the key ingredient to make this the best tasting frosting.
- Vanilla – to enhance the flavour.
- Icing sugar – I use the icing sugar mixture from the supermarket, not the pure icing sugar. The only difference is the mixture has a little bit of cornflour added which means it’s less likely to clump together and turn rock solid.
- Culinary lavender – You want to make sure the lavender you’re using has been harvested specifically for using in food products. You can easily buy this on Amazon (affiliate link).
- Almond milk – again you can use your preference of dairy free milk.
- Salt – a pinch of salt cuts through the sweetness to give you the best flavour.
- Gel food colouring – optional but without it the buttercream will be a slightly off white colour rather than the beautiful hue of lavender that we associate with the flavour. I use and love the Americolor gels (affiliate link). For this colour I use a few drops of Violet with a little drop of deep pink to get my desired shade.
Step-By-Step Instructions
There are a few tools and equipment that are going to make making these cupcakes and frosting much easier and I’ve listed those out for you at the top of the recipe card before the ingredients. If you do want to purchase any of these products I would appreciate if you did it through my link as I earn a (very) small commission which goes towards continuing to provide free recipes on EFL!
Before you get started, read through the full recipe. You’ll note that there are two steps that I recommend doing in advance as we need to infuse the almond milk for both the cupcakes and the buttercream.
For the buttercream, I recommend 2 hours but preferably overnight to allow the lavender flavour to really infuse the almond milk. For the cupcakes, the tea should only need 30 minutes as we just need the milk to come to room temperature before using.
Once this is done, you’re ready to start!
This cupcake recipe makes 13 cupcakes therefore you’ll need 2 pans, or bake in two batches. I love this personally as it means I can taste test one before I take a full 12 to an event!
Using an electric mixer, beat the dairy-free butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla and continue beating until light and creamy.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add half the flour mixture to the wet ingredients followed by half of the tea infused milk and mix through. Add the remaining dry ingredients and milk and mix until the batter is light and creamy.
Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, add the batter into the prepared cupcake pans, making sure they are ¾ full and bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden on top and the cake spring backs when lightly touched.
Once the cupcakes are cool, you can make your buttercream and frost the cupcakes. I love using my Wilton 1M piping tip as I just find it very easily makes professional looking swirls on top of cupcakes, but you can use any open star tip.
I have a full post with all the details on making this vegan lavender buttercream so make sure to read through that as well for more detail.
Recipe FAQs
It’s important you’re using dried culinary lavender. This differs to regular dried lavender in a few ways but mostly due to the variety, harvest time and processing. These factors ensure you’re going to get the correct flavour (and not use the lavender that is used in soap making!).
You can buy culinary lavender directly from lavender fields, sometimes from natural grocery stores or the easiest way is on Amazon (affiliate link).
If you’re making these for an event or special occasion, you can make the cupcakes anywhere from a week to a couple of months in advance and freeze them. Wrap each cupcake well in plastic wrap and place in a zip lock bag and freeze.
Allow the cupcakes to thaw completely at room temperature before unwrapping and frosting as usual on the night before or morning of serving.
More dairy free cupcakes:
Dairy Free Vanilla Cupcakes
Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes
Vegan Snickers Cupcakes
Vegan Matcha Cupcakes
Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
Vegan Biscoff Cupcakes
Earl Grey Lavender Cupcakes
Equipment
Ingredients
For the earl grey cupcakes:
- ½ cup almond milk or any dairy free milk
- 2 earl grey teabags
- 170 grams dairy-free butter
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups plain flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the lavender buttercream:
- 1 tablespoon dried culinary lavender
- 2 tablespoons almond milk or any dairy free milk
- 125 grams dairy-free butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 cups icing sugar
- pinch salt to taste
- gel food colouring optional
Instructions
For the earl grey cupcakes:
- Heat the almond milk in the microwave for 1 minute or until warm. Place teabags in the milk to infuse for 30 minutes or until milk has cooled to room temperature. Squeeze any milk from the tea bags before discarding.
- Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F and line a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcakes liners, and another with 1 as this recipe yields 13 cakes.
- With an electric mixer, beat the dairy-free butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla and continue beating until light and creamy.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add half the flour mixture to the wet ingredients followed by half of the tea infused milk and mix through. Add the remaining dry ingredients and milk and mix until the batter is light and creamy.
- Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, add the batter into the prepared cupcake pan, making sure they are ¾ full and bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden on top and the cake spring backs when lightly touched.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
For the lavender buttercream:
- Mix the culinary lavender with the dairy free milk and leave to infuse in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight. Strain before using and discard the lavender, keeping the infused milk.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment fitted, beat dairy-free butter and vanilla for 1-2 minutes until creamy.
- Add in 2 cups of icing sugar and beat on medium until combined. Add in an additional cup of icing sugar and continue to mix. As mixture thickens, add in the infused dairy free milk a little at a time until you reach a thick, creamy consistency. If the frosting is too thin or tastes too 'buttery', add in an extra ½-1 cup of icing sugar, and if it’s too thick, add a little bit more dairy free milk. Finally add a pinch of salt to taste and a few drops of food colouring and continue to mix until super creamy.
- Spoon the frosting into a piping bag with you're favourite piping tip (I am using the Wilton 1M) and pipe swirls onto cooled cupcakes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
This post was originally published on the 25th April 2016 and has been republished to include better instructions, a slight improvement to the recipe, and new photos.
Andrea M Trevino says
Can you use lavendar paste?
Sally says
Hi Andrea! I haven’t tried myself but it should work fine!
Christine says
We picked up some lavender extract from the lavender fields on Long Island, and I was trying to think of a way to try it! I happened to have early grey tea, so I whipped up these cupcakes. We don’t eat egg, so I used a flax egg instead and it was perfect. I also didn’t have self rising flour, so I used AP and added 1/2 tsp of baking soda. Worked out well.
Unfortunately, I tried a different icing recipe because I didnt have any butter spread on hand, and it didn’t turn out so great! I have the most difficult time with icing. The one I tried ended up being too runny to use with an icing piper but it does taste okay. Maybe next time I’ll get the icing right. But the cakes are seriously delicious and I will be making them again!
Sally says
Thanks Christine, glad you enjoyed them! Sorry to hear your icing didn’t work. I always use a butter substitute in all my icing recipes as I have found it really makes the best frosting. I hope you try again with the buttercream as written here and see if you have success!
Peter says
So. Damn. Good.
Sally says
Glad you enjoyed them!
Jenna says
These looks amazing!!! Im definitely going to give them a go!!
Sally says
Thanks Jenna 🙂 Let me know how you go!
Mardene Carr says
For the sake of my waistline I am stepping away. I love cupcakes and these look fab
Christie says
I’ve never actually tried tea flavoured cupcakes, but they’ve always intrigued me. That lavender frosting looks gorgeous, too! x
Lynda@fitnessmomwinecountry says
Sally, these are gorgeous! Our daughter is graduating in June from 8th grade and we are working on a soft theme for the night. These are going to be added to the dessert list. I love the idea of lavender thank you so much for sharing.
Now if mine can look as beautiful as yours, I will be very happy.
Helen says
I have only ever had lavender frosting at a bakery, so thank you for sharing something we can make at home. These look amazing!
Mayara says
I am a cupcake addict and these look absolutely gorgeous!!! I will definitely have to try this!
Heather @ Simply Save says
These sound so good! The frosting looks beautiful too!
Chrissy says
These look amazing and lavender frosting! I love lavender, I will try These! Thank you xxx
chloe | boxwood avenue says
Oh my these look amazing! I like baking with lavender, but haven’t tried tea yet! These just might be it!
Sally says
Thanks Chloe 🙂 Let me know how you go if you do make them! They are my new favourites 🙂
Sarah Christie says
OMG lavender frosting , I am so going to try this its sounds incredible and I love lavender, the smell, taste ooh and cocktails, these cakes looks fab I am going to try them x
Sally says
Thanks Sarah! I was a bit nervous to cook with Lavender but I am so happy at how it turned out! Let me know how you go if you do try it 🙂