Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting

Mr Spud requested 'buns' (cluchie Irish speak for cupcake) but I couldn't bring myself to make plain old cupcakes without a bit of creative flair. I LOVE LOVE tea. I really cannot emphasize that enough. When I'm stressed I want tea. When I'm tired I want tea. When I'm eating anything sweet I want tea. When I come in from outside I need tea. You get the gist. Earl Grey Tea is like my ultimate posh cuppa. So when I saw this recipe on an amazing blog- http://www.iheartkatiecakes.com I had to make it. Earl Grey is infused with bergamot oil which is citrusy and fragrant so I thought lemon frosting would really compliment it.

I only wish I had a good camera as these pictures don't really do the cupcake justice! My piping needs some work but here are pics of some of the best.

This recipe makes 12.

125ml milk
4 Earl Grey Teabags
110g butter
225g caster sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp almond essence
125g self raising flour
120g plain flour

Frosting
75g butter softened
200g icing sugar
2tbsp milk
rind of 1 lemon finely grated.

For the cupcakes
1. Bring the milk to the boil in a saucepan or the microwave. Add the tea bags, mix and allow to infuse for 30 minutes. Squeez out the teabags when infused and discard the teabags.
2. Beat the sugar and butter together for about 5-6 minutes as there is quite a lot of sugar in this recipe. The mix should be light yellow and creamy.
3. Beat the eggs lightly in a mug and add the almond essence.
4. Add the eggs a little at a time, each time you add egg throw in 2 tbsps of flour.
5. Add a third of the milk with a third of the rest of the flour. Continue until all the flour and milk is gone.
6. Fill up the bun cases until 1/3 full.
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 180o C.

Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before icing.

For the icing
1. Beat the icing sugar and butter together until the mix starts to come together as crumbs. Add the milk slowly and beat for 2-3 minutes until creamy.
2. Frost the cakes adding desired decorations.