On every family holiday, my father allocates a minimum of TWO days for shopping, which is a very smart system so we don't go nuts on the first day, and also so we don't waste time in shops on the non-shopping days. On the latest holiday to NZ, I went to TOWN in Stevens, Albany Mall. Talk about a dream come true!
See, we don't have shops like that here in Malaysia, and what shops we do have, have (am I the only one who despises using double words like that?) limited supplies and are far too expensive for a poor, entry-level consultant like myself. I bought at least 12 items (including stuff from Living & Giving) for under NZ$100!
Granted, it was also during the Boxing Day sales *snickers*
I found this brilliant recipe from objetivo cupcake (thank R'hllor for auto translate!) which doesn't require using tea-leaves, straining and so on and so forth. It's quick, easy and doesn't yield very much batter, which is a blessing sometimes as I've already got a backlog of desserts in my fridge and mum's none too pleased about it.
It's been a while since I last typed up a blog post, so I'm a little rusty and the words aren't flowing. Let's just get on with it!
Yields 12 large cupcakes
- 125 ml skim milk (use whatever type you prefer)
- 4 bags Earl Grey tea
- 110g butter, room temperature
- 225g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 245g all-purpose flour, sifted
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Heat the milk in a saucepan until nearly boiling
- Remove from the heat, infuse the teabags for half an hour, in this time, enjoy a cup of tea and an episode of Friends
- Preheat the oven to 180C, prepare your cupcake molds
- Sift the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside
- Beat the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, or until the mixture is light and fluffy
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Be sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure all the butter mixes with the eggs
- Add 1/2 of the flour to the butter mixture, beat at medium speed until fully incorporated
- Add 1/2 of the milk/tea, beat at medium speed until just combined
- Repeat steps 7 & 8 until you're done (which means you only repeat each step once, duh, Nabs)
- Fill your cupcake liners 3/4 of the way up, bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer poked through at an angle comes out clean
Then kick back, and enjoy a cupcake with it's best partner: a cup of Earl Grey tea, and just chill out. Tea solves all problems, doncha know?
The texture was amazing, slightly denser than the average cake, which is great for a cupcake as it doesn't crumble as much. The flavour of the Earl Grey tea was full-blown and it made for this perfectly citrusy, fragrant aftertaste. The cake on its own without frosting is fab, but with frosting is decadent! I actually gobbled up an entire cupcake sans frosting around midnight last night... bad Nabs.
x Nabs
x Nabs
