These lemon earl grey cupcakes are vegan cupcakes topped with a lemon buttercream frosting. The lightly sweet and fragrant cake pairs well with the sweet and tangy frosting, resulting in a delicious aromatic tea and lemon flavor.
Looking for more vegan desserts? Try these copy cat Girl Scouts thin mint cookies!
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What You’ll Need For These Lemon Earl Grey Cupcakes
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How To Make Lemon Earl Grey Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350°F/175 C. Line ½ cup/120ml wells in a cupcake pan with liners.
Make the cake:
Warm the oat milk over gentle heat in a sauce pan. Do not boil. Sprinkle the ground earl grey tea in and stir. Set aside to steep for 3 min minutes.
In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to evenly distribute everything.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar and oil. Beat with a hand mixer on low speed (or a hand whisk) until smooth and well combined.
Add the steeped oat milk. Beat until combined.
Add the lemon juice and zest. Whisk well.
Add the flour mixture and beat on low until just combined and no lumps remain.
Pour into prepared cupcake wells (about 1/3 cup/78ml per well) and shake to level.
Bake for 15-18 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the tin for at least 5 minutes before removing and allow to cool completely.
Make the frosting:
Combine all the vegan butter, salt, lemon zest, and half the powdered sugar in a bowl.
Beat with a hand mixer on low speed, slowly incorporating the rest of the powdered sugar.
Increase the speed and beat until very fluffy, 3-5 minutes.
Assemble the cupcakes:
Pipe or spread the frosting on. Garnish with fresh or candied lemon zest.
Serve immediately or can be stored covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. Individual cupcakes can be stored in the freezer (wrapped individually in plastic before being placed in an airtight container) for up to 1 month.
Important Recipe Notes
Tea leaves: If using whole/loose leaf tea, grind in a spice grinder or mortar. Tea from tea bags is more likely to be fine already but may need more grinding. If worried about texture, strain most of the tea out before adding to batter. If strained, the tea flavor will be lighter.
Make filled cupcakes: For extra flavor, cupcakes can be filled with vegan lemon curd or raspberry jam. To fill, cut out a 1”/2.5cm cone from the top of the cupcake, and cut off most of the cone so there is just a medallion to cap the space. Fill with a dollop of curd or jam and place the cap of cupcake on to seal before frosting.
Make it a large cake: Bake in a 9”/23cm square baking pan for 28-33 minutes or divide between two 8”/20cm round baking pans for 25-30 minutes. Double the frosting to completely cover a cake.
More Vegan Desserts
Samoa Cookie Bars (copycat Girl Scout cookies)
PrintLemon Earl Grey Cupcakes {Vegan}
Fluffy lemon earl grey cupcakes infused with fragrant bergamot tea and topped with silky lemon buttercream. Perfect for brunch, showers, or tea parties.
- Prep Time: 20
- Assemble Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 50
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Pescatarian, Vegan, Vegetarian
Ingredients
Cake:
- 3/4 cup/180ml oat milk
- 4 tsp/5g earl grey tea leaves, ground
- 2 cups/240g all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp/8g baking powder
- ½ tsp/2g baking soda
- 1/2 tsp/3g salt
- 3/4 cup/150g granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp/90ml neutral oil (canola, vegetable, sunflower, etc)
- 5 tbsp/75ml lemon juice
- 1 tsp/2g lemon zest
Frosting:
- 1/2 cup/115g vegan butter or margarine, softened
- 2 cups/240g powdered sugar
- 1/8 tsp/1g salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/175 C. Line ½ cup/120ml wells in a cupcake pan with liners.
Make the cake:
- Warm the oat milk over gentle heat in a sauce pan. Do not boil. Sprinkle the ground earl grey tea in and stir. Set aside to steep for 3 min minutes.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to evenly distribute everything.
- In a large bowl, combine the sugar and oil. Beat with a hand mixer on low speed (or a hand whisk) until smooth and well combined.
- Add the steeped oat milk. Beat until combined.
- Add the lemon juice and zest. Whisk well.
- Add the flour mixture and beat on low until just combined and no lumps remain.
- Pour into prepared cupcake wells (about 1/3 cup/78ml per well) and shake to level.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the tin for at least 5 minutes before removing and allow to cool completely.
Make the frosting:
- Combine all the vegan butter, salt, lemon zest, and half the powdered sugar in a bowl.
- Beat with a hand mixer on low speed, slowly incorporating the rest of the powdered sugar.
- Increase the speed and beat until very fluffy, 3-5 minutes.
Assemble the cupcakes:
- Pipe or spread the frosting on. Garnish with fresh or candied lemon zest.
- Serve immediately or can be stored covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. Individual cupcakes can be stored in the freezer (wrapped individually in plastic before being placed in an airtight container) for up to 1 month.
