- Prep Time: 45 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Yield: 6 cakes
- Prep Time: 45 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Yield: 6 cakes
Ingredients
For the earl grey cake
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1 tablespoon earl grey tea*
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 2/3 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
For the roasted blackberry frosting
- 6 oz blackberries, plus more for garnishing the cakes (optional)
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, heat the butter and earl grey tea over low heat until bubbles form around the edges. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
- Once cooled, combine the infused butter, sugar, honey, vanilla extract, and eggs in a standing mixer. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly alternate incorporating the flour and buttermilk into the wet ingredients until everything is combined and the batter is smooth.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes back clean (moist is OK). Keep the oven on for the roasted blackberries.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and place on a cooling rack until completely cooled.
- While the cake is cooling, make your frosting. Place the blackberries in a small pan and roast in the 350°F oven for 15 minutes, or until most blackberries have burst and the juices are bubbling. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before straining through a fine mesh strainer, saving the juice at the bottom.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy, just over 1 minute. Pour in 1/4 cup of the blackberry juice and whisk until the two mixtures come together. This may take some time, as initially it will look like they’re curdling. Keep going, they will combine! Add in the powdered sugar and mix until everything is light and fluffy. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small star tip.
- Using a 2.5″ cookie cutter, cut 12 circles into your sheet cake. Pipe frosting onto each cake, then layer the cakes on top of each other. Top with blackberries, if using. Voila!
Notes
*My tea was very fine. If yours is not fine, you can strain the butter through a fine mesh strainer to remove some of the larger tea bits so they don’t get into your cake.
Leave a comment and rate this recipe!
These turned out wonderful! I wasn’t sure I would like the Earl Grey flavor (not a tea fan) but combined with the blackberry, it worked for me. The only trouble I ran into was roasting the blackberries. They never burst, even after 25 minutes in the oven, so I pulverized them in the food processor before straining. I didn’t get anywhere near 1/4 cup of juice. More like 2 tablespoons. But that was enough to create a pretty and flavorful frosting. Thank you for the recipe.
★★★★★
So happy you enjoyed these!
Hi Sarah!
Do you think this would work if I made it as one big cake for a friends birthday? Or would it be too flat?
I can’t wait to try!!
Hi Morgan! Yes, it would work as one big cake! It may not be as pretty, but will still taste delish 🙂
Hi,this looks so good, the pictures are amazing. I was just wondering if the cake in the recipe is more dense or if its lighter and fluffier?
Hi Destiny! The cake is slightly dense. Hope this helps and happy baking!
I made these tasty huge beauties & used fresh blackberries from my own garden! Divinbe & lip smacking tasty! xxx
It’s 1pm now and I am thinking of making these in my freshly cleaned kitchen! Happy mini cake feasting.