About the bake
This truly exquisite chocolate cake is infused with a hint of Earl Grey tea which adds a wonderfully aromatic tinge to its fudgy excellence and will not look out of place as a dinner party centre piece. This masterpiece was created by Gizzi Erskins and can be found in her recipe book 'Gizzi's Kitchen Magic.'
Method
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C, gas mark 4). Grease and line a 20cm spring form cake tin with butter and a disc of greasepoof paper.
Step 2:
To make the cake, place the Earl Grey teabags in a cup and cover with the boiling water. Leave the tea to stew for 5 minutes, then squeeze out the teabags and discard, leaving the really strong tea to cool a little.
Step 3:
Place all the cake ingredients, including the tea, into a food mixer and blend until you have a smooth batter.
Step 4:
Pour the batter into the cake tin and level out the surface. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes until you can stick a metal skewer into the centre and it comes out clean. Leave to cool in its tin, cover with a clean tea towel, for 2 hours.
Step 5:
To make the Earl Grey cream, place the Earl Grey teabags in a small pan and cover with the boiling water. Leave the tea to stew for 5 minutes, then remove the teabags, squeezing out the liquid as you go. Add the sugar to the tea, bring to the boil for 5 minutes or until a syrup like consistency. Leave to cool for 10 minutes then whisk into the cream cheese.
Step 6:
Slice the cooled cake in half horizontally. Cover the bottom half with the Earl Grey cream, then place the top of the cake back on.
Step 7:
Melt the chocolate for the icing in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes stirring halfway through. Add the double cream and honey, then pour the chocolate icing over the cake. Using a spatula, gently tease the icing around the edges until the whole cake is iced.
Step 8:
To make the gold dust, melt the sugar in a small dry frying pan. Once it begins to caramelise, empy out the contents of an Earl Grey tea bag into the caramel and stir the loose tea leaves through. Take off the heat immediately and pour on to a sheet of greaseproof paper. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then grind up in a pestle and mortar until it becomes golden and dusty. Sprinkle over the top of the cake and serve.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 6 Earl grey tea bags
- 150ml Water (boiling)
- 100g Butter (unsalted) (melted and cooled, plus extra for greasing)
- 3 Egg(s) (free range) (large)
- 150g Billington's Unrefined Dark Muscovado Sugar
- 100g Billington's Unrefined Light Muscovado Sugar
- 250g Self-raising white flour
- 120g Dark chocolate (melted and cooled)
- 1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt
For the earl grey cream
- 4 Earl grey tea bags
- 100ml Water (boiling)
- 3 tbsp Billington's Unrefined Light Muscovado Sugar
- 250g Cream cheese
For the icing
- 150g Dark chocolate
- 100ml Double cream
- 3 tbsp Honey
- 2 tbsp Billington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
- 1 Earl grey tea bags
For the earl grey gold dust decoration
- 2 tbsp Billington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
- 1 Earl grey tea bags
- 2 tbsp Billington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
Utensils
- 20cm spring form cake tin
- Greaseproof paper
- Cup
- Food mixer
- Skewer
- Tea towel
- Microwavable bowl
- Spatula
- Frying pan
- Pestle and mortar
Recipe Reviews
I've made this multiple times and it is a true delight. One of my all time favourite cakes!
Should we use 2 cake tins for this recipe?
I followed the method accurately and the mixture has cooked over the top of the tin leaving a mess in the oven.
Please help with what I have done wrong.
Hello,
You should only use 1 tin and then cut the cake in half after it has cooled. You should ensure that the tin is a deep spring form cake tin.
Hope this helps
Happy Baking!
Ingredients
For the cake
- 6 Earl grey tea bags
- 150ml Water (boiling)
- 100g Butter (unsalted) (melted and cooled, plus extra for greasing)
- 3 Egg(s) (free range) (large)
- 150g Billington's Unrefined Dark Muscovado Sugar
- 100g Billington's Unrefined Light Muscovado Sugar
- 250g Self-raising white flour
- 120g Dark chocolate (melted and cooled)
- 1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt
For the earl grey cream
- 4 Earl grey tea bags
- 100ml Water (boiling)
- 3 tbsp Billington's Unrefined Light Muscovado Sugar
- 250g Cream cheese
For the icing
- 150g Dark chocolate
- 100ml Double cream
- 3 tbsp Honey
- 2 tbsp Billington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
- 1 Earl grey tea bags
For the earl grey gold dust decoration
- 2 tbsp Billington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
- 1 Earl grey tea bags
- 2 tbsp Billington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
Utensils
- 20cm spring form cake tin
- Greaseproof paper
- Cup
- Food mixer
- Skewer
- Tea towel
- Microwavable bowl
- Spatula
- Frying pan
- Pestle and mortar