Lavender Earl Grey Cupcakes for Better Homes and Gardens

Dried culinary lavender and Earl Grey tea come together in these Lavender Earl Grey Cupcakes – a delicious tea-time treat! A drizzle of honey adds sweetness to the creamy mascarpone buttercream.

Lavender Earl Grey Cupcakes

Hi friends! This month I’ll be sharing a few of my cake creations on the Better Homes and Gardens blog – starting with these tea-time inspired cupcakes! They’re so easy to make, and perfect for a Mother’s Day dessert. But Lavender-Earl Grey Cupcakes are great any time of year!

Lavender and Earl Grey flavors have a natural affinity for each other, but you can use any tea that strikes your fancy. For example, you could use orange spice tea, chocolate rooibos, or even hibiscus tea for a whole different take on this cupcake.

The fluffy lavender-studded cupcakes make the perfect blank canvas for creamy honey-mascarpone buttercream. These are even tempting without the frosting.

Lavender Earl Grey Cupcakes

Pipe a circle of frosting using a large open star tip on top of the cupcakes, and leave a little space in the center. Then fill it up with more honey!

I thought it would be cute to make some Earl Grey cupcake toppers using the tea bag tags. Just snip them off with scissors and tape them to toothpicks. So easy!

Lavender Earl Grey Cupcakes

Use your favorite pre-packaged shortbread cookies to pair with the cupcakes. Or, you could use my favorite homemade shortbread recipe. (Just swap the rosemary with more dried culinary lavender).

Lavender-Honey Cupcakes

Heather Baird
These cupcakes are infused with fragrant Earl Grey Tea and dried culinary lavender. They're the perfect tea time treat!
No ratings yet
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Total Time 38 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 18

Equipment

  • cupcake tin

Ingredients
 
 

Cupcakes

  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 4 earl grey tea bags
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons dried lavender
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Honey buttercream

  • 5 ounces mascarpone cheese or cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 4 cups powdered sugar

Toppings

  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 18 ready-made shortbread cookies

Instructions
 

Cupcakes

  • Line 18 muffin tin cups with paper bake liners.
  • Heat milk in a saucepan on the stovetop over medium-high heat until steaming. Add tea bags and steep 15-20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.
  • Preheat oven to 350F.
  • In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, the 2 teaspoons lavender, and the salt.
  • In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter with on medium-high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, honey, and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add eggs, one at a time; beat well after each addition. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until mixture is combined. Begin and end with flour
  • Potion batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4.
  • Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks.

Frosting

  • In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat mascarpone, butter, honey, and vanilla with mixer on medium until light and fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar if mixture is lax.
  • Using a decorator piping bag fitted with a large open star tip, pipe frosting in a circle on top of each cupcake leaving an open hole in the centers. Fill centers with a spoonful of honey. Garnish with cookies, if desired, or serve them alongside cupcakes.
Keyword dried culinary lavender, earl grey tea, mascarpone cheese, organic honey
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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Grandbabycakes
Grandbabycakes
9 years ago

Those are really beautiful. In love!

Unknown
Unknown
9 years ago

Those cupcakes are looking so cute!

Rosa's Yummy Yums
Rosa's Yummy Yums
9 years ago

A deightful flavor combination. Wonderful cupcakes.

Cheers,

Rosa

Maribel Cota
Maribel Cota
9 years ago

I love tea, but in cupcakes? Amazing! Wonderful idea. Saludos desde Mexico!

Jenn @ Once Upon a Tier
Jenn @ Once Upon a Tier
9 years ago

Gorgeous cupcakes, Heather!

Naomi
Naomi
9 years ago

You might want to check your recipe post: under 'Honey Frosting' it repeats the ingredient list for the cupcakes.

I'm allergic to honey (as I'm sure others are). A good substitute for honey is Lyle's Golden Syrup; it's liquid cane sugar with a lovely flavour & it's going to work really well with this recipe.

Heather Baird
Heather Baird
9 years ago

Thank you Naomi, this is Better Homes and Garden's original recipe that I put my spin on, so I'll let their editorial team know that the frosting recipe is missing.

Jennifer
Jennifer
9 years ago
Anonymous
Anonymous
9 years ago

looks delicious!

btw, the honey frosting recipe isn't showing, it is the same recipe as the cupcakes. unless there is another link?

Colette (Coco)
Colette (Coco)
9 years ago

Just so pretty, Heather. I love the honey in the center and the clever repurposing of the tea tags!

Unknown
Unknown
9 years ago

Will you be able to notify us when BHG has the recipe corrected? I don't normally get on their site unless you have a recipe posted there.

Crystal
Crystal
9 years ago

Everything you do is always so beautiful. I don't always comment but I am always impressed. You are very talented and creative !!

Unknown
Unknown
9 years ago

How sweet! Love these and just love the tea bag toppers!

Anonymous
Anonymous
9 years ago

This combination sounds wonderful!

Heather Baird
Heather Baird
9 years ago

I submitted the edit to BHG, and the note has been passed forward but I'm not sure how long it will take to get fixed. Here are the frosting ingredients. The instructions are correct, so refer to them in the recipe.

Frosting ingredients:
5 oz. mascarpone or cream cheese
3 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup honey
3 cups powdered sugar

Thanks everyone for your patience. xx-Kisses!

Medeja- CranberryJam
Medeja- CranberryJam
9 years ago

Oh these cupcakes look just perfect!

Anonymous
Anonymous
9 years ago

I love the idea of making cupcakes with earl grey tea,…. mainly because the taste reminds me of warm fruit loops ceral

McGinny's
McGinny's
9 years ago

THANK YOU for the frosting ingredients!!! I just made the cakes last night and the shopping trip for the frosting was this morning. I had a frosting panic attack!! BTW the cakes are so yummy!

hcampbell
hcampbell
5 years ago

I want to use this recipe for an 8in cake. What adjustments will I have to make?