Earl Grey and Chocolate are two of my favorite things. Therefore I simply couldn’t resist the idea of combining them to make a CAKE!! I mean, who doesn’t like cake? It’s actually not that hard to make but requires a bit of effort since there are 3 parts – the cake itself, the ganache and the frosting. But the end result is worth it, and your friends will be happy too!

Cake mixture

· 6 teaspoons of Art of Tea Earl Grey tea (finely ground using a mortar & pestle, or any other crushing mechanism! I actually used a meat tenderizer because that was all I had on hand!)

· 1 stick unsalted butter

· 1 ¼ all purpose flour

· ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

· 1 ½ cups packed brown sugar

· 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

· 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

· ½ teaspoon salt

· 3 eggs

· 2 cups buttermilk

First and foremost, preheat your oven to 325°F

Grease two 9-inch cake pans with butter. I usually find that if you dust the buttered tins evenly with flour, it works like a charm and nothing gets stuck to the pan – a little trick I learned from my Mom!

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the tea powder and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tea flavors have infused into the butter. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool for 10 minutes.

While the butter is cooking, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add the brown sugar and salt and whisk to combine.

In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and buttermilk until combined.

Once the tea butter has cooled, add it to the bowl with the dry mixture. Then add the buttermilk mixture too. Beat until just combined – it is ok if the batter is still slightly lumpy. It’s important not to overwork it as you want the cake to be light and fluffy.

Divide the batter evenly between the 2 cake pans and bake at 325° for 30 -35 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow them to sit for at least 10 minutes before removing the cakes from the pans. Cool on a rack for about an hour.

Once they’re cooled, you can put a plate on top of one of the cakes and flip it over (it’s easier than lifting it and possibly breaking the cake!)

Spread the chocolate ganache over the top of the first cake. Place the second cake on top of the ganache. Using a spatula, cover the whole cake with cream cheese frosting.

Enjoy!

Ganache Recipe

· 4 oz heavy cream

· 6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

· 1 tablespoon sugar

Put chocolate chips and sugar in a heat proof bowl and set aside.

Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over a medium heat until it starts to simmer. Then pour it over the chocolate-sugar mixture. Allow to sit for 60 seconds then whisk until all the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Set the mixture aside for 20 minutes to allow it to cool before putting it on the cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

· 8oz of cream cheese

· ½ stick unsalted butter

· 8 oz sifted powdered sugar

· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

· Food coloring, if desired!

Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl and beat until completely smooth! I used purple food coloring just for a little bit of extra oomph!

- Katie Kirby