This Earl Grey Tea Cake Recipe will fast become your go-to option when looking for a simple, yet tasty cake. Made in one bowl, with no special equipment, the batter is infused with ground tea leaves for a fragrant, bergamot-scented bite. Topped in a blood orange glaze, this may be the most delicious yet simple cake you've made in a while.
Earl grey tea has always, and I mean, always been one of my favourite flavour additions to baked goods. You'll have seen several earl grey infused recipes on my website, such as my Earl Grey Lemon Cupcakes, Earl Grey Créme Brûlèe Tart, and Earl Grey French Toast.
My personal favourite has to be the Earl Grey Blackberry Cupcakes - a beautiful combination together! Earl Grey tea is an incredibly versatile ingredient, in that it works perfectly with chocolate and all the citrus fruits plus berries and stone fruits. So brilliant!
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Every French child grows up learning to bake a simple yogurt cake. It's one of those basic baking recipes that pass down from generation to generation. Traditionally it's made using the yogurt pot as a measure with the 1-2-1 method (1 pot yogurt - 2 pots flour - 1 pot sugar).
Today I'm sharing with you a variation of my classic French Lemon Yogurt Cake. I've taken inspiration from Bon Appétite by adding earl grey into the batter and then topped the cake with a blood orange glaze. This moist sponge with a tender crumb has been given the perfect Spring makeover.
🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Simple to make. Made in one bowl and with no electric mixer required, this is as simple as you could get when making a cake.
- It's so versatile. Sub the Greek yogurt for natural yogurt, vegetable oil for olive oil, leave out the tea leaves or substitute the blood orange for lemon. You can make this your own incredibly easily.
- Smells and tastes insane! This is one of those loaf cakes that your guests (and you) will be chomping at the bit to get to whilst it's baking. The smell is intoxicating, and the earl grey flavour most definitely does not disappoint!
❓ What is Earl Grey Tea?
Earl Grey Tea is a black tea blend that's been flavoured from bergamot oils. Bergamot is a citrus fruit that originates from Italy and the fragrant oils from the rind are added to the tea leaves giving its unique taste.
If you've never tried it before I would describe the flavour of Earl Grey Tea as undeniably fragrant with notes of citrus and floral. It's subtle, quite mild, and incredibly easy to drink. It's our favourite tea here in the UK so if you’ve never tried it I strongly urge you to!
Due to the fragrant, uniquely scented aroma, Earl Grey Tea makes the perfect addition to many forms of baking. The leaves can be infused in butter or milk or can be added directly into the batter as I've done in this Earl Grey Tea Cake recipe.
What's the best Earl Grey Tea to use for this recipe?
There are many incredible brands of Earl Grea Tea making it hard to pinpoint just one. My favourite teas would have to be Tea Pigs, Pukka, T2, Twinnings, and Whittard. The majority are found at your local supermarket (if in the UK) or online.
One thing to note is that there is a difference in texture between bagged and loose-leaf tea. Bagged tea is made of already ground tea leaves. In contrast, loose leaf is made from whole tea leaves.
I use ground tea from inside Earl Grey teabags as I prefer the super fine texture. You can definitely use loose-leaf tea but I find the larger texture quite 'bitty' in the baked cake which I’m not a fan of. If you have loose leaf then I recommend grinding it in a pestle and mortar.
🧾 Ingredients Needed
Aside from the Earl Grey Tea and blood oranges (if you use them), the remaining ingredients are regular fridge or pantry products. Where possible, I provide substitutions so that you can be a little more flexible with what you have on hand.
Earl Grey Tea Cake ingredients
- Eggs - provide structure and, more importantly, moisture to the sponge. Make sure to whip them for the required time. Use room temperature egg. If you forget to bring them to room temperature, just pop them into a bowl of warm water for ten minutes prior to use.
- Yogurt - I use Greek yogurt as the natural tang cuts through the sweetness. Substitute with plain natural yogurt or sour cream. Adding this provides a crumb that is so moist and tender!
- Oil - I prefer to use vegetable oil as I want the flavour to be neutral so as not to overpower the Earl Grey Tea. Sunflower or canola oil can also be used as another option. Substitute with olive oil (as in my Yogurt Plum Cake) but note that the taste of olive oil will be more robust and impact the overall flavour. (Not necessarily a bad thing- just different!)
- Earl grey tea leaves - our hero flavour component. A good alternative to Earl Grey is Lady Grey Tea. It's a milder version of earl grey with stronger citrus notes. You could also try Rooibos Tea for a fruity taste or Chai Tea for a light spice offering. Each makes a beautiful addition to the earl grey flavoured cake.
Blood Orange Icing Ingredients (optional)
- Powdered Icing Sugar - for a lump-free glaze, pass the confectioners' sugar through a sieve before adding the yogurt and orange juice.
- Blood orange juice - blood oranges have a delightful pink colour that stains the icing. It's the perfect all-natural colour that looks so pretty over the top of the glaze.
What If You Don't Have Blood Oranges?
Blood oranges are only available for such a small amount of time, so if you can’t find them, don’t worry. Substitute with fresh lemon or regular oranges that are found year-round. Add a couple of drops of red natural food colouring if you want to achieve that pretty pink colour.
📖 Variations
By simply omitting the tea leaves from the recipe, you can turn this earl grey loaf recipe into a base recipe. From there you can create your own favourite yogurt cake or loaf. My favourites include:
- French Yogurt Cake: Keep it simple by flavouring the batter with vanilla bean extract. Baked in a round tin or loaf pan, this humble, everyday cake is a staple in our house.
- Orange Yogurt Cake: Add a teaspoon of orange blossom water and orange zest to the batter and sprinkle the top with coarse sugar before baking for extra crunch.
- Blueberry Yogurt Loaf: Add a handful of fresh blueberries to the batter for little pops of fruity sweetness.
- Earl Grey Chocolate Cake: Keep this a tea-flavored cake but add 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (milk) into the batter. This is my kids' favourite variation!
👩🏻🍳 How to Make
To me, the ultimate weekday bake has to be quick and easy. This Earl Grey Loaf Cake fits the bill perfectly. It's easy to make in one-bowl, great for afternoon tea but can also be toasted the next day for breakfast. Much like banana bread, this earl grey bread is amazing lightly toasted and brushed in butter. Yum!
*Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*
How to Make the Earl Grey Cake
STEP 1. Prepare your pan—grease the base and sides of a 2lb loaf pan. Line with parchment paper leaving an inch or so of the paper to overhang the sides to form a sling later on. It makes it way easier to lift the earl gray cake out once baked (Image 1).
STEP 2. Whip the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract. In a large bowl, using a whisk, whip the eggs and sugar until they turn light, pale, and aerated. If doing this by hand don't whisk for less than a minute. We want lots of air in the mixture! This is your arm workout for the day! (Image 2)
TIP: If you want to use a hand-held electric beater fitted with the whisk attachment then by all means go for it!
STEP 3. Mix in yogurt and oil. Add the Greek yogurt and the vegetable oil into the mixing bowl and whisk until just combined (Images 3 & 4).
STEP 4. Sift in dry ingredients. We're keeping it simple and sifting the dry ingredients directly into our mixing bowl. Sift the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt through a fine-mesh sieve onto the whisked eggs. Then add the Earl Grey loose-leaf tea. If using tea bags, just cut them open and pour those tea leaves right into the flour mixture (Images 5 & 6).
Fold them together gently. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined and a few flour streaks remain (Images 7 & 8). This tip ensures that you don't overmix the batter and the black tea cake remains light in texture.
STEP 5. Pour into prepared pan and bake. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and level off the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes (Image 9).
The cake is ready when a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, and the cake is golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely. (Image 10)
How to make the blood orange glaze
I added the blood orange glaze as I love the natural colour that blood oranges give to everything and I wanted to make the most of them still being in season. Next time I'll add the zest to the loaf also.
But the glaze isn’t essential, this Earl Grey Cake recipe is still a winner without it!
STEP 6. Add powdered sugar and orange juice into a bowl and whisk together. Make sure to sift the powdered sugar otherwise, you may get a lumpy glaze! (Image 11)
Add Greek Yogurt to the glaze. I add yogurt to the glaze as I love the tang that cuts the sweetness of the icing sugar. But it will make the glaze a bit runnier (Image 12).
TIP: If you prefer a thicker glaze then omit the yogurt or increase the amount of powdered icing sugar you use, by 30g (¼ cup) at a time, until you reach your desired consistency.
STEP 7. Pour the blood orange glaze over the cake, leave it to set for ten minutes or so, slice, and serve alongside a cup of tea! (Image 13)
💭 Recipe Pro Tips
- Weigh your flour. Use digital scales for accurate measurement. Too much flour will lead to a dry sponge that can crack when rolling.
- Don't overmix. Once the dry ingredients are added to the mixture, fold through gently to knock out the air. Mix until a few flour streaks remain. It's tempting to keep mixing the beautiful batter, but it'll result in a chewy sponge, and we definitely don't want that.
- Don't overbake. We've added yogurt into our sponge to create extra moisture and then we've been careful not to over-mix the batter. It would be such a shame to overbake the loaf and ruin it. Insert a toothpick into the sponge and it should come out with a few moist crumbs only. Cover with foil if the top browns too quickly and continue baking.
📋 Recipe FAQs
It's basically black tea leaves that have the oils from the bergamot orange added to the leaves. That’s what gives the taste and smell such a beautiful, fragrant flavour. It's our favourite tea here in the UK so if you’ve never tried it I strongly urge you to!
Yogurt adds moisture through the extra fat content. Along with the oil, this results in a cake that will always be moist. This then makes it last longer! Bonus!
One hundred percent of course! I would recommend a 23cm (9-inch) cake pan. Check the cake for 35 minutes and bake until done.
❄️ Storage and Freezer Instructions
To Store: The Earl Grey Pound Cake is best stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
To Freeze: The Earl Grey Loaf is best frozen unglazed. Either freeze as a whole wrapped well in plastic wrap or place in an airtight container. Or slice and wrap individual slices in plastic wrap. The yogurt cake can be frozen for up to 2 months. Leave it out on the countertop to thaw overnight. Once completely thawed, make the glaze and decorate prior to serving.
🍰 More Simple Cake Recipes
If you tried this Earl Grey Tea Cake recipe or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Earl Grey Tea Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Earl Grey cake batter
- 2 large eggs
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 240 g Greek yogurt (or plain natural)
- 180 ml vegetable oil (or canola)
- 250 g plain flour (all-purpose)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 6 g Earl Grey Tea leaves , ground
Orange glaze
- 180 g powdered icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
- 30 ml fresh orange juice, blood orange or navel orange
- 15 g Greek yogurt
Instructions
Earl Grey cake batter
- Heat oven & prep pan: Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) Grease with butter a 2 lb loaf pan 23 x 14cm (9 x 5.5-inch) and line the base and sides with parchment paper.
- Whisk eggs & sugar: In a large bowl, add the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract and whisk until pale and light - this takes approximately one minute.
- Mix in yogurt & oil: Add the Greek yogurt and oil and whisk until fully combined.
- Sift in dry ingredients: Sift into the bowl the flour, baking powder, and salt. Then add the ground Earl Grey tea leaves. (See note)Fold together gently: Using a spatula, fold gently until a few streaks of flour remain.
- Bake: Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake on the centre shelf for 50-55 minutes until golden brown and the sponge springs back or a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. If the cake is browning too quickly then cover it in aluminium foil and continue to bake. Cool on a wire rack for ten minutes, then remove from the pan to cool completely.
Orange Glaze, optional
- Whisk: Add powdered icing sugar and orange juice into a small bowl and whisk together. Add Greek yogurt and whisk until combined. If the glaze is too runny, then add more powdered sugar 30g (¼ cup) at a time, and mix until desired consistency is reached.
- Pour: Pour glaze over the cooled cake and set aside for ten minutes for the glaze to harden. Slice and serve.
All recipes are developed and tested in Metric grams. I strongly recommend that you bake using digital scales for a more accurate result. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Julia
I’ve made this cake twice now and yum!! Love it. I can never find blood oranges so used a naval orange the first time and grapefruit the second. I also added grapefruit zest to the cake and loved the extra citrus flavours! This has become my go to cake.
Emma
Hi Julia, You are a star!! Thank you so much for providing such fabulous feedback! Subbing the blood orange for grapefruit or naval oranges is perfect. Makes me so happy to know that you love it. It's such an easy loaf to pull together x
Krystal
I followed the recipe exactly, except for the addition of a little bit of orange zest and chocolate pieces in the batter. It came out fantastic! I would highly recommend. My mom doesn't like tea, but even she liked this recipe!
Emma
Hi Krystal, The zest and chocolate addition to my Earl Grey Yogurt Cake sound absolutely incredible. Thanks so much for leaving such a lovely review and it thrills me that your mum loved it! Emma
Julia Rudholzner
Hello Emma, thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. Here's me making it for the n-th time this year (substituting blackberry juice for blood orange today). I love coming back to your blog for the insightful instructions and beautiful pictures every time I make this! I have one suggestion though to make it even more quick: how about giving the grams for the oil instead of ml, since we already got the scales out? I weighed mine out today and I get 160g for 180ml of oil. Since I probably won't remember this next time, it would be so helpful to find it in the ingredients.
Cake smells absolutely delicious just coming out of the oven as I am writing.
Love, Julia
Emma
Hi Julia, What brilliant feedback - I'm so happy that you love the process images and instructions. And you make such a valid point. When weighing in grams- the scales are definitely already out and it makes total sense to add the liquid measurements in grams too. I will definitely do this from now on and over time will update all the recipes on my site. Thank you for this,
Emma
Ani
Hi Emma! TQ for this recipe. Made it this evening & it was absolutely yummy! Made some adjustments though-reduced sugar to 170g, baked at 170C /55m & used Ahmad Tea with peach & passionfruit flavour. My glaze was a tea glaze using the same tea. Tq again.
Emma
Hi Ani- So glad that you enjoyed a version of my earl grey cake recipe. Your ahmed tea variation sounds delightful!
Malvika
This is such a delicious and easy to follow recipe. I was in need of a quick and easy bake, and this was so easy to whip up AND is one of the yummiest things I’ve baked. I made a couple small adjustments: I used an Earl Grey blend that had rose and lavender added to it and did a plain glaze with vanilla extract instead of the blood orange. I also used homemade Indian plain yoghurt instead of Greek yoghurt and it still worked perfectly so it seems this recipe is really easy to work with based on what you have around.
Thank you for such a lovely recipe, Emma! I will be saving this one for sure and look forward to trying more of your recipes!
Emma
Those changes you made sound absolutely delightful. Thank you for such wonderful, positive feedback Malvika. It's a great versatile recipe, leave out the earl grey and customize it to your heart's desire!
Emma
Diane
Hi!
This may be a silly question - do I cut the tea bag so the leaves fall out and pour them in the batter? Can’t wait to make, sounds so delicious!
Emma
Hi Diane, Yes absolutely, add the tea leaves right into the batter. Just make sure that they are ground. (See notes on this in the recipe card.) Thanks
Emma
Joanna
Baked this earl grey yogurt cake for a friends’ gathering - added the zest of an orange to the batter & decided to omit the glaze as the cake was good on its own. Received positive reviews saying that it’s moist, fragrant & had a good balance of flavours. Thanks for the recipe, Emma!
Emma
Fantastic Joanna - what great feedback from your friends 🙂 x
Ana
I just finished the Earl Grey Tea Cake...could not help myself and I helped myself to a hot slice!! Sooo good!! Thank you for the recipe!!
Emma
Hi Ana, nothing beats slicing it hot and tucking in straight away! So glad you loved the recipe 🙂
Jerlin
I am a first timer in cake baking and I followed your recipe for this Earl grey cake. I used 8” cake pan and bake for 35mins but i did not glaze the cake. The results was wow… my hub loves it and I’m gonna bake another one for my aunt this morning.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. My confidence in baking is definitely building up.
Emma
Hi Jerlin - What an incredible response to my Earl Grey Tea Cake- thank you! Isn't it so incredibly simple to make, but the flavours are divine aren't they!
Jerlin
I have a thought. Can I replace Earl grey with Matcha powder in this recipe?
Emma
Hi Jerlin, I'm afraid I'm not a fan of matcha powder so have never baked with it and can't advise. If you have a go - let me know the result here so that others stumbling on the recipe can know to. Thanks and good luck! Emma
Jerlin
Hi Emma, i did it!
I add 7g Matcha powder into the flour and shifted. Nothing change except 150g granulated sugar and 7g Matcha powder. It was simply delish with your recipe still.
Cake came out moist and firm, smells great too. Thank you for the great recipe.
Emma
Hi Jerlin- Oh wow!!! That's brilliant! Thanks so much for letting me know!
Stacey
Can we make these into cupcakes? Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Emma
Yes absolutely- fill the paper cases up to 3/4 full and check on them after 15 minutes of bake time - bake until the sponge springs back in the centre.
Kat
This recipe was so delicious! My husband and I ate the whole loaf in a day and this will now be a staple recipe in our house haha! I have a lot of dietary issues so I substituted the oil for cooled melted plant butter, the yogurt for coconut yogurt, and the flour for GF flour and it came out perfectly. I also used a lavender earl grey loose leaf tea and made the glaze with lemon juice. I can only imagine the different ways you could switch up this recipe! I'm going to try this with a chai blend soon! Thanks for such a great recipe!
Emma
So glad that it worked with your substitutions and thank you for letting me know here as it will definitely help anyone else look to make these changes. It's such an adaptable recipe - that's why I love it!
Anna
Would vanilla yogurt work or do you think it would overpower the earl grey flavour?
Looks so yummy!😋
Emma
Hi Anna, I'm afraid that I haven't tested it with a flavoured yogurt- I imagine that it would add another level of sweetness to the cake. As for overpowering the earl grey- I would like to say that it wouldn't but I can't be sure. Let me know if you give it a go 🙂
Anna
I just made it and had some, extremely delicious! The vanilla yogurt added a sweetness but didn’t overpower! I cut back the sugar because of the sweet yogurt and dyed the frosting with blueberry juice. Saving this recipe!😋☕️
Jenny
Melted coconut oil instead of butter and used orange juice for the glaze. Delicious! Will attempt to sub applesauce for the oil next time. Thank you.
Emma
Hi Jenny- thanks for letting us know the substitutions- this will definitely help others. Glad you loved the recipe 🙂
Douglas
Hello! This cake looks delicious. I'm planning to scale up the batter recipe to make 2 8-inch rounds for a birthday cake. Do you think substituting the blood orange glaze for a thicker orange frosting like a buttercream or a whipped cream would still work well with this cake?
Emma
Hi Douglas - It's an absolute favourite at home as it's so simple to make and tastes divine. If you are turning the cake into a more decorative affair for an occasion then definitely a buttercream frosting or whipped cream would work equally well 🙂