Nice cuppa tea and a sit down

As soon as I received my fabulous Teacupcake silicone moulds I knew that I had to make some tea based cupcakes in them! At first I toyed with matcha cupcakes, but as these moulds screamed out 'afternoon tea' and 'English-ness' to me I decided to go with the Earl Grey cupcakes from my Primrose Bakery book.

The recipe was fairly easy to make and the only extra ingredients I had to buy were Earl Grey teabags (I'm more of a Twinnings English Breakfast gal), and some almond extract, which was a bit costly, but was an optional ingredient. I'm glad I bought it, it added a lovely aroma and flavour to the cake.

I halved the mixture and ended up with four teacups and cupcake in a normal cupcake cake. I sat the moulds in a pyrex dish lid so they were easy to get in and out of the oven and helped them retain their shape slightly.



The cupcakes were topped, as suggested, with vanilla frosting (again I halved the recipe), coloured purple with Sugarflair grape violet paste colour. After tweeting about how best to get a nice lilac colour I opted for paste and was lucky enough to find it quite centrally in Islington at the Make Lounge. I also picked up a large piping star and as you can see tried my hand at piping and I am quite proud of how cute they came out for my first proper try at piping. I used some disposable piping bags from Lakeland and I highly recommend them - even I managed to use them without making a mess.

The cupcakes tasted delicious - a hint of flowery Earl Grey-ness to the lovely moist cupcake and as usual the Primrose frosting was very moreish! I'd definitely recommend making them and would make them again. Next time its Matcha cupcakes in the teacups!

Oh, and with disposable bags you can pipe the leftover frosting straight into your mouth when you're finished piping :)

"Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. And whoever this "Earl Grey" fellow is, I'd like to have a word with him... " Captain Picard, Star Trek

Crumbs and Doilies September flavour of the month is...

Lemon and poppy seed with a cream cheese frosting. Yum

Made using organic unwaxed lemons and organic poppyseeds they're light, smooth, delicious and so natural they're practically good for you

Ok you've persuaded me!

Other news from Crumbs and Doilies is that they've added to their standard flavours - which now include vanilla rose and earl grey - both of which I can recommend from previous outings as flavour of the month!

Thanks to Crumbs and Doilies for the pics.

Tea and cupcakes

Yesterday we made it to the Covent Garden food market, mainly to get our hands on the Crumbs and Doilies flavour of the month - earl grey.

C&D describe it as a subtle and slightly citrussy taste of the English summer, and I have to agree - the flavour was very subtle but very moreish and the frosting was fab! As usual Crumbs and Doilies make the perfect cupcake :) They're only available for June so make sure you go grab one asap!

Flavour of the month @ Crumbs and Doilies

This month C&D have brought back their most popular ever flavour of the month - Earl Grey. I can't remember if I tried it last time - so long ago, so many cupcakes - so will have to try it again to remind myself!

Available Saturday's at Partridges Market, Kings Road and Thursdays from Covent Garden Market.

Thanks to C&D for the pics.

I'll name that cupcake....

Crumbs and Doilies monthly "name the cupcake" competition is now underway, with entries due by July 18th, the winner receving a free box of 24 cupcakes and a mini stand to show them off on :) Unfortunately the competition is only open to those in London, unless you want to collect them personally from their stall!

I enter this competition every month and one day I WILL win :)

They also have a new cupcake flavour of the month - Earl Grey....

"Crumbs and Doilies Earl Grey cupcakes are delicately flavoured using an infusion of the finest-quality Earl Grey tea leaves (from our friends at Tiger Spring Tea) with a touch of Madagascan vanilla to add sweetness and background. They’re light, fragrant and perfect for the summer. "

Not sure if I'll like them as I'm not too fond of Earl Grey tea but I may try and pop along to give it a try, purely for research purposes and because they look so pretty :) Next months flavour sounds much nicer - honey and lavender.