Well, not sure whether to call this a story but here it goes! My son is extremely fond of Earl Grey tea. So for his 18th birthday, I decided to make this cake, specially because he was home after being locked down in Delhi for more than two months. I really enjoyed making the cake and brewing loads of Earl Grey teabags. I’ll credit my niece Stuti (who bakes awesome cakes) for sharing this recipe with me and helping me out with some tips and tricks.
Cream the butter with a hand whisk till soft and creamy. Then add the sugar, a cup at a time, and whisk. Add lemon juice and zest and whisk again. Refrigerate.
Give milk and tea leaves a single boil (so the quantity doesn’t reduce) and leave to cool.
Mix the dry ingredients after sieving them (i.e. flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and milk powder) to incorporate air.
Separately mix the wet ingredients (i.e. condensed milk, butter, oil, tea and milk mix, and vanilla essence).
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, fold gently till everything mixes and pour into a greased tin/bowl. Some sieved tea leaves can be added in the batter to enhance the flavour.
Bake at 180°C for 30–35 minutes. Check by inserting a knife or toothpick; if it comes out clean, it’s done. If not, bake for another 5–10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Cut the cake in half horizontally and spread the frosting as a layer. Place the top half of the cake and frost lavishly on top.
Use a hand whisk and not the electric one.
Reduce the ingredients for frosting if not layering.
