Cup O’ Tea Vegan/Wheat-Free Ice Cream Cupcake by Tara Tabassi
Cup O' Tea is a vanilla cupcake speckled with fresh Earl Grey tea, piped with rich lavender butter-cream frosting, and sprinkled with lavender-blossom sugar.
2tablespoonsEarl Grey Teagrind into fine powder with mortar and pestle
½cupnon-hydrogenated margarinesoftened
¾cupgranulated sugar
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
Lavender Buttercream Frosting Ingredients
½cupnon-hydrogenated shortening
½cupnon-hydrogenated margarine
3 ½cupconfectioners’ sugarsifted
1 ½teaspoonsvanilla
2tablespoonsdried lavender blossoms
¼cupplain soy milk
Handful of fresh blueberries
Fresh Coconut Ice Cream Ingredients
these amounts are very tentative, change as you go to fit your own taste
2cans of Coconut Milkthe kind where the juice and cream separates in the can, or if you can find it, it’s better to use 1 can of Coconut full-cream for richer flavour
¾cupsuperfine sugar
2lemons
1orange
Handful of blueberriesI just used the pulpy ones left from juicing in the frosting
Crystallized Lavender Blossom Ingredients
1cupof hot water
3tablespoonsdried lavender blossomsand a handful
A few drops of food colouringalthough if I did this again, I would use some beet juice!
Get really excited that you’re about to bake! Don your apron!
Preheat oven to 350◦F/ 180C and line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
Whisk the soymilk and vinegar in a cup and set aside to curdle (and have a kid stare wide-eyed at it as it changes!)
Sift flours, starches, baking powder and soda, salt and ground tea in a large bowl. Stir.
In a separate bowl, cream margarine and sugar for a few minutes (by mixer, or by hand if you don’t have a mixer like me!). Don’t over beat. Then beat in vanilla, and then alternate pouring a little soy milk and a little dry mixture while beating. Remember to stop and scrap the bowl every few minutes. (Either call over the kid to help for this, or use all four arms you have…)
Fill cupcake liners two-thirds of the way and bake for 20- 22 minutes until done. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool!
Lavender Butter-cream Frosting Instructions
The night before; heat the soymilk in a cup and add the lavender blossoms to it. Let sit and steep overnight
Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy.
Add the sugar and beat for about 3 minutes.
Add the vanilla and the lavender infused soy milk, and beat for 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.
Heat the berries on the stove in a tiny amount of water until they change colour to ‘blue’- squeeze the berries in your hand, dropping juice into the frosting and stir until a pretty lavender colour is reached
Fresh Coconut Ice Cream Instructions
Empty the tops of the coconut cans into a blender (or full can of coconut cream), add sugar and blend.
Zest the 2 lemons, juice the orange and one of the lemons into the blender and mix.
Slowly add berries until a pretty colour forms.
Put in your ice-cream maker and Enjoy!!
Crystallized Lavender Blossom Instructions
Steep the blossoms in the water until flavour is infused.
Strain out the blossoms and add colouring and a fresh handful of dried blossoms.
Pour the mixture in a foil-covered baking dish and bake on low until crispy.
When cool, break up into cute little crystallized pieces.