Collaboration with Sunday Natural
This vegan earl grey cake was inspired by a piece of cake I had years ago at a student café in Manchester, the intense black tea and bergamot aroma stayed with me for days. The café is long gone, and none of the earl grey loaf cake recipes I tried afterwards came close. Nothing was ever earl-grey-ish enough.
So I set out to develop my own recipe. And while I’ll probably never know the original secret, I think I’ve found mine.
The secret of the vegan earl grey cake:
A few drops of real bergamot essential oil in the glaze, that’s it. This is what gives the cake an aroma that no amount of steeped tea alone can achieve. You might also know this style of cake as a London Fog Cake, named after the popular Earl Grey latte with vanilla and milk that’s so popular in Canadian cafés: the bergamot flavour is the defining element in both.
Make sure you use 100% real organic bergamot essential oil for the vegan earl grey cake, only the real thing releases the mood-lifting, calming compounds that probably contributed to my excitement about that original cake in Manchester. There are cheap fragrance oils that smell of bergamot, but those don’t belong in food. And even though we’re only using three drops for the whole cake: essential oils should not be given to babies, children, pregnant women or seriously ill people without professional guidance.
What do you need for this vegan earl grey cake?
Earl Grey tea
The tea is brought to a boil in the oat milk and steeped for five minutes, the longer it steeps, the more intense the black tea flavour in the batter. Use a good quality Earl Grey; the difference is noticeable when baking.
Real bergamot oil
The secret of the glaze: three drops are enough for the whole vegan earl grey cake. Make sure it’s 100% organic essential oil, not a fragrance oil.
Oat milk
Oat milk gives the cake a pleasant mildness and keeps it moist. You can use other plant milks, but oat milk pairs best with the tea flavour.
Coconut sugar
This caramel-like brown sugar it adds an extra depth to the batter. You can substitute regular cane sugar; the vegan earl grey cake will turn out a little lighter in colour.
Spelt flour
I love baking with light spelt flour, it gives the cake a slightly nutty note. Plain wheat flour works just as well.
A note on the batter consistency:
The batter is quite thick, more like a thick pancake batter than something pourable. If it feels more like dough, add a little more plant milk, one tablespoon at a time. How much evaporates when making the tea can vary.
Storage:
Kept in an airtight container in the fridge, the cake lasts three to four days, and actually tastes even better on the second day as the flavours develop. It also travels well glazed and cooled in the loaf pan, which makes it a great birthday cake to bring along.
Sunday Natural have provided me with their bergamot oil, their earl grey tea and their organic coconut sugar for this recipe.
The uplifting Earl Grey loaf cake is also a quick birthday cake and easy to transport glazed and cooled back in the loaf pan.
Bergamot oil is of course also a great choice for a DIY Yoga mat spray.
Vegan Earl Grey Cake with Bergamot Glaze
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 240 ml plant milk
- 2 tablespoons Earl Grey tea
- 240 g spelt flour
- 90 g coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 80 ml plant oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 100 g powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon plant milk
- 3 drops real bergamot oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350° F.
- Now, gather all your ingredients and prepare them in the right amounts. That makes it so much easier and more fun and you're less likely to forget anything.
- Bring plant milk with earl grey tea to a boil and steep for about 5 minutes.
- In the meantime, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and vanilla powder in a big bowl. If using liquid vanilla, you can add it to the liquid ingredients in the next step.
- Pour the Earl Grey mixture through a sieve and mix with plant oil and apple cider vinegar. Then add liquid mixture to the bowl with the dry mixture and stir until just combined. You might have to add a little more plant milk if too much evaporated when making the tea.
- Pour into a 20-25 cm/ 9" loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes.
- Combine one cup of powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of plant milk and 3 drops bergamot oil into a thick frosting and apply to the cooled off cake. Add a little more plant milk if needed. Let dry and serve, or keep in the fridge in an airtight container.
Nutrition
FAQ
How strong is the earl grey flavour?
It depends on how long you steep the tea and how strong your tea is. For an intense earl grey flavour: steep for at least 8-10 minutes and don’t skip the bergamot oil in the glaze, that makes the biggest difference.
Can I use tea bags instead of loose leaf tea?
Yes, two tea bags work well and save you straining the milk. One reader recommended using four bags for an even stronger flavour.
Can I freeze the vegan earl grey cake?
Yes, best frozen without the glaze. Defrost, then glaze fresh before serving.
What can I substitute for coconut sugar?
Cane sugar or regular white sugar both work. The vegan earl grey cake will be a little lighter in colour and slightly sweeter.
What else can I use the Bergamot oil for?
Bergamot oil is also wonderful in a DIY yoga mat spray.
Love vegan cakes? Then you might also enjoy my vegan chocolate sheet cake with four variations, all with a snappy chocolate glaze.
If you like my earl grey cake, you might also enjoy my other recipes in collaboration with Sunday Natural:
- Chagaccino
- Hemp bagels
- Fermented cashew blueberry cheese
- Superfood burgers
- Chocolate and sea salt granola bars
- Lion’s mane matcha latte
- Hojicha latte
- Superfood pralines
- Hojicha ice cream mini cheesecakes
- Chocolate pudding
- Chia jam
- Protein snickers ice cream
- Matcha Pralines
- DIY spice rack
- Almond buckwheat granola clusters
- Matcha popsicles
- DIY yoga mat spray
DELICIOUS. Comment: Used 4 tea BAGS and steeped in boiled milk; easier than straining. The instructions say to “pour” the batter into the loaf pan. At no point could I get this to the “pourable” stage; it was more like dough. I did, however, add an additional 4T soy milk which made the batter “less dough-like”, but surely not fluid enough to “pour”. Next point: cake rose acceptably but not as well as my other quick breads where I use 2 t baking powder + 1 t baking soda and 1/2 cup aquafaba but no apple cider vinegar. You seem to be a total professional, so I would like you to advise me. Next time, I might add raisins! Thank you for an excellent recipe!
Hi Geneva, thank you very much for your feedback! Using tea bags is easier, yes. It sounds like you did everything right. My mixture was pourable, but quite thick. Apparently yours turned out even thicker and like a dough that was kneaded? Hm. You really only need to combine the dry and wet ingredients until just combined.
I unfortunately can’t use aquafaba because my stomach doesn’t like it, so I can’t try your combination, but I think I would also work well for this cake. If you try, feel free to report if the cake rose better, I’d appreciate. Raisins sound delicious too 🙂 Kind regards, Nina
Thank you, Nina, for a thoughtful, helpful response. This cake gets better and better. DELCIOUS. And guess what I am a tea drinker but I abhor Earl Grey tea! But when infused into a cake, magnificent flavor! The Bergamot oil in the icing was perfect, too! I will play around a bit by combining my own experience baking these loaf cakes and your input. I am in Florida so there are many factors which impact baking! Thank you again. WE LOVE THIS CAKE. It is a welcome change from my old, boring repertoire!
Hi again Geneva, it makes me very happy to hear that! In fact, my dad lives in Florida too and I have often made food at his place which turned out a bit differently because of other ingredients etc. So I’m not surprised your cake gets better by experimenting a bit 🙂