Earl Grey tea gives a fragrant bergamot boost to this summery loaf
Back in 2016, I worked as a pastry chef at the Seattle restaurant Osteria la Spiga. One my main responsibilities was preparing the house-made gelatos and other frozen desserts. My favorite was the blueberry sorbetto, which was deep purple and infused with a subtle hint of Earl Grey tea, a combination dreamed up by the restaurant’s head chef and co-owner, Sabrina Tinsley. “No one can tell it’s in there,” she explained, “but it really enhances the flavor of the blueberries.” I’ve since infused all sorts of blueberry desserts with Earl Grey tea—from scones to compotes to panna cotta. My current blueberry-Earl-Grey obsession is a lightly sweet cake, dotted with jammy berries and speckled with finely ground tea leaves. I even work a little tea into a crispy crumble topping. It’s the perfect cake for breakfast, but it’s even better with—you guessed it—a cup of afternoon tea.
Earl Grey tea is flavored with oil of bergamot, a citrus fruit that is prized for its deeply floral aroma. In this recipe, it’s rubbed together with granulated sugar to infuse the flavorful oil throughout the entire cake batter. This is a common method when baking with lemon or lime zest, and the same action is used for the crumble topping, which adds a crispy, ever so slightly salty layer to contrast the moist, dense crumb of the cake. In both cases, you want to the work the mixture until it’s incredibly fragrant and the sugar begins to appear slightly damp, indicating the oils have been released from the tea.
It’s important to note that the Earl Grey tea doesn’t dominate this cake—it’s more of a subtle, supporting flavor that enhances the deep floral notes of ripe blueberries. That said, it’s helpful to choose a tea that is particularly bergamot-forward. I prefer Trader Joe’s Earl Grey Tea for this recipe, which is so perfumed that the aroma of bergamot permeates the sealed packaging. The Trader Joe’s tea comes in the form of tea bags and has a very fine consistency, but loose-leaf tea is also a great option; just note that the leaves tend to be larger and can be unpleasantly chewy when used whole. If using loose-leaf tea, blend it in a spice grinder or blitz it, along with the sugar, in the bowl of a food processor, until a fine, almost powdery texture is achieved.
Stay away from overly ripe or mushy berries for this recipe (save those for a fruit crisp). Instead look for ripe, firm, and slightly tart berries that will lend a bit of acidity to balance the sweet batter. Frozen berries work well, but at this time of year, I always prefer to bake with fresh blueberries, which are plump, flavorful, and bake into thick, jammy pockets. Berry season doesn’t last forever, and this tea-infused cake is one my favorite ways to celebrate it.