Chocolate Cake with Earl Grey Buttercream

Cakes & Cupcakes, Chocolate, Desserts, Recipes

London Fog Cake is the delicious comfort of an Earl Grey latte in cake form. Moist chocolate cake is layered with Earl Grey buttercream and topped with a silky and sweet caramel sauce.

London Fog Cake with Earl Grey buttercream and a caramel drizzle on plate

What is London Fog Cake

I recently picked up the Layered cookbook by Tessa Huff. First, I’m going to say that this book is awesome. Quite a few incredible easy desserts in there. But her London Fog cake really stood out. I’m a huge fan of Earl Grey tea so we gave this a whirl. I’ll say it was pretty delicious.

For me, the most unforgettable flavors are those that are both familiar, yet somehow new. The sweet vanilla-infused Earl Grey tea latte is a classic for any coffee lover, but its London Fog twist makes this cake extra special. A bergamot orange flavor gives the buttercream an almost tangy undertone of citrus that goes so well with vanilla bean and black tea leaves. If you are an Earl Grey fan, this London Fog cake is a must!

Bringing Out More Earl Grey Flavor

What I ended up wanting from Tessa’s recipe was just a bit more Earl Grey flavor, so we made a few adaptations to her Swiss Meringue buttercream recipe and ended with this recipe. We used our standard chocolate cake recipe for the cake layers. This makes two delicious chocolate layers. If you want more layers of cake go ahead and double the recipe, or 1.5 times it to give you three layers. We went with three, but two would easily work for this London Fog Cake and your buttercream will just be a bit thicker since you have one less layer to cover.

Now when you think chocolate cake, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For many people, it’s no doubt a delicious and moist cake topped with a decadent sauce or frosting.

Caramel Topping

The best part of this caramel topping recipe is how easy it is to make. You just boil the sugar down until browned, then add the dairy while stirring continuously. After cooking for a few minutes more, add butter and vanilla. It takes about 15 minutes from start to finish. We then topped the cake with this caramel sauce – which tastes amazing without but really tasty with…it just depends on your motivation and love of caramel. Personally I love adding a generous drizzle of this to my vanilla bean ice cream or even sprinkling over apple cobbler.

Caramel Sauce:

3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp light corn syrup
2 tbsp water
1/2 cup heavy cream at room temperature
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Place sugar, corn syrup and 2 tbsp water in a medium saucepan. Heat over high heat, slowly swirling the pan until it turns a golden amber color, about 10 minutes. Once you have the right color, remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cream. (Be careful it will foam up and splash, so stand clear) Add the butter and continue to stir until melted. Add the vanilla and pour into a heat proof container until it cools.

Ingredients In London Fog Cake

Earl Grey Tea is the star of the buttercream for this recipe. Don’t rush the steeping time for the tea and that will help its flavor to shine through.

All-purpose flour
Sugar
Cocoa powder
Salt
Baking powder
Cultured buttermilk
Vegetable oil
Water
Eggs
Unsalted butter
Earl grey tea
Egg whites
Vanilla

How to Make Chocolate Cake with Earl Grey Buttercream

Sift the flour and dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer.
Add oil, water and eggs (one at a time) until combined and pour into prepared round baking pans.
Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely.
Simmer Earl Grey tea in 1 cup of melted butter for 5 minutes then remove from the heat and steep for 5 more minutes.
Strain the butter and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Beat egg white and sugar and then heat to 160°F over a double boiler before beating to stiff peaks.
Beat in the vanilla, tea infused butter and remaining butter until smooth and fluffy.
Spread buttercream between layers, on the sides and top of the cake.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes that top with caramel sauce.

If You Love London Fog Cake Try

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5 from 4 votes