London Fog Cake

This London fog cake is a three layer vanilla cake baked with Earl Grey steeped milk and covered in a soft lavender Earl Grey buttercream. It tastes like the café drink it is named after: bergamot tea, vanilla, and creamy milk. One recipe makes three 8 inch layers and about 12 generous slices.

The tea goes in twice. It flavors the cake through the milk, and it goes into the buttercream as finely ground leaves, which gives the frosting its speckles and most of the flavor. The pale purple color comes from a drop of gel coloring, with dried lavender and tea leaves on top.

What a London Fog Tastes Like

A London fog is an Earl Grey tea latte: strong Earl Grey, steamed milk, and vanilla syrup. Same three things here. Same balance. The crumb is soft and buttery with a gentle tea flavor, and the bergamot comes through most in the buttercream. Think vanilla cake, but for grown ups.

Steeping the Earl Grey Milk

Heat 1¼ cups whole milk until it steams, with small bubbles at the edge, but do not let it boil. Take it off the heat, add 4 Earl Grey tea bags, and steep for 15 minutes. Then lift the bags out and press them lightly against a spoon so you keep most of the milk without wringing bitterness out of the leaves.

The bags soak up some milk, which is why you start with 1¼ cups for a recipe that needs 1 cup. Measure after steeping and top up with plain milk if you are short. Cool it completely. Warm milk melts the creamed butter and the layers bake up dense.

Be gentle. Squeezing hard pushes out tannins, and the cake picks up a bitter, stewed tea taste. Use whole milk. Its fat carries the bergamot.

Mixing and Baking the Layers

Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line three greased 8 inch pans with parchment. Whisk 2½ cups flour, 2½ teaspoons baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt. Beat ¾ cup soft butter with 1¾ cups sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes, then beat in 4 eggs one at a time and 2 teaspoons vanilla.

Add the flour in three parts and the cooled tea milk in two, starting and ending with flour. Stop when it looks smooth. Divide it evenly between the pans; a kitchen scale makes this easy. Bake for 28 to 32 minutes, until the tops spring back and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Then racks, until fully cold.

Earl Grey Buttercream

Grind loose Earl Grey or the tea from bags into a fine powder in a spice grinder until you have 2 tablespoons. Coarse leaves feel gritty. Beat 1½ cups soft butter until creamy, add 5 cups powdered sugar a cup at a time, then add 3 tablespoons heavy cream, 2 teaspoons vanilla, and the ground tea.

Add purple gel coloring with a toothpick, a tiny bit at a time, until you get a soft lavender shade. Then beat on medium high for 2 to 3 minutes until fluffy. The flavor gets stronger as it sits, so taste it again after 15 minutes before you decide it needs more tea.

Stacking, Crumb Coat, and Piping

Level any domes. Spread buttercream between each one, then cover the whole cake with a thin crumb coat and chill it for 20 minutes. That thin layer traps the crumbs so the final coat stays clean and purple.

Frost the sides smooth. Swirl a spiral on top with an offset spatula, and pipe shell borders around the top and bottom edges. New to piping shells? The vanilla buttercream frosting guide covers bags, tips, and how stiff the frosting should be. Finish with a pinch of dried culinary lavender, a few tea leaves, and gold flakes if you have them.

Small Fixes That Help

• Weak tea flavor in the cake: the milk was not hot enough or steeped too briefly. Steam it properly and give it the full 15 minutes.
• Bitter cake: the bags were squeezed hard or steeped far too long. Press gently.
• Gritty frosting: the tea was not ground fine. Grind it to a powder, or sift it.
• Frosting too gray: Earl Grey dulls purple. Add the coloring in tiny amounts and check in daylight.

Variations, Storage, and Serving

For visible tea specks in the crumb, whisk 1 teaspoon finely ground Earl Grey into the flour. A little lavender works in the buttercream too, but keep it to ¼ teaspoon ground culinary lavender; more tastes like soap. Like that combination? Try lemon lavender cupcakes.

Keep the cake covered in the fridge for up to 4 days. Chill it before slicing for clean layers, then let slices sit at room temperature for 30 minutes so the buttercream softens. Serve it with a pot of Earl Grey at an afternoon tea, a bridal shower, or a birthday, or next to a maple brown butter layer cake on a fall dessert table.

Save this London fog cake to your Pinterest cake board for the next tea party. Made it? Tell me in the comments how strong you liked the Earl Grey.