Earl Gray tea muffins

At last, success after (double) failure! I had found, and tried, a recipe of Honey Tea Cake. The recipe calls for lots of raisins previously soaked for about 2 hs in tea. I liked the idea of a tea-tasting cake to accompany tea. So I made my tea, soaked (patiently) my raisins and made my cake. Well, cake did not come out as expected. Did not rise well, raisins sunk to the bottom and texture was heavy, although taste-wise was good. It wasn't like the cake pictured with the recipe at all! Did I screw up with the English units? I tried again with some modifications and failed again. Now, it was personal, I really wanted a tea-based treat!

After some thinking, I decided to make muffins (using my favorite recipe) and replace the milk by tea. Instead of black tea, I used Earl Gray tea, which is scented with bergamot orange oil (Citrus aurantium subsp. bergamia, a cross between pear lemon and Seville orange).

Muffins were great! They were light and flavorful. I made them twice, one using raisins and the other dried cranberries. And they were also great the day after, grilled.

Earl Gray tea muffins
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup freshly-brewed & strong Earl Gray tea
grated peel of 1 orange
2 tbsp. melted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup raisins (or dried cranberries)


Preheat oven at 350F.
In a bowl mix together dry ingredients. Stir in tea, orange peel, melted butter and egg. Mix until well blended. Stir in raisins and mix.
Fill well-greased (or paper) muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 min or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Yield 9 muffins.

"To guarantee success after failure, the bedrock of your character must be built on integrity, honor, and trustworthiness". Or, in my case, plain Basque-stubbornness!