Gluten Free Earl Grey Chocolate Cake

Winter in Belgium this year has involved a lot of cold days, no snow, only a bit of rain, but generally cold. Well cold for Belgium, my Canadian family would not be impressed by what I am calling cold these days.

It is cold enough to want to come into the house, get under a blanket and curl up with a hot mug of tea, or in my dad’s case, coffee.

I love tea, especially Earl Grey. I love chocolate (I’m very lucky to be living in Belgium). I love cake (don’t trust anyone who doesn’t). So when I saw this recipe come along on one of my new favorite blogs (shutterbean.com). I knew I had to make it.

The combination of chocolate and Earl Grey tea is one that I fell in love with last year while I was in a chocolate shop in Brugge, Belgium. I had never tried a tea paired with chocolate and instantly fell in love.

The unfortunate thing is that after, I couldn’t find it anywhere else. Then I had the gestational diabetes, and I wasn’t looking for it. I thought it was a distant memory, a taste never to be enjoyed again.

Then last week I was out for Valentine’s day lunch with Seyfi, at our favorite salad restaurant, Boule de bleu in Mons, when with my coffee, comes a little piece of Earl Grey chocolate.

The taste was back!

A day or two later, this recipe was out, and I made it instantly. It was delicious. I can now make the flavour combination in my own kitchen.

I’ve made this recipe twice now, the first time using normal flour. I just wanted to see how it would taste. I was so good, that I ate all of it, (ok, probably 3/4, and it was over three days…) I also wasn’t sure if Seyfi would like the idea of tea in a cake. But after he saw me enjoying it, he wanted me to make him some too.

All I did to make this recipe gluten free, was change out the flours. I also made it in little loaf pans. Delicious!

This cake is super moist, I would recommend using the darkest chocolate you can find.

Here is Shutterbean’s recipe (and link) with the adjustment for gluten free.

Earl Grey Chocolate Cake (Gluten Free)

6 Earl Grey tea bags or 2 tablespoons loose Earl Grey
1 cup water
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
4 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted & cooled
2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup plain yogurt
confectioners’ sugar

Heat oven to 350° F.

Coat an 8-cup fluted tube pan (that’s a bundt, right?) with cooking spray. (I used little loaf pans)

Brew the tea in the water 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags or strain the leaves and set the brewed tea aside.

Using a mixer, beat the butter, eggs, and granulated sugar until fluffy. Blend in the chocolate. Beat in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, yogurt, and brewed tea. Pour into pan.

Bake 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out with a few crumbs attached. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes.

Turn out of pan and cool. Dust with confectioners’ sugar.

Easy Chocolate Cupcakes

When I registered Alara at the local school this summer, I forgot to get a year calendar to know when all the holidays would be. I thought it wouldn’t be a problem because I would always be told if the school would be closed the next day.

So months ago I made a doctor’s appointment for this week, and told my dad that it would be fine if he left on the eighteenth, I had no idea that it would leave me all alone, for the first time since Ela was born, at home with Alara, and needing to go to an appointment.

I am however so lucky to have a great friend who offered to take care of Alara for the afternoon of the appointment. For Alara, this friend of mine comes with a friend for her, a big girl who loves to make tents, put on costumes, and generally give Alara all the attention in the world.

What do you bring to a friend who is doing such a big favour? Well, since I woke up at six o’clock the morning of that appointment, giving me lots of time, and I had just bought a new, heart shaped cupcake mold, I decided to make chocolate cupcakes, with pink whipped cream frosting.

These cupcakes turned out delicious. They are a nice, dense, rich cupcake,
that I made ‘healthier’ by adding ground up flax seed to the batter.

I hope my friend knows how much I appreciate her, her wonderful daughter and our friendship. Here is the recipe…

Easy Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
2 tbsps ground fax seeds (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, add the vanilla.
Add the flour mixture and the milk milk; beat well.
Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven.
Frost when cool.