Rose with French Vanilla tea infused Cupcake

Rose with French Vanilla tea infused cupcake

• Place your milk in a microwave-safe jug and microwave for 1-2 min (keep an eye on it so it doesn't spill over). Place your tea bags in it and push them down using a fork or spoon. Let them soak in the milk for 10 min and take them out. Set the milk aside to cool down to room temp.
• Preheat your oven to 180C (356F) or 160C (320F) for a fan forced oven.
• In the bowl of a standard mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients. Turn mixer on low and allow it to mix for a couple minutes. Add the softened butter and let it mix until it resembles a fine sand-like texture.
• Next combine all milk, eggs, yogurt, oil and vanilla extract in a large jug and whisk well.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in a slow and steady stream until no dry ingredients are visible. Scrape down, add your food dye and fold in by hand or mix for another 20 seconds with your stand mixer.
• Fill each paper 3/4 of the way (using an ice cream scoop to transfer the batter into the cupcake liners makes this a quick and easy process otherwise you can use two tablespoons).
• Bake for 20-25 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow them to cool completely on a cooling rack before frosting.

Rose with French vanilla buttercream

• Place 3/4 cup of the butter into a saucepan with the loose tea. Heat over medium heat until the butter melts, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and let the tea steep for 5 minutes more.
• Strain the butter through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl and refrigerate it until it reaches the same consistency as softened butter (20-30 minutes). Small bits of tea may remain in the butter.
• Place the egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk them together by hand to combine.
• Fill a medium saucepan with a few inches of water and place it over medium-high heat. Place the mixer bowl on top of the saucepan to create a double boiler. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water. Whisking intermittently, heat the egg mixture until it registers 160 F (70 C) on a candy thermometer or is hot to the touch. Carefully fit the mixer bowl onto the stand mixer.
• With the whisk attachment, beat the egg white mixture on high speed for 8-10 minutes, until it holds medium-stiff peaks.
• When done, the outside of the mixer bowl should return to room temperature and no residual heat should be escaping from the meringue out of the top of the bowl.
• Stop the mixer and swap out the whisk attachment for the paddle.
• With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla and salt. Next, add the tea-infused butter and remaining 3/4 cup of butter a couple tablespoons at a time. Once incorporated, turn the mixer onto medium-high and beat until the buttercream is silky smooth (3-5 minutes).