logo
Tea-licious! 17 awesome ways to use earl grey, from ice-cream and cocktails to strudel and salad

Tea-licious! 17 awesome ways to use earl grey, from ice-cream and cocktails to strudel and salad

The Guardian11-05-2025

As you may already know, the title of Britain's Best Loaf 2025 was awarded to a brioche that was flavoured with lemon curd and earl grey tea. The inventor – Miyo Aoetsu, who runs a baking business from her home in Derbyshire – says the loaf was inspired by a recent Japanese trend for foods that combine the flavours of lemon and earl grey. But outside Japan, how many recipes can there be that use earl grey as an ingredient? Here are 17, just for starters.
The first, and most basic, is for earl grey itself. The connection between the tea and the 2nd Earl Grey, in whose honour it is sometimes said to have been concocted, is sketchy and possibly nonexistent. There is no official formula or authoritative version; it's just a name given to black tea flavoured with bergamot, a type of bitter orange grown extensively in Calabria. Making your own is as simple as leaving some dried bergamot peel in a jar of black tea for a bit. The result will probably be a bit more subtle than store-bought – which usually contains oil of bergamot – but you may even prefer it.
The association between earl grey and afternoon tea is strong, and a number of recipes feature it in teatime treats. If the idea of a tea loaf flavoured with actual tea doesn't sound like overkill to you, here's a tasty version from Ruby Tandoh in which the dried fruit is soaked in earl grey for an additional depth of flavour.
Traditional Welsh bara brith also normally contains a strong cup of tea. Anna Jones's personal preference is for earl grey; she recommends two teabags and a long steep. Benjamina Ebuehi's earl grey cardamom buns start with four teabags steeped in milk. They also use a yeast dough, so the buns need time to rise. The syrup to brush the tops of the buns requires another teabag.
Also for teatime, here's a simple fig and earl grey jam from Lillie O'Brien. It required only tea leaves, ripe figs, sugar and lemon, heated to setting point, in this case 105C.
Earl grey's singular bergamot scent – originally deployed, ironically, to mask inferior teas – can instantly turn an otherwise foreign pudding into something recognisably British. In this spirit, Ebuehi offers an earl grey and lemon panna cotta, while Earl grey 'tea-ramisu' is a version of the classic desert for people who don't like coffee. And Mike Robinson's earl grey burnt cream is an English translation of creme brulee, infusing the milk and cream with loose leaf tea tied up in muslin.
A toast, tea and marmalade bread and butter pudding sounds like the sort of dessert you could eat for breakfast, and the use of two earl grey teabags only underscores its associations with the most important meal of the day. As a compromise, you could serve it at brunch.
Nikki Duffy pairs earl grey with apricots and mascarpone, for a pudding that mostly makes itself in your fridge, although you could have a long wait: dried apricots are soaked in the tea for anything from six hours to overnight, before the liquid is drained off and reduced on the hob. The result is poured back over the apricots, which then go back in the fridge for up to two days before serving.
For a dessert requiring rather less notice, Felicity Cloake poaches pears in earl grey tea (about 750ml) spiked with sugar and lemon zest. If you like the combination, you could also try pear and earl grey strudel with earl grey sorbet.
Sign up to Feast
Recipes from all our star cooks, seasonal eating ideas and restaurant reviews. Get our best food writing every week
after newsletter promotion
But while Earl grey may work as a sorbet, can you put it in ice-cream? Of course you can! Proving there's a recipe out there for every idle hankering, here's one for earl grey ice-cream from Cornwall restaurateur Nathan Outlaw.
Perhaps because of the bitter tannin contrast it provides, earl grey generally finds its way into puddings and other sweet dishes. But not exclusively. Here, for example, is a pear and walnut salad with earl grey dressing. If you're the experimental sort, you could attempt a tea-brined turkey with tea-and-lemon gravy which requires no fewer than 18 earl grey teabags. The recipe calls for the turkey to be roasted on a closed barbecue grill, although once you've brined it you could cook it any way you fancy.
To finish, a pair of earl grey cocktails. The main issue with putting tea in a cocktail is that it will simply water down the drink. Here are two different solutions to that problem: Andy Milz's Mar-tea-ni uses an earl grey syrup made from tea leaves, blackcurrant jam, vanilla sugar and apple juice, while the Come as You Are cocktail starts with earl grey gin – a bottle of gin that's had a teabag in it for six hours. Worth the wait, undoubtedly.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Norwich meeting scheme for new fathers launched
Norwich meeting scheme for new fathers launched

BBC News

time27 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Norwich meeting scheme for new fathers launched

A group to support new fathers hopes the sessions will enable dads to feel less isolated by connecting with others while also bonding with their Get Me Out The Four Walls (GMOTFW) charity, based at Mason Road, Norwich, is behind the new project which aims to help fathers maintain strong mental manager Carrie Dagraca said: "Quite often dads are a forgotten group."Blokes aren't quite as good about talking about their feelings, but it's very important for the wellbeing of the whole family that dads just don't suffer in silence." She added: "We know the mums need support, we know mums can suffer from mental health issues, both during and after their pregnancy and we do have a free peer support service for any mum or dad that is experiencing mental health issues."GMOTFW, which has been running for 10 years, said the meetings were focussed around the use of Lego and other modelling bricks, the idea being this activity will encourage all ages to more about why the "construction" idea was adopted, Eleanor Mason, chair of trustees for GMOTFW, said: "We've really tried over the years to appeal to dads and to get dads to come and see us, and we've found activities like coffee and a chat is not working."Dads do not want to come in, sit in a circle and talk about their feelings. So we figured, just do something a bit different, get the Lego out, they can sit down with their children, have a play, build a house, build a car, build whatever and have a chat."Then if they do decide they want to talk to somebody they can do that afterwards, but just coming along and having some fun, that's fine too." The new group's first session was on Saturday and will be run on a monthly sessions are open to fathers with children under the age of two, or dads-to-be who "may wish to come along to experience what it is like to have small children".Older siblings are also welcome, the charity said. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

York roadworks uncover remains of medieval hospital
York roadworks uncover remains of medieval hospital

BBC News

time42 minutes ago

  • BBC News

York roadworks uncover remains of medieval hospital

Historic remains believed to be part of one of the largest medieval hospitals in the north of England have been uncovered during emergency roadworks in works began after a sinkhole opened up outside the Theatre Royal on St Leonard's Place in further investigation, archaeologists uncovered what is believed to be part of the 12th to13th Century St Leonard's Hospital, which covered an area between the modern day Museum Gardens and the Kate Ravilious, executive member for transport, said the finds were "fascinating" but admitted they had delayed the completion of the roadworks. "We knew that there is a lot of complex archaeology in the area dating back to the Roman legionary fortress," she said."Throughout the works we have been live to this while doing all we can to get off site as quickly as possible." The area around the discovery was used as the Royal Mint in the post-Reformation finds, which have been documented and sent for further analysis, are believed to become part of the Mint Yard, a sprawling area of streets and buildings in the early 19th buildings were flattened in 1836 to make way for a Georgian streetscape and the area became one of the most fashionable parts of the city during the time parts of the city walls were used to make the base for the road. Repair works are now able to resume, but the current closure of one lane on St Leonard's Place will remain until 13 June, when it is anticipated both lanes will reopen. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.

Ofsted rates Cleethorpes St Peter's C of E school inadequate
Ofsted rates Cleethorpes St Peter's C of E school inadequate

BBC News

timean hour ago

  • BBC News

Ofsted rates Cleethorpes St Peter's C of E school inadequate

A Cleethorpes primary school has been rated "inadequate" by said that pupils attending St Peter's C of E Primary School on Cambridge Street "do not receive an acceptable standard of education".The report said that procedures to safeguard students at the school were "not effective" with incidents of bullying and the use of "racist and homophobic language".The BBC has contacted the Lincoln Anglican Academy Trust, which runs the school, for a response. The report said that "pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are not provided with consistently high-quality support". On students' behaviour, inspectors said: "Most pupils behave well. They are polite and friendly. They engage in their learning."However, a significant minority of pupils, some of whom have SEND, do not behave well in class and around school. This disrupts pupils' learning. It also causes staff and pupils to feel unsafe."The report does praise the school's teaching of phonics at the early stages as "having a positive impact", however it adds: "Over time, the school has not supported older pupils to become proficient readers. These pupils do not enjoy reading."Other issues highlighted include higher than average absence figures and low staff morale."The school and trust have an overly positive view of the school," the report said."They do not demonstrate the capacity to make the improvements that are urgently required."Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store