This Earl Grey Chocolate Sheet Cake is rich and chocolatey, with an underlying floral earl grey tea flavour. The Earl Grey icing is sweet and reinforces the tea notes.
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I've partnered up with Vancouver-based Chef & Co. Canada to create a series of recipes, while featuring their beautifully made aprons.
I wanted to make a chocolate sheet cake, with a floral tea flavour twist.
This Earl Grey Chocolate Sheet cake not only has earl grey tea in the cake batter, but it also has an earl grey tea icing.
What is Earl Grey?
Earl grey is a tea that is flavoured with bright and aromatic bergamot oil.
If you've had a London Fog/Earl Grey Tea latte, then you'll have had Earl grey tea.
My favourite tea is Earl grey so I've developed a few recipes using this tea:
Raspberry Earl Grey Cream Puffs
Chocolate-Dipped Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies
What is a sheet cake?
A sheet cake is basically a cake that is made in a sheet pan, which is a large shallow baking pan.
The cake is usually rectangular, large and flat, compared to cakes which are baked in round pans.
A full-sized sheet cake is around 18" by 24" in size, which is the size of a full baking sheet. (Sizes may vary a little).
This recipe is made in a 9" by 13" baking sheet, which is considered a "quarter sheet." It's one of the more commonly used pan sizes for baking.
Ingredients in the sheet cake
This sheet cake is really easy to whip up. All you need a handful of ingredients, a bowl, and a baking pan (9" by 13" sheet pan).
You'll need:
- eggs: you'll need 2 large eggs
- avocado oil: or any neutral vegetable oil; helps keep the cake moist
- yogurt: if you don't have yogurt, you can substitute with sour cream
- buttermilk: adds some tang and acidity to react with the baking soda; you can make your own buttermilk by adding 1 teaspoon of vinegar to whole milk and giving it a stir if you don't have buttermilk on hand
- granulated sugar: adds sweetness to the cake
- vanilla extract: use a good quality vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour: for an even more tender cake, you can use cake flour, but all-purpose flour will be just fine for this sheet cake
- cocoa powder: for this recipe, I used natural cocoa powder, not Dutch-processed/alkalized cocoa
- baking powder: acts as a leavener
- baking soda: also another leavener that will react with the acidity in the buttermilk/yogurt to give the cake lift
- sea salt: balances the flavour in the cake
- earl grey tea: hot brewed earl grey tea from 1 tea bag -- increase to 2 tea bags if you like a stronger tea flavour; you can use loose leaf if you wish.
How to make the sheet cake
Everything comes really quickly together:
Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl.
Whisk all the dry ingredients in another bowl.
Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet.
Transfer the cake batter to a baking sheet (9" by 13").
Bake the cake at 350F for 20-25 minutes.
Cool the cake and then frost it with the Earl grey icing.
How to store the cake
This Earl Grey Chocolate sheet cake is delicious and super moist, even 2-3 days at room temperature.
Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Alternatively, you can cut into pieces and store in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
If frozen, just leave the cake at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes prior to serving.
Other earl grey recipes you may like
If you love earl grey as much as I do, you may enjoy these recipes:
Blackberry Earl Grey Cream Roll Cake
If you've made my recipe, I'd love to see your creations -- tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave a comment/rating below.
Earl Grey Chocolate Sheet Cake
For accuracy and precision in baking recipes, use weight (metric) measurements when available.
Ingredients
Sheet Cake
- 2 large eggs
- ½ C neutral vegetable oil
- ¼ C whole fat yogurt
- ¾ C buttermilk or use ¾ C milk + 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 C granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ C all-purpose flour
- 1 C cocoa powder sifted
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch sea salt
- ¾ C hot brewed earl grey tea I used 3 tea bags
Earl Grey Chocolate Frosting
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon earl grey tea leaves from the tea bag above, optional
- ½ C powdered icing sugar
- ¼ teaspoon culinary lavender optional
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F/177°C. Prepare a 9" by 13" baking pan by lining it with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the eggs, oil, yogurt, buttermilk, sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until everything is smooth.
- Next, add in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and mix until there are no lumps.
- Add the hot brewed earl grey tea and stir until the batter is combined. The batter will be thick but able to be poured into a pan.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 350°F/177°C for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with slight crumbs sticking to it.
- Let completely cool before frosting.
Frosting:
- Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and mix until smooth. Spread onto the cooled cake with an offset spatula.
To serve:
- Cut into 12 slices.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided should be considered as approximate and is not guaranteed. Please use your best judgment to ensure food is safely prepared and/or a good fit for your diet.
Cake recipe adapted from Half Baked Harvest.
Frosting recipe adapted from Madeleine Hall.
Thank you to Patricia from Chef & Co. Canada for gifting me a beautiful apron, and to Porto Coffee for providing the space to shoot the videos and photos!
Christie
I am literally drooling at this recipe! I've been really craving chocolate cake or cake in general but what sold me is the earl grey!!! One of my favourite tea flavours.
Michelle
Thanks Christie! Earl grey is one of my ultimate faves as well 🙂
Biana
I love earl grey flavor, and with chocolate it's just amazing! Definitely a delicious cake to serve for dessert.
Michelle
Earl grey is amazing with chocolate -- thanks so much Biana!
Cathleen
Earl grey is one of my favourite flavours, so I am definitely going to give this cake a go. Thanks so much for the recipe 🙂
Michelle
You're welcome, Cathleen! Hope you enjoy it!
Tara
This sheet cake sounds absolutely amazing with the addition of the Earl grey tea! I love how you have included it in the chocolate frosting as well. Such beautiful photos.
Michelle
Thank you Tara! Couldn't get enough earl grey 😉
Beth
This delicious unique cake has quickly become one of our favorites. It is so moist and yummy that it truly is hard to stop eating it. LOL
Michelle
It's one of our favourites as well, thanks Beth! 🙂 That frosting is truly addicting! 😀
Rebecca LeDrew
This is a really simple and delicious cake recipe. The Earl Grey provides a subtle fruity/floral hint to the fluffy chocolate sponge. I haven't made the frosting recipe because I wanted more buttercream to pipe little puppy faces on it to replicate a Korean cafe cake I saw online! Overall, a lovely cake that is versatile option for when you need a sheet cake.
Michelle
Thanks for your review Rebecca, and for sharing your cute puppy face cake creation with me on Instagram! 🙂
Emily Flint
My brother has been trying to get me to cook with earl grey for a long time. I made this for him and he loved it! So did I 😁
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
Chocolate and earl grey is such an great combination. This cake is perfect for Sunday tea this weekend!
Sue
Made this last weekend and it was a huge hit with my book club!
Michelle
Thanks for writing, Sue! Glad everyone enjoyed 🙂
Tayler Ross
This combination of earl grey and chocolate is absolutely out of this world! One of my new favorite desserts!
Michelle
Hi Tayler, glad to hear you enjoyed the combination! 🙂
Michele
I loved the Earl Gray flavor in the chocolate cake. It was delicious! Thanks for sharing.
MD
Hi! Where do I find the metric measurements for the ingredients? I like using my kitchen scale when baking. Thanks!