I’ve always been a tea drinker.

When my friends want to go out for “coffee”, that usually means I get a cup of tea.

At home, I wake up to a cup of warm black tea.

During the course of my work day, I drink 2 or 3 cups of cinnamon tea.

When I’m grumpy, I make myself a sugar-less green tea.

There is something very comforting about a warm cup of tea.

And that is what is reinforced throughout the novel- Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, our book club pick for the month.

Offering someone a cup of tea is a way of saying I’m here for you, without ever saying it.

I wanted to use tea in the recipe for this post. So I decided to experiment with Milk tea cupcakes.

To be honest, I had my apprehensions. It appears however, that tea, in any form and added to anything, retains it’s wonderfully warm and comforting qualities.

Milk tea cupcakes

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Makes: 6

Ingredients

50 ml milk
6 tsp tea leaves (use any flavour you like, I used Darjeeling)
70 g flour, sifted
60 g castor sugar
50 ml canola oil
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
vanilla sugar, to dust (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Boil the milk and then pour into a small bowl. Add the tea leaves and let it rest for 5 minutes.
2. In another mixing bowl, mix all the other ingredients together. Strain the tea into this bowl, being careful to not let any tea leaves through.
3. Mix well to combine. Line a 6-grooved cupcake tray with liners. Spoon the mixture into each and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until risen, and a skewer pushed through comes out clean.
4. Remove from the tray and cool on a wire rack. Dust some vanilla sugar over. Eat slightly warm.