Vegan Iced Tea Cupcakes with Lemon-Iced Tea Frosting

In search of the perfect gift for her father’s summer birthday, Hannah Kaminsky, cookbook author, photographer and blogger extraordinaire at Bittersweet, baked up these creative, seasonal iced tea cupcakes. We featured them way back when, and thought that they deserved a refresh!

Mixed into both the cake and the frosting, the instant tea powder brought me right back to my childhood, thinking how grown up it was to be drinking this fancy iced tea concoction. These cupcakes are decided less “grown up,” but way too much fun to pass up.

Piled high with mounds of fluffy frosting, I made sure to be generous with the piping bag to satisfy [my father’s]well-established sweet tooth. As if that weren’t enough, a light sprinkling of coarse white sugar adds a slight crunch, and is a nod to that sugar-saturated brew my dad is so fond of. Finally, that touch of lemon is a nod to the lemon flavored tea that was a common choice back in the days of buying a mix.

Though these iced tea cupcakes may not cool you off on those hot summer days, the sweet tea flavor enhanced with lemon is certain to perk you up. Plus, these personal-sized cakes are perfect for Father’s Day, 4th of July, a weekend picnic spread, or a phenomenal post-barbecue dessert. Best of all, the ingredients for these iced tea cupcakes are quite easy to find in almost any grocery store.

Special Diet Notes: Iced Tea Cupcakes

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, optionally soy-free, vegan / plant-based, and vegetarian.

Vegan Iced Tea Cupcakes with Lemon-Iced Tea Frosting

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Author: Hannah Kaminsky

Serves: 12 servings

Ingredients

Iced Tea Cupcakes

• 1 cup plain soymilk or dairy-free milk beverage of choice
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ⅓ cup non-GMO canola or grapeseed oil
• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup instant unsweetened iced tea mix
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt

Lemon-Iced Tea Frosting

• ½ cup dairy-free margarine (soy-free optional), room temperature
• 3 cups powdered confectioner’s sugar
• ½ cup instant unsweetened iced tea mix
• ½ teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 to 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

To make the Iced Tea Cupcakes

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line 12 muffin tins with cupcake papers.
2. Whisk together the milk beverage, lemon juice, and oil in a large bowl, and let sit for about 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine the flour, iced tea mix, sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt so that all of the dry ingredients are well distributed. Add the dry goods into the wet, and stir just enough to incorporate everything and get out most of the lumps.
4. Distribute the batter equally between your prepared tins, and bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cupcake comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

To make the Lemon-Iced Tea Frosting

1. Place the margarine, confectioner’s sugar, tea mix, and lemon zest in the bowl of your stand mixer, and start it on low speed. Slowly add in the lemon juice one tablespoon at a time, increasing the speed once the sugar is mostly incorporated. Whip on high for about 4 minutes, until light and fluffy.
2. Apply frosting to cooled cupcakes, and top with coarse sugar or pearl sugar if desired.

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