Earl Grey Blueberry Loaf Cake

This Earl Grey Blueberry Loaf Cake is the absolute BEST breakfast, dessert or snack! It’s loaded with that classic Earl Grey tea flavor we love, juicy blueberries and topped with a delicious buttery streusel crumble! It’s so flavorful, moist and you will be surprised at how easy it is to bake! 

Anyone else itching for Spring to come around?! Or is it just me? We have had such a mild Winter that I’m just like…can we just skip this completely and let the flowers start to bloom? 

I’m SO excited to be sharing this Earl Grey Blueberry Loaf Cake with you today. Earl Grey is one of my FAVORITE teas and putting it in a cake is basically like the cherry on top of my life for me. 

The funny thing is, I actually used to hate any type of hot tea. You see, growing up in the South, the only tea we would ever drink would be sweet tea – which is iced and loaded with sugar. So if anyone ever passed me a cup of hot tea unsweetened I would be like…excuse me?! What is this?! No thank you! 

However, when we went to London for the first time several years ago, I was introduced to high tea. Aka the best thing ever. You go to a pub mid afternoon and you can be served a HUGE pot of tea (I would always choose Earl Grey) and they give you as much cream and sugar as you want. Sugar cubes, to be exact – which are definitely the cutest form of sugar to ever be created. 

You make a delicious cup of steaming hot tea, eat scones with clotted cream and homemade jam and you just enjoy the company. We seriously need to adopt that tradition in the States, I’m just saying! 

Why You’re Going to Love this Earl Grey Blueberry Loaf Cake 

Okay, so first off, it does have that classic amazing Earl Grey flavor in it. This is achieved by steeping the milk used in the batter with Earl Grey tea bags. Combining the Earl Grey with the milk is exactly like the perfect cup of tea that you’re dreaming of. 

It also has juicy blueberries in it which pair perfectly with the tea flavor. In addition, the whole wheat flour gives it a delicious hearty flavor – this isn’t one of those loaf cakes that just leave you still feeling hungry. 

My personal favorite part? The streusel topping!! YAS. I mean, how can anyone go wrong with you combine flour, salted butter, sugar and put it all over top of the already delicious loaf cake?! Using the salted butter makes it a little salty sweet and it’s literally perfect. 

My personal favorite way to eat it is warmed up with a big schmear of salted butter and a generous drizzle of honey. You can thank me later! So enough talk..let’s get into how to make it! 

Ingredients You Need: 

  • high quality earl grey tea 
  • whole wheat flour
  • fresh blueberries 
  • baking powder + soda 
  • cinnamon + salt 
  • salted butter 
  • whole milk 
  • vanilla extract 
  • granulated sugar 
  • brown sugar
  • eggs 

How to Make Earl Grey Blueberry Loaf Cake: 

Begin, as always, by preheating the oven. Preheat to 350 degrees. 

In a small pot, add in the whole milk and place on medium heat. Let it get warm but DON’T let it boil. You just want it on the edge of hot – a high level of warm. If that makes sense? Lol. Once it’s this temperature, add in 2 high quality earl grey tea bags and place a lid on the pot. Let it steep for about 8-10 minutes. 

Let’s keep moving! In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat together softened salted butter (highly recommend using salted butter in your baking because it adds SO much flavor) along with granulated sugar until it’s combined. 

To this, add in 2 eggs, one at a time, beating until each is combined with the butter/sugar mixture. Next, add in the steeped earl grey milk (without the bags of course) and vanilla extract and mix until combined. 

To this bowl, using a sifter, sift in the whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, a pinch of salt and cinnamon. Mix together gently using a wooden spoon until fully combined. Lastly, add in those fresh blueberries! Fold them into the batter gently. 

Resist the urge to eat the entire bowl of batter because WOW. It’s good, y’all. 

Grease a 9×5 loaf pan or add parchment paper (or both) and then add the batter directly into the pan. 

The very last (and delicious) step involves quickly making the streusel topping. You can simply do this by combining chunks of cold butter, brown sugar, flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl. You can use a pastry cutter to try and cut it together BUT I just use my hands and mix it together until it resembles fine crumbs and is all mostly incorporated with each other. 

Generously sprinkle the streusel directly on top of the batter and then place in the oven and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Once done, let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes or so. Then remove it onto a wire rack to let finish cooling. If desired, sprinkle some powdered sugar on top for a pop of color! 

This loaf cake is just outstandingly delicious and I swear, you MUST eat it warm with honey and butter or else my heart will be sad. Hope y’all enjoy this one! Spring will be here before we know it! 

Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few others you might like: 

Zesty Lemon Blueberry Banana Bread 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread 

Cinnamon Peach Bread 

Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie

5 from 3 votes
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Earl Grey Blueberry Loaf Cake

This Earl Grey Blueberry Loaf Cake is the absolute BEST breakfast, dessert or snack! It’s loaded with that classic Earl Grey tea flavor we love, juicy blueberries and topped with a delicious buttery streusel crumble! It’s so flavorful, moist and you will be surprised at how easy it is to bake! 

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword blueberry earl grey cake, earl grey blueberry cake, earl grey bread, earl grey cake
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 6 people
Author Haylie

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup salted butter, softened
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 2 earl grey tea bags
  • 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Streusel Topping

  • 5 tablespoons cold salted butter
  • 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • pinch of salt and cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan and set aside.

  2. In a small pot, add in the whole milk and place on medium heat. Let it get warm but DON’T let it boil. You just want it to get warm but not HOT. When it reaches this temperature, add in 2 high quality earl grey tea bags and place a lid on the pot. Let it steep for about 8-10 minutes. 

  3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the softened butter and 1/2 cup granulated sugar until combined. To this, add in an egg one at a time, beating them in until combined. Add in the earl grey steeped whole milk and vanilla extract and beat until combined.

  4. Using a sifter, add in the all purpose flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and a pinch of salt. Mix gently to combine with the wooden spoon, making sure you don't overmix! Gently fold in the blueberries to the batter.

  5.  Gently add the bread mix into the loaf pan.

  6. In a small bowl, add the streusel topping ingredients. Using your hands, combine the ingredients until it resembles fine crumbs. Generously top the batter in the loaf pan with the streusel topping.

  7. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean. Let it cool in the pan for 3-5 minutes. Remove and place on a wire cooling rack.

  8. If desired, add powdered sugar to the top of the bread. Eat warm with a generous amount of butter and honey. Enjoy!

10 comments / Add your comment below

  1. 5 stars
    I’m currently sipping on my morning coffee and wishing I had a slice or two of this loaf cake to go with it. Love blueberry loaves and the addition of earl grey tea is a great idea! Looks like a great texture too!

  2. Hi Haylie,

    This recipe looks great. I am trying to avoid refined sugar. If I omit the sugar in the bread, do you think it will still turn out okay? taste and texture? I will definitely be omiting the streusel topping.

    Thanks,
    Navjot

    1. Hi Navjot, thanks so much for the compliment 🙂 Since I’ve never personally tried to make this bread without sugar, I’m not certain how it will turn out. If you’re trying to avoid refined sugar, I would suggest replacing the sugar with either maple syrup or honey. Let me know how it works out for you! XO – Haylie

  3. Hi there! I just noticed there are some errors in the directions — I think step 2 is taken from a different recipe or something! So excited to see how it turned out, it’s in the oven now 🙂

    1. Hi Mary! Whoops – so sorry about that! I just fixed it 🙂 Thank you for letting me know! Please let me know how it turned out for you! Thank you for making the recipe! – Haylie

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