Surprise your friends with this  delicious dessert. Whether you are going on a picnic or spending the night at home, these cupcakes will be a hit.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put cupcake tins inside a cupcake pan. Bring soy milk to a low boil. Be sure to stir it occasionally. Once the soy milk has started to boil, add Earl Grey tea bags and zest, immediately remove from the heat and let it sit for approximately 20 minutes.

After your soy and Earl Grey tea has had time to steep, take out the tea bags. Be sure to squeeze the tea bags above the sauce pan before tossing them to extract as much flavor as possible.

In a separate medium-size mixing bowl, combine the soy-Earl Grey tea mixture with canola oil,  soy yogurt, sugar, vanilla extract and coconut flakes.

In a separate bowl, sift together the remaining ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients, blending continuously. Do this until the batter is smooth (a few lumps are OK). Be sure not to overblend the ingredients because this will make the cupcakes hard and chewy after they are baked.

Spoon the batter into the cupcake tins 2/3 of the way full. Bake for approximately 16 minutes.  After removing the cupcakes from the oven, insert a toothpick into a cupcake at the center of the pan. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cupcakes are done.

After your cupcakes have cooled, you can add your favorite vegan frosting. Because these are springtime cupcakes, it’s recommended to use a fruit frosting, like banana or pineapple.

Ingredients:

1    cup soy milk

4    Earl Grey teabags

1    teaspoon orange or lemon zest

1/4    cup canola oil

1/4    cup coconut flakes

1/2    cup vanilla soy yogurt

3/4    cup granulated sugar

1    teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4    cups all-purpose flour

1/4    teaspoon baking soda

1/2    teaspoon baking powder

1/2    teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Cover cupcake pans with paper liners

3. Bring soy milk to a low boil, add tea packets and zest. Let sit for 20 minutes

4. In bowl, combine oil, soy yogurt, sugar, vanilla extract, coconut flakes and Earl Grey-soy mixture

5. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt

6. Slowly add dry mix to wet ingredients

7. Spoon cupcake batter into pan

8. Cook for approximately 13-18 minutes

9. Take out, cool and frost