GREY CAKE RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Lightly coat a 9x5" or 8½x4½" loaf pan with vegetable oil and line with parchment paper, leaving overhang on long sides. If you’re not sure what size your loaf pan is, measure it with a ruler from inside edge to inside edge for both the length and width. If you measure from the outside edge, you’ll get an inaccurate reading of the width of the pan, and your cake may end up overflowing! It's the actual empty space of the pan where the cake bakes that matters here, not the width of the entire pan including its edges.
• Whisk 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, 1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt, ½ tsp. baking powder, and ½ tsp. baking soda in a medium bowl to combine.
• Vigorously whisk 2 large eggs and 1¼ cups (250 g) granulated sugar in a large bowl 1 minute (seriously, time it!); mixture should be pale yellow and frothy. Whisk in 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt, 3 Tbsp. loose-leaf Earl Grey tea (or ¼ cup tea from bags), and 2 tsp. vanilla extract.
• Gradually stream in 1 cup vegetable oil, whisking constantly until incorporated. (Place a kitchen towel under your bowl to stabilize it so that you have two free hands.) Add dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Gently tap pan against surface to eliminate any air bubbles.
• Sprinkle evenly with 1 Tbsp. raw or granulated sugar. Bake cake until a skewer or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.
• Let cool 15 minutes in pan, then run a butter knife or offset spatula between the cake and pan to release. Lift it out using parchment overhang and transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or room temperature (or even better, toast slices and slather them with butter!).

Steps:

• Prepare the frosting: In a small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup/120 milliliters heavy cream to a simmer over medium-high heat. Stir in the tea, remove from the heat, cover and let stand for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Strain the tea through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding the solids, and chill the remaining cream until completely cold, at least 1 hour.
• Prepare the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, tea, baking powder and salt.
• In large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the orange zest and beat to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the flour mixture on low, until just combined, then beat in the milk. (Don’t overmix.) Add the chocolate and fold it in using a spatula. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake just until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool for about 15 minutes. Then tip the cake out onto the rack to cool completely.
• To finish the frosting, add the remaining 1/4 cup/60 milliliters cream and the confectioners’ sugar to the tea cream. With an electric mixer on medium, beat the cream mixture until medium-stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the mascarpone and beat just until stiff peaks form. (Do not overmix.) Top the cake with the frosting to serve. Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 3 days; let come to room temperature before serving.