Earl Grey Protein Cake – 18g Protein | Vegan Breakfast

This is the breakfast cake I make when I want something that feels special but still hits my protein goals. Fluffy Earl Grey-infused cake with a crunchy cardamom crumb on top – it’s floral, sophisticated, and ready in 10 minutes in the microwave (or 15 if you bake it).

The bergamot from the Earl Grey creates this beautiful, almost perfume-like flavor that pairs perfectly with warm chai spices. At 18 grams of protein and under 400 calories, it’s the rare breakfast cake that’s actually fuel, not just a treat. I make this on mornings when I have 10 minutes and want breakfast to feel like an event.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📊 NUTRITION (per serving)
Calories: 365 | Protein: 18g | Carbs: 32g | Fat: 16g | Fiber: 4g
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

⏱️ Time: 10 minutes (microwave) or 25 minutes (oven, includes preheat) 
🍽️ Serves: 1
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

INGREDIENTS:

The Earl Grey Infusion:

• 60ml (¼ cup) oat milk
• 1 Earl Grey tea bag

The Cake Base:

• 15g (2 tbsp) spelt flour
• 30g (approx. 1 scoop) vanilla protein powder
• 1 tsp (3g) ground flaxseed
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp chai latte spice mix (or ½ tsp ground cardamom)
• 1 tsp coconut oil, melted
• 1-2 tbsp water (if batter is too thick)

The Cardamom Crumb:

• 10g (1 tbsp) walnuts, crushed
• 1 tsp coconut sugar
• ¼ tsp chai latte spice mix (or ¼ tsp ground cardamom)
• 1 tsp coconut oil, solid/cold

The Glaze:

• ½ tsp agave syrup
• Drop of leftover tea-milk

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Infuse the tea: Microwave the oat milk for 45 seconds until steaming (not boiling). Add the Earl Grey tea bag and steep for 4 minutes. Squeeze the bag thoroughly to release the concentrated bergamot oils – this is where all the Earl Grey flavor comes from. Measure out 50ml of this infused milk for the cake; reserve the rest for the glaze.
2. Make the crumb topping: In a small bowl, mix crushed walnuts, coconut sugar, and chai spice (or cardamom). Add the solid (cold) coconut oil and use a fork to rub it in until the mixture forms distinct pea-sized clumps. The cold oil is crucial – if it’s too soft, it won’t create proper crumbs. Set aside.
3. If using oven: Preheat to 180°C (350°F) now so it’s ready when you need it.
4. Mix the dry ingredients: In a microwave-safe mug or small ramekin, whisk together spelt flour, vanilla protein powder, ground flaxseed, baking powder, and chai spice (or cardamom) until well combined.
5. Combine wet and dry: Stir in the 50ml Earl Grey-infused milk and melted coconut oil. Mix until smooth. The batter should be thick but pourable – if it’s too thick to pour, add 1-2 tablespoons of water and stir until you reach a thick pancake batter consistency.
6. Add the topping: Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the top of the batter in the mug or ramekin.
7. Bake your cake:
   • Microwave method: Microwave on high for 2.5-3 minutes. The cake should rise and look set on top. Let it stand for 1 minute after cooking – it finishes cooking during this rest period and firms up.
   • Oven method: Bake at 180°C for 15 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
8. Make the glaze: While the cake rests, mix ½ teaspoon agave syrup with a tiny drop of the leftover Earl Grey milk. Drizzle this over the warm cake for a glossy finish.

PRO TIP: Don’t skip squeezing the Earl Grey tea bag thoroughly during steeping. Those last drops contain the most concentrated bergamot oils, which give the cake its distinctive floral, citrusy Earl Grey flavor. Gentle steeping gives you weak tea flavor; aggressive squeezing gives you that bold, recognizable Earl Grey taste that stands up to the protein powder.

CHEF’S KISS: Add a tiny pinch of ground cardamom (about ⅛ teaspoon) to the glaze along with the agave. The warm spice in the glaze creates a sophisticated flavor bridge between the floral Earl Grey and the chai-spiced crumb, making the whole cake taste more complex and intentional. Impact: ⅛ tsp cardamom = +0 calories, +0g protein, but incredible aromatic depth.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 

🌱 PLANT DIVERSITY: Oats (oat milk) • Earl Grey tea (bergamot, black tea) • Spelt flour (spelt) • Flaxseed • Cardamom/chai spice mix • Walnuts • Coconut sugar (coconut)

(If you’re tracking plants per week, this adds 7 to your count.)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

*Nutrition information is an estimate and may vary based on ingredients and brands used.* 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

ESSENTIALS

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

You may find yourself in need of: 

Ceramic Ramekin – this isn’t a giant loaf. It’s a focused, intentional cake for one.

Vanilla Plant Protein Powder – this is structure, not sweetness. It turns tea into breakfast fuel.

Earl Grey Tea – floral, citrusy, unmistakable. This isn’t just flavor. It’s atmosphere.

Missing something?

Explore Evie’s Kitchen Essentials for additional tools and pantry ingredients.