Masala Chai is one of my favourite drinks unlike normal tea; masala tea infuses spices such as ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, fennel seeds and peppercorns into the tea. Each Indian family uses their own blend of spices to make their masala chai, for this recipe I used a Twining’s Masala Chai teabag for this recipe as I think it comes closest to how my grandmother makes it. It is the perfect drink to have on a cold winters day.
Starbucks makes a Vanilla Chai Latte, which is one of my favourites drinks from Starbucks, as it almost tastes like how my grandmother makes it! So I decided to create a cake version of this by making a chai-spiced cupcake and then decorate it with a vanilla buttercream frosting.
Ingredients:
Chai Spiced Cupcakes:
100g Soften Butter/Baking Spread
250g Caster Suga
2 x Eggs
250g Self-raising Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Ground Cardamom
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 tsp Ground Cinamom
220ml Milk
1 x Twining’s Masala Chai teabag
Vanilla Buttercream:
125g Soften Butter
400g Icing Sugar
2-4 tbsp Milk
2 tsp Vanilla Extract/Paste
1. Pre heat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4. Pour the milk into a pan and place the teabag in the milk. Heat the milk on the hob and simmer for 5-10 minutes, try not to let the milk boil. Then remove the pan from the heat and allow the tea to cool and infuse. Once the milk has cooled remove the teabag.
2. Place the butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl and mix using a stand mixer for 2-5 minutes until the mixture starts to become paler.
3. Add the eggs one by one to prevent the mixture from curdling.
4. Once the eggs are fully incorporated, add half of the cooled milk and half of the self-raising flour mix till fully incorporated. Add the spices, baking powder, the rest of the milk, and the self-raising flour and mix till for a minute. There should be no lumps in the mixture.
5. Line a cupcake tray with cupcake liners. Using an ice cream scoop, pour the cake mixture into the cupcake liners and bake for 15 minutes.
6. Once the cupcakes have turn golden brown and are springy to the touch, remove the cupcakes from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
7. While the cupcakes are cooling make the buttercream. In a large mixing bowl mix the soften butter until the butter starts to become paler.
8. Add the icing sugar, milk and vanilla extract and mix until the buttercream becomes smooth and lump free.
9. Place the buttercream into a piping bag and pipe swirls on top of the cupcakes. I like to use a large open star tip to pipe swirls on top of my cupcakes. Decorate with a piece of star anise (do not eat the star anise).