Chai Spiced Cake Recipes

CHAI-SPICED TEA CAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Grease or spray bottoms and sides of two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans. In 2-cup measuring cup, pour boiling water over tea bags. Let steep 3 to 4 minutes. Discard tea bags. Add 1/2 cup water to tea to make 1 cup.
• In large bowl, beat cake mix, oil, eggs and tea mixture with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pans.
• In small bowl, mix sugar, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg; sprinkle over batter in pans. Pull knife through batter in swirl design.
• Bake as directed on box for 8- or 9-inch rounds. Cool 15 minutes. Run knife around sides of pans to loosen cakes. On serving plates, place each cake, top side down; gently brush off excess crumbs. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• In small microwavable bowl, microwave frosting uncovered on High 10 to 15 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle. Place in small resealable food-storage plastic bag; cut off tiny corner of bag. Drizzle frosting over cakes. Store loosely covered.

SPICED CHAI BUNDT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Place the chai and water in a small bowl and mix to combine. Place the flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, eggs, milk, butter, vanilla and tea mixture in a large bowl and whisk until smooth.
• Pour into a well-greased Bundt pan and cook for 30-35 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Invert onto a wire rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Gently lift off the pan and allow to cool completely before serving.

CHAI SPICE "CHEESECAKE"

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Stir together graham crackers and brown sugar in a small bowl, then drizzle with oil and stir. Add just enough milk to make crumbs stick together. Press very firmly into bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes. Keep oven at 350 degrees F.
• Meanwhile, blend cheesecake-batter ingredients in a blender until completely smooth and no bits of cashew remain, giving blender a rest every minute or so and scraping down sides with a rubber spatula. Batter should be completely smooth and not grainy: This takes about 1 minute with a high-powered blender (such as Vitamix) or about 5 minutes with a standard blender.
• Spray inside springform pan (above baked crust) with cooking spray. Pour in batter and jiggle to spread evenly over crust. Bake until top is lightly puffed and edges are golden, 45 to 50 minutes.
• Cool to room temperature on a rack, about 1 hour. Chill, covered, at least 3 hours or, even better, overnight.
• Slice cake with a thin, sharp knife dipped in water. Dollop each slice with whipped topping, dust with cinnamon, and sprinkle with candied ginger.

CHAI TEA CAKE WITH GINGER CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
• Begin cake by combining water, 3 tea bags, ginger root, cardamom pods, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon cloves in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and keep warm.
• Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add molasses and egg; mix well.
• Mix flour, baking soda, cardamom, and salt with remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon cloves in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, one half at a time; stir to combine. Strain hot tea and slowly pour into the batter and stir until smooth; batter will be thin. Pour into the prepared cake pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges to loosen. Invert carefully onto a serving plate or cooling rack. Let cool, about 30 minutes.
• While the cakes are cooling, combine water, sugar, and tea bags for simple syrup in a small pot over medium-high heat. Cook until sugar has dissolved, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
• Brush simple syrup over cooled and leveled cakes until the majority of the cake has absorbed the syrup. Do not oversoak the cakes; you want enough syrup to soak in and keep cakes moist and flavorful without flooding them. Place cakes in the refrigerator for 1 hour or until ready to decorate.
• Combine cream cheese, butter, and ginger for frosting in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Add sugar and blend until smooth. Frost cake.

CHAI-SPICED HONEY BUNDT CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 2 nonstick mini Bundt pans (6 cakes per pan). Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt into large bowl. Whisk 13/4 cups hot water and chai tea powder in another large bowl to blend. Whisk honey, melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, and egg yolk into chai mixture to blend. Stir chai mixture into flour mixture until just blended. Divide batter among prepared Bundt pans (about 1/2 cup per pan).
• Bake cakes until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Invert immediately onto rack. Cool 10 minutes. Serve warm with scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled with Spiced Syrup. (Cakes can be made 1 day ahead. Rewarm briefly in microwave.)
• *Can be found in the coffee and tea section of most supermarkets.