Vanilla Chai Buttercream Frosting Recipes

CHAI LATTE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Mix all of the chai spices together. You'll have 5 and 1/2 teaspoons to use between the cupcake batter, buttercream, and garnish.
• Bring milk to a boil or heat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. Pour over tea bag and steep for 20-30 minutes. This chai milk is the milk you'll use in the cupcake batter. This can be done the day before and refrigerated overnight. Make sure the chai milk is room temperature before adding to the cupcake batter.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Line a second pan with 2-3 liners - this recipe makes 14-15 cupcakes. Set aside.
• Whisk the cake flour, 3 and 1/2 teaspoons of chai spice mix, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
• Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamed, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Beat in the egg whites on high speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients until just incorporated. With the mixer still running on low, slowly pour and mix in the chai milk *just* until combined. Do not overmix. Batter will be slightly thick and smell incredible!
• Pour/spoon the batter into the liners. Fill only 2/3 full to avoid baking over the sides. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. For around 35 mini cupcakes, bake for about 11-13 minutes, same oven temperature. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
• With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and add 5 and 1/2 cups (660g) confectioners' sugar, the heavy cream, 1 and 3/4 teaspoons chai spice mix, the vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. If frosting looks curdled or greasy, it's best to beat in more confectioners' sugar to smooth it out. Beat in up to 1/2 cup (60g) more confectioners' sugar to smooth out if needed. If frosting seems too thick to pipe or spread, beat in another Tablespoon (15ml) of cream. Taste and beat in another pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet.
• Frost cooled cupcakes and serve. I used Wilton 8B piping tip, stuck a cinnamon stick in some of them, and sprinkled with a mix of the remaining chai spice mix and a pinch of granulated sugar.
• Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

SPICED VANILLA CHAI CAKE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, whisk together the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, and cloves and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 6-inch or two 9-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with a cooking spray (Baker's Joy is my favorite) and fitting a wax or parchment paper circle to the bottom of the pan. Alternatively, you can grease and lightly flour the pans.
• Place the chai tea bag into a mason jar. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the whole milk, stirring constantly, until it begins to boil. Pour the boiling milk over the chai tea bag in the mason jar and let steep for 20 minutes before removing the tea bag. Allow the mixture to cool completely to room temperature before moving on.
• Sift the cake flour and then measure by spooning and leveling it in your measuring cup. Add the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, 4 teaspoons of the chai spice mix, and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), cream the butter for on high for two minutes until it's light and fluffy. Add in sugar and continue to mix on medium-high for another two minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, then add vanilla and sour cream and mix for one minute on high, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more.
• With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the (room temperature!) chai milk mixture slowly and mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps (without over-mixing). The batter will be slightly thick, but pourable.
• Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans (no more than 2/3 of the way full) and bake for 30-35 minutes. They're done when they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for five minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling. Make sure they're entirely room temperature before applying any frosting.
• With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium-high until it's creamy and light (almost white) in color. About 7 minutes.
• Whisk 1 Tbsp of the Chai Spice Mix into the measured powdered sugar. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar mixture a few cups at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
• Add vanilla, milk, and salt and mix on medium-low for another two minutes until fully incorporated.
• Once the Vanilla Chai Cakes have cooled completely, fill and frost the layers with Vanilla Chai Buttercream. To create the design pictured, add crushed Speculoos Cookies to the sides of the cake by placing them into the palm of your hand and gently pressing them onto the buttercream finish. Then, fit one piping bag with Wilton Tip 4B and another piping bag with Wilton Tip 1M before filling each with Vanilla Chai Buttercream. Pipe rosettes and stars onto the top of the cake in a crescent moon shape, add some cinnamon sticks, and sprinkle more crushed Speculoos Cookies on top.

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• In medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter with spoon or electric mixer on low speed. Stir in vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the milk.
• Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time. If frosting becomes too thin, beat in a small amount of powdered sugar. Frosts 13x9-inch cake generously, or fills and frosts an 8- or 9-inch two-layer cake.

VANILLA LATTE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• In the bowl of your mixer, mix the softened butter until smooth.
• Slowly add the powdered sugar along with the cream, vanilla, salt and coffee. Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes (longer if using a hand mixer) adding more liquid if needed to reach desired spreading consistency.
• Reduce speed of mixer to low and mix 3 minutes or more until the buttercream is creamy and smooth.

VANILLA FROSTING RECIPE

Steps:

• For the frosting, beat butter for 3-4 minutes until pale in color.
• Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. Beat an additional 3-4 minutes until fluffy and smooth!

WHITE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING RECIPE

Steps:

• Place sugar and egg whites in a bowl, over a pot of simmering water; stir mixture until egg whites register 140° on an instant-read thermometer.
• Remove bowl from double boiler; beat on high speed until meringue stiff peaks form. Gently mix in softened butter to meringue; beat until smooth. Stir in white chocolate, vanilla extract, and salt.

CHAI BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• Prepare a very strong tea by steeping the tea bag in boiling water for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cream the butter in a large bowl using an electric mixer until fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.
• Pour tea into cold milk; beat milk into frosting until incorporated. Continue beating frosting until fluffy.

VANILLA BUTTER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF)
• Line either one or two cake tins (depending on whether you are doubling the recipe or not) with baking paper on the bottom
• Beat your butter, vanilla and sugar in a bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
• Beat eggs in , one at a time.
• Stir in sifted flour and milk, alternatively, starting with flour and ending with flour. Flour, milk, flour, milk, flour.
• Spread the mixture in the baking pans and bake for 45mins - 1 hour depending on your oven. I bake for 30 mins and if the cake is starting to brown too much on top I will cover the pans with foil for the next cooking period. Never open your oven before half way through the cooking process
• Test cake by inserting a skewer into the centre. If it comes out clean then the cake mixture is ready.
• Cool cake in the tin for 10 mins before turning out onto a baking rack.

BROWN BUTTER VANILLA CHAI CAKE

Steps:

• Brown 1 cup of butter to make Brown Butter, allow it to cool completely to room temperature before using. Brown Butter Vanilla CakePreheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease and line three 6 inch cake pans. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt until they're evenly distributed. Place the room temperature brown butter, the oil and the granulated sugar in a large bowl and use an electric mixer with the whisk attachment to beat them for 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed until each egg is fully incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and sour cream and beat just until combined. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, turn the mixer on low speed and then pour in the milk, followed by the rest of the dry ingredients. Distribute the batter evenly among the three cake pans, about 14oz in each pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. When the cake is fully baked it will release itself from the edge of the pan and it will spring back if you press on the center of it. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting. Brown Butter Cream Cheese Chai FrostingCombine the powdered sugar with the spices and set aside. With an electric mixer at medium-high speed, beat the room temperature brown butter, butter, cream cheese and vanilla until the mixture is pale and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Lower the speed and slowly add in the powdered sugar mixture. Add in the cream, a little at a time, until consistency is spreadable. Beat for at least 5 minutes until all of the sugar is dissolved and doesn't feel grainy. AssembleIf you are making the poofs on top, set aside some frosting. Place the first layer of cake on a cake board or stand. Top with 1/3 of frosting. Repeat with the second layer and then place the third layer on top. Frost the outside of your cake with the remaining frosting. For the poofs on top, fill a piping bag with a star tip and pipe little poofs every where. Dust with cinnamon.

CHAI LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• Bring milk to a boil and remove from heat. Add tea bags and steep for 30 minutes. Strain out tea. Squeeze out as much liquids from the tea as possible. Discard tea bags. Measure remaining liquid. Add additional milk as necessary until you have 1 cup of liquid. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter three 6-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper and set aside.
• In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine 2 cups flour (reserve remaining 1/2 cup flour), sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves. Add butter in three additions. Continue to mix on low speed until mixture is crumbly like coarse sand.
• In another bowl, whisk together tea infused milk, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Add half of liquid mixture to stand mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until incorporated. Add remaining liquid mixture and mix until batter is combined. The batter will look curdled. Add reserved 1/2 cup of flour and mix until batter comes together.
• Evenly distribute batter among prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in pan for 10-15 minutes. Run an offset spatula along the sides of the cake pan to loosen cake. Invert cake onto a wire rack and allow to cool to room temperature.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together egg whites and sugar. Place bowl over a pot of simmering water to create a bain-marie or double boiler. Make sure the simmering water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Whisk sugar-egg mixture until it reaches a temperature of 160 degrees F.Alternatively, if you don't have a thermometer, heat the mixture until all the sugar has melted. Test this by dipping your pointer finger into the mixture and rubbing it against your thumb. The mixture should be smooth. You should not be able to feel the granules of sugar.
• Return bowl to the stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat mixture at medium speed until it has cooled to room temperature and meringue has started to from. Reduce speed to low and add butter one tablespoon at a time.
• Once all the butter has been incorporated, add salt. Increase speed to medium-high and continue to beat until buttercream is light and fluffy. Add in vanilla bean paste and mix until distributed.
• Level cake layers as necessary. Place one cake layer on serving platter or cake turntable. Spread about 1/3 cup of buttercream on cake. Place second cake layer and repeat adding butter. Repeat with third cake layer.
• Spread a layer of buttercream around the sides of the cake to seal in the crumbs (crumb coat). Place cake in the fridge and allow to chill for 15 minutes to set the buttercream.
• Add another layer of buttercream as desired. Garnish with dusting powder and spices as desired.
• Dusting Powder: In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and cinnamon. Sift mixture over assembled cake as desired.

CHAI AND VANILLA CAKE (EASTER CAKE)

Steps:

• Butter and line 3 x 8 inch cake pans. Preheat the oven to 325°F / 163°C.
• Place the butter, salt and white sugar in a bowl and whisk until light and creamy.
• Add the eggs (one at a time), mixing well between each addition.
• Add the milk and vanilla, and mix in well.
• Sift the flour and baking powder together. Add the flour to the wet ingredients in 2 additions and fold in to mix. Be careful not to over-mix.
• Divide the batter into two bowls and add the chai powder to ONE of the bowls. Stir gently until just mixed in.
• Dollop each of the batter into the 3 prepared cake tins evenly to create a swirled look (you can use a butter knife to swirl the batter if you like as well).
• Gently shake the pan to spread the batter evenly, and knock out any gas in the batter.
• Bake in your preheated oven for 20 - 30 minutes until the middle is springy to the touch. Check after 15 minutes to make sure you don't over-bake.
• Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool down completely. To store for later, wrap the cooled cake layers individually in plastic wrap (or equivalent) and store at room temperature for up to 12 hours, or longer in the fridge.
• Place the butter and salt in a large bowl and whisk until light and fluffy. This can take about 10 minutes, depending on the weather. Add the confectioner's sugar, a little at a time at low speed, until it's all incorporated.
• Add the vanilla and whisk at medium high / high until the buttercream is light and fluffy. Make sure you scrape down the sides periodically.
• While the buttercream is being mixed, add half of the cream in a drizzle and whisk for 1 minute until the buttercream is light, fluffy and well mixed. Add more if you want the buttercream to be softer. Cover and set aside until you are ready to use. If the buttercream sets, whisk it to make it fluffy again before frosting the cake.
• Use an open whisk, or cut off the rounded wire tips of an old whisk to form an open whisk (see picture in the post).
• Place the sugar, corn syrup and water in a saucepan. Heat gently until the sugar is completely melted - swirl the saucepan to help the sugar melt evenly.
• Cover the pot and let the sugar syrup simmer for 1 - 2 minutes (the condensation will help wash down the sugar crystals from the sides of the pot).
• Uncover and let the sugar syrup boil, until the sugar turns into a golden amber color. You can gently swirl the pot so that the sugar caramelizes evenly.
• While the sugar is cooking, line your table top with a large piece of parchment paper, or turn a bowl (about 7 inches in diameter) upside down and lightly oil the outside of the bowl. This is a messy job, so you can lay newspapers in the area around your workspace to make clean up easy.
• When the sugar is ready, use a whisk to dip into the caramel and then gently fling caramel threads on to the bowl / parchment paper.
• Shape the caramel into a bowl-like (nest-like) shape, and let the caramel set.
• Store in an airtight container (with some desiccant to make sure it lasts longer).
• Place one cake layer (flat side down) on a cake tray. Add ½ - ¾ cup of the buttercream frosting on top and spread it evenly. Repeat with all the cake layers, with the last layer placed with the flat side up.
• Apply a thin coating of vanilla frosting on the sides and on top to form a cake crumb layer, and to fill in the sides of the cake layers. Refrigerate for a few minutes until the coating has set.
• Once set, generously spread frosting on the sides and on top (this will be the frosting layer). Use a cake scraper or spatula to smoothen the sides and the top so that you have clean straight surfaces. Refrigerate to set.
• Add about ½ cup each of buttercream into two bowls and color them with pink and yellow.
• When the cake has set again, dot the surface of the cake with pink, yellow and white frosting, and smoothen the sides again to form a watercolor frosting effect with the pastel colors.
• Refrigerate until you're ready to serve the cake.
• Transfer the cake to a cake serving platter, and pipe a border along the bottom of the cake.
• The cake can be served as is, or decorated with chocolate on top.
• Place Easter eggs along the top border of the cake. Top with the caramel nest in the middle and fill it up with chocolate eggs and bunnies, just before serving. Enjoy!

CHAI TEA CUPCAKES WITH CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• Cupcakes
• Grab the FREE grocery store checklist for this chai tea cupcake recipe along with a cute chai tea recipe card! Find it above in the full recipe post.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 1 1/2 muffin tins with 16 cupcake liners (for 16 cupcakes) and set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, closes, nutmeg, black pepper, and salt, and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, cream the butter, the sugars, and the vanilla until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Alternatively add the flour mixture and the milk to the butter/sugar mixture. Beat well after each addition. After all of the flour and milk has been added, fold in the sour cream (do this delicately).
• Pour the cupcake batter into the prepared muffin tins with liners filling each up about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
• While the cupcakes are baking, make the frosting by creaming the cocoa powder and the butter in a bowl. Add the powdered sugar and the milk alternatively to the cocoa/butter mixture. After all of the milk and powdered sugar has been added, mix in the vanilla and the espresso powder. Add more milk 1 tbsp at a time if the frosting is too dry.
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STRAWBERRY FROSTING RECIPE

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse freeze dried strawberries until fine crumbs. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl with whisk attachment, beat butter for 2-3 minutes until pale in color (scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed).
• Add in powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and strawberry crumbs.
• Beat an additional 2-3 minutes until well blended, and fluffy. Add in more milk if needed to achieve the consistency you want.

VANILLA CHAI BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• Pour the half and half into a microwave safe mug and heat in microwave for 45 seconds.
• Remove the mug from the microwave and place the tea bag in the mug to steep.
• Mix butter for one minute with electric mixer on medium speed. Add powdered sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves and vanilla extract. Mix at low speed. After powdered sugar is incorporated into the butter, increase speed to medium and add the tea infused half and half.
• Add additional powder sugar if frosting needs a stiffer consistency.
• Use immediately or store in a sealed container in the refrigerator up to one month.