I did a yoga workshop last weekend – it was 3 hours long. That was not the exciting bit. The exciting bit was the Home-brewed Chai Tea and the carrot-raisin-apple-almond-orange cake we had at the end. I love yoga but food really is always the highlight, right? No amount of downward-facing dog could feel as good as a sip of homemade chai tea and a mouthful of carrot cake. Yes?Now that I have tasted how Chai tea should taste like, the store-bought tea bags just really don’t compare.
And whilst I was trying to come up with a blend for the Chai Masala (Chai Tea Mix), I naturally stumbled across Chai-spiced cupcakes didn’t I? That is what Pinterest is all about. YOu go in searching for DIY Chai blends and you come out with a recipe for yummy Chai Cupcakes.
I’m not complaining.
The more Chai the better. The more Chai Cupcakes the better.
I used a recipe from the novice chef blog but have modified it somewhat, to make it simpler and to also take variations into account based on the spices you have available. You see, there are many many different ways to make a Chai spice mixture.
Essentially, we’re taking a basic vanilla mixture and adding a homemade Chai spice to it. So if you have a favourite / failproof vanilla cupcake recipe then go ahead and use that base, and just follow the instructions for adding the Chai spice to the batter and icing.
Print Easy Chai-Spiced Cupcakes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients
For the Cupcake Batter:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 3/4 of the Chai Spice (see recipe below)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk / yoghurt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
For the Chai Spice Mix:
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (can substitute with All Spice or star anise)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (can substitute with All Spice or star anise)
For the Icing:
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cups icing sugar
- 1/4 amount of chai mix (save some to sprinkle on top of cupcakes)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1–2 tablespoons milk if needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C
- Cream the butter and sugar together until well combined and creamy.
- Add the eggs, flour, chai mix, buttermilk, baking soda, vinegar and vanilla essence and mix until well combined -be careful to not overmix
- Spoon into cupcake cases and bake for 15-20 mins at 180 ° C
- Whilst the cupcakes are cooling – make the icing.
- Using a mixer, blend the butter until smooth and creamy
- Now add the icing sugar, chai mix and vanilla essence and mix until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Add 1-2 TBS of milk if the icing is too stiff/dry.
- Pipe the icing onto the cupcakes once cooled and decorate with a sprinkle of chai spice and whole spices – I used cinnamon sticks and star anise.
- Enjoy with a cup of Chai tea!!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
