Chai Cardamom Cake

Individual Dessert Shot

With all the spicy-ness in the weather, what better way than to welcome Fall with a bite of Chai Cardamom Cake. To cut the sweetness, I’ve added some clove and ginger powder that will take you up on a spice journey. Enjoy this cake as is with a hot cup of chai or simply frost it up with cream cheese to mix and match your taste buds.

Dry ingredients

Growing up I’ve seen my parents, grandparents, friends and literally everyone in my family gathering over a cup of tea and discussing anything and everything. Tea has been and still holds a very important place in my life! What better way than to add tea as an ingredient to my cake making journey and adding a desi touch to this cake recipe. 

Cake layer

The recipe is an inspiration by Food Duchess and I’ve tweaked a few ingredients to match my taste buds. 

Chai Cardamom Cake

• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 6 Chai Tea Bags 
• 5 cups Flour
• 3 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking soda
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 1/2 tsp powder Cinnamon
• 2 tsp powder Cardamom
• 1 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp Allspice
• 1 1/2 tsp Cloves 
• 3 cups White Sugar
• 6 Large Eggs
• 1 1/3 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 ½ cup Vegetable Oil

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 cup Cream Cheese
• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
• 4 cups Confectioners Sugar
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 tbsp Meringue powder

Making the Chai Cardamom Cake Layers

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
2. Add milk to a small saucepan on medium heat and add tea bags into it. Just when the colour of tea is visible remove the pan from heat. Cover and steep for 2 hours. Let this mixture cool in fridge for an hour.
3. In a large sized mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, allspice and cloves, then whisk together to combine.
4. In a mixer add eggs, sugar, and vanilla essence. Beat on high for around 5 minutes until the mixture looks fluffy and almost triple in volume. Then drizzle oil and beat for another minute.
5. Next add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, mixing until just combined. Remove the tea bags from the tea-infused milk and add to this mixture. Mix only until the batter becomes smooth. At this point the mixture is quite guey but it’s ok! 
6. Grease the pans with butter and line the base of cake pan with parchment paper.
7. Add the batter evenly to the cake pans, and bake for around 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before stacking/frosting.

Making the Frosting

1. Combine cream cheese and butter in a medium size mixer.
2. Add icing sugar, salt and meringue powder.
3. Beat until it’s fluffy. 
4. Add vanilla essence and enjoy! 

Individual Desserts