Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Cake of the Week: Chai Tea Latte Cupcakes

Sister1 is an amazing baker. She makes some seriously delicious cupcakes, and regularly sends me taunting texts of her culinary creations. Every time I see a picture with the subject line “Yum!” I text her back: “Blog about it!” So she finally did (ever so briefly, but I’ll take what I can get).
Sister1 is getting married in just two weeks! Craziness, I know! And despite her original plans (or lack thereof) she took my aggressive suggestion to have some sort of celebration. So there’s going to be a party, and Sister1 is doing the desserts.

When we visited DC, Mollie took Geoff and I to Baked and Wired, where we sampled some of their cupcakes. In an attempt to find the perfect cupcakes to serve at my wedding party I decided to try to recreate B&W’s Chai Tea Latte Cupcake because it was fantastic!

They turned out really well! I’m not sure I exactly recreated the original Chai Tea Latte cupcake, but mine were definitely delicious.

Vanilla Chai Cupcakes (Adapted from www.thenovicechefblog.com)


1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/4 quantity chai spice mix (recipe to follow)

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar


Chai Spice Mix

3/4 tsp ground cardamom

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Mix spices together in small bowl.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla and beat in one egg at a time. Stir in half the quantity of chai spice mix. Fold in the flour and buttermilk alternately and stir until combined, don’t over mix. Mix together the baking soda and vinegar and mix into the batter.

Spoon into prepared cupcake cases until 3/4 full and bake 15-20* minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

*Mine took around 22-25 minutes. Next time I might try baking at 350.


Vanilla Chai Cream Cheese Frosting (A Sister1 Creation)

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

¼ quantity chai spice mix

1-2 tbs cold milk, if needed

In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add the vanilla and chai spice mix and beat until well incorporated. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar, beat for 1-2 minutes until combined and creamy. Add the remaining 2 cups of powdered sugar and beat until combined. Icing should be smooth and spreading consistency. If the frosting is too thick, add 1-2 tablespoons of milk.