Chai Spiced Bundt Cake
This chai spiced bundt cake is a delicious homemade made from scratch cake that is rich in spices like cardamom, cinnamon, and and ginger.
Bundt cakes are such a simple and easy way to make a beautiful cake without needing any piping skills. A bit of icing or a dusting of powdered sugar can elevate a banana cake or orange pound cake to make it a centerpiece. In this case, we do a glaze with a light dusting of cinnamon.
The cake is made using a creaming method, where you beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. It’s a classic technique that you have most likely used to make cookies so don’t stress about making a cake from scratch!
Table of contents
What is chai made of?
Chai is the Hindi word for tea, so chai tea literally means tea tea. What we know as “chai” is masala chai which is made by steeping black tea leaves and spices in milk instead of water. Masala refers to the blend of spices used to flavor the tea.
In masala chai, the exact spices and ratios used is based on the preferences of each person or family. Some spices that can be included are cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, star anise, and black pepper.
Ingredients
Pantry staples:
- flour
- sugar
- powdered sugar
- baking powder
- salt
- vanilla extract
- cinnamon
- ginger
- all-spice
- ground black pepper
Shopping list:
- butter
- eggs
- milk
- black tea leaves
Possible substitutions:
Rooibos is a good substitute for black tea if you don’t want to use that or you could opt to simply use plain milk.
If you would like to have a chai spice blend for frequent use, I love this one from The Spice House which is perfect for baking.
Other recipes you may like
- Chai Spiced Apple Waffles
- Mary Berry’s Lavender Biscuits (Shortbread Cookies)
- Cinnamon Apple Iced Oatmeal Cookies
How to make this
- Place milk in a pot and heat on medium until simmering. Add the loose-leaf black tea and steep for 5 minutes.
- Using a fine mesh sieve, strain out the tea leaves and set milk aside. Allow to cool to room temperature before using.
- In a large bowl beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, and mix to combine.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and spices.
- Gradually add flour and milk into the butter mixture and mix until just combined.
- Grease the pan and sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle sections comes out clean.
- When the cake is done, remove the cake from the pan. Let cool completely.
- In a medium bowl, beat butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth
- Pour the glaze over the cooled cake. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
Top Tips
Can I use a regular cake pan instead of a bundt pan?
You can use a regular pan if you don’t have a bundt pan but you will not get the decorative edge and will need to adjust the cooking time.
Bundt pans are deep and have extra surface area for heating. They also hold more batter than you typically put into a traditional 9″ by 13″ pan or 2 8″ pans.
If using a cake pan, fill the pans no more than 3/4 full and lower the cooking time to about 25-30 minutes. With cakes, you want to look for the sides to begin to pull away from the edges and a toothpick to come out clean when poked in the center.
Top Tips for cooking with kids
Unless you are cooking with older children, I would steep the tea, strain it, and allow it to cool before inviting them to come and bake with you.
If using a hand mixer, make sure that you attach the beaters before the machine is plugged in. That way no little, or big, fingers can accidentally get injured if the mixer is accidentally turned on.
See here for more tips on cooking with kids!
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Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Bundt Cake
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon loose-leaf black tea
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon plus extra for sprinkling the pan
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature + 1 tablespoon butter for greasing
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 1 2/3 cup sugar plus extra for sprinkling the pan
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Glaze
- 1/4 cup warm milk
- 1/2 teaspoon loose leaf black tea
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ground cinnamon for sprinkling
Instructions
For the bundt cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the pan and sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar.
- Place milk in a pot and heat on medium until simmering. Add the loose-leaf black tea and steep for 5 minutes.
- Using a fine mesh sieve, strain out the tea leaves and set milk aside. Allow to cool to room temperature before using.
- In a large bowl beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes, scraping the bowl halfway through.
- Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next, scraping the bowl down as needed. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and beat again until incorporated.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and spices.
- Add a ¼ of the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Then add ⅓ of the milk and mix just until the milk has blended in.
- Repeat the process of adding the flour and milk in turn, ending with adding the flour and mixing just until combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle sections comes out clean.
- When the cake is done, transfer it to a cooling rack. Remove the cake from the pan. Place a plate over the top of the cake and flip the cake over. Let cool completely.
For the glaze
- To make the glaze, steep 1/2 teaspoon loose leaf tea in hot milk for 3-5 minutes. Remove the leaves and allow to cool.
- In a medium bowl, beat butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth.
- Pour the glaze over the cooled cake. Sprinkle with cinnamon.