CAKE SLICE BAKERS: CHAI CAKE

I've been M.I.A. from the cake slice bakers group for about a month now. Sorry to all, but I've been swamped and haven't gotten the chance to bake all these cakes! However, I clearly came back at the right time because this Chai cake was unlike any cake I've ever baked. Chai tea bags are steeped in warm milk for about 10 minutes before being used as part of the wet ingredients. Chai tea is a favorite of mine, especially spiced Chai which is what I used. Cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger spices were added to the cake which really gave it a pleasant tasty zing. The honey ginger buttercream was definitely unique. While I'm not a huge fan of honey, this buttercream was very good; consisting of cream cheese, butter, honey, and freshly grated ginger. It paired beautifully with the cake.

I garnished with gold dragees and a pile of diced up crystallized ginger in the center. Check out the other great Chai cakes at the cake slice bakers blogroll.

Chai Cake With Honey Ginger Cream
Makes an 8-inch triple layer cake (I quartered the recipe)

• 1 and 1/3 cups of milk
• 6 chai tea bags, without added sweetener, such as Tazo
• 4 whole eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 2 and 3/4 cups of cake flour*
• 2 cups of sugar
• 4 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom**
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 8 ounces of unsalted butter at room temp.

[*1 cup of cake flour is equal to 3/4 cup of all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.]

[**Cardamom substitute is an equal amount of brown cardamom OR equal parts ground nutmeg and cinnamon OR equal parts ground cloves and cinnamon]

1. Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees F. Grease the bottom ans sides of the pans and line with parchment paper. Grease the paper as well.
2. In a small saucepan bring the milk to a simmer over low med-low heat. Add the tea bags, careful not to let the paper tag fall into the milk. Remove from heat and allow the tea to steep for 5 minutes. Remove the teabags and squeeze out the milk. Let the chai milk cool completely.
3. In a medium bowl mix the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and 1/3 cup of the chai milk. Whisk together.
4. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Beat on low for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the remaining chai milk, on med-low speed. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg mixture in three additions scraping the between additions. Divide the batter evenly among the pans.
5. Bake the cakes for 26-28 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and peel off parchment paper. Cool completely.
6. To assemble the cake place one layer flat side down a serving plate and top with 2/3 cup of icing. Spread to the edge and repeat with second layer. Place third layer on top and spread the remaining ginger cream on top allowing it to drizzle down the sides of the cake like icicles.
   

Honey Ginger Cream

• 2 and 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar
• 6 ounces of cream cheese at room temp.
• 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter at room temp.
• 1/2 cup of honey (any kind as long as liquid)
• 1/2 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger

Place all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse to blend together, then scrape the sides of the bowl and pulse until smooth.