Sunday, May 10, 2009

Chai Cupcakes with Cinnamon-Honey Buttercream

So here is my fantasy (maybe a possibility): That I would be able to finish college, take a year off and then continue on to Medical School. But then somewhere after, in between, or even during I would open my own bakery. I don't know how or even if those two would work together, but hey, I want it ALL! And my best friend, Cherish, would finish up her film school program at USC and become a successful director/ producer in LA and we would live in a cute little apartment that we would make all our own. Back to the present day is where it begins, here, where I have been hired to bake cupcakes for her "310 purple" class screenings - and let me tell you the film shorts were fantastic and an honor to view! In total I baked 4 varieties, here is one: Spiced Chai with Honey-Cinnamon Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
These cupcakes were fantastic. I just received Sky High in the mail the other day, and I knew I HAD to make these cupcakes because one, I LOVE chai, and two, because I heard that her recipes were fantastic, mind-blowing, amazingness. And trust me they were indeed. I didn't use her frosting recipe as I wanted to use something that would hold its shape but I did use her notes of honey which added a nice touch. Make these NOWWW!


Chai Cupcakes with Cinnamon-Honey Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
Yields: an 8-inch triple-layer cake (serves 12 - 16) OR


For the cupcakes:
1 1/3 cup milk
6 chai tea bags
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 3/4 cup cake flour
2 cup sugar
4 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1/2 tsp. salt
8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

For the swiss meringue buttercream:
2 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 sticks of butter (12 tbsn.), room temperature
6 tbsn. honey
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat to 350 F. Line with cupcake liners, set aside. In saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat. Add the tea bags. Remove from the heat and allow to steep for 5 minutes. Remove the bags and squeeze out the remaining milk. Let the milk cool completely. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, yolks, vanilla and 1/3 cup of the chai milk. In the bowl of a mixer sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Beat on low for about 30 seconds, then add the butter and remaining chai milk. Mix on medium low speed until light and fluffy. Next, add the egg mixture in three additions, making sure to scrape the bowl well after each. Divide the batter among the cupcake tins, about 2/3 full, and bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely. For the frosting, place all ingredients into a stand mixer or food processor and incorporate well until smooth, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl.

18 comments:

  1. tasty looking! great job!

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  2. I have been copying & pasting your site to everyone! More readers!

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  3. How gorgeous is this? They look absolutely beautiful. What sort of piping nozzle did you use? I've been trying to get my cupcake frosting to look like that but to no avail.

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  4. These sound amazing, I should really invest in getting that book, I hear all good things!

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  5. gorgeous presentation. I love the idea of chai bites!

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  6. i just made these and they're delicious! i'm quite a novice baker, and didn't realize that the frosting recipe you included was the original--i expected my frosting to look like the one in the picture... so that was a surprise. i'm not sure yet if i like the way the honey and sugar taste together in it... but all in all i'm well pleased.

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    1. ha yeah i used the original to it did not turn out well! but over all cupcakes were super light and amazing!

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  7. Mable: I use a 1M Wilton tip and it makes pretty frosting a snap!

    Anonymous: Sorry! I forgot to change the frosting recipe, I adjusted it to what I used!

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  8. Oh, my gosh! Good Earth tea is my most favorite tea in the world! I need to try these now! :-)

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  9. Try using real Cinnamon in your recipe and reduce on the sugar.

    The Cinnamon that we get in the US is actually Cassia which has a high level of coumarin.

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  10. This recipe looks delicious!! Your blog is full of loveliness! Thank you for sharing!

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  11. I have just made it and it's delicious and moist.
    Taste great and you can definately feel the taste of chai. Thanks for the recipe.
    ula

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  12. Hi there,

    How many cupcakes does this recipe yield?
    (sorry if you said it already and I missed it!)

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  13. @ Vanessa: I think it yielded about 20 - 24 cupcakes :)

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  14. I made these and the cupcake turned out great. The frosting not so much. I had to do a lot of adjustments to get it to work for me. I think a regular buttercream frosting with some chai spice would be great too.

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  15. I am so thrilled to have came across your blog with this recipe! I am trying to get a small operation cuppycake business going and living in the great northwest, everyone loves chai! I am jumping right in to make these, thank you! Anyway, I have had experience with Swiss Meringue Buttercream, and for those who haven't, your directions for the frosting may be a bit confusing as you described how to do a Buttercream rather than SMBC. 6 months ago, I totally would have put raw egg whites, sugar, honey and butter in the cuisinart and expected a lovely frosting to emerge, lol. Enough about that, now that I have found you, I look forward to more genius confection concoctions and lovely photos to match. Thank you for your enthusiasm, who doesn't love a cupcake?

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  16. Oh my god! This is perfection! two of my favorite things combined! Cupcakes and Chai! :D
    Thank you so much for this recipe. YUM!

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