Chocolate chip Chai Cupcakes with Cinnamon Chai ganache frosting

Chocolate Chip Chai cupcakes

Chai Spice Mixture
Adapted from Dessert First

Ingredients
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamon

Method
Combine the spices together in a small bowl.

Vanilla Chai Cupcakes
Adapted from Dessert First
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons chai spice mixture
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 egg whites
1/2 cup whole milk
1 chai tea bag
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Method
Place 1/2 cup whole milk in a small saucepan with 1 chai tea bag. Brew, stirring occasionally, until just before it starts to simmer. Remove from heat, let cool completely to room temperature, and remove tea bag before using in the recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl. Stir in the chai spice mixture.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer with paddle attachment on medium speed until soft and creamy.

Add in egg and egg whites, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition to combine before adding the next.

Add in the flour mixture and chai milk mixture in three alternating additions, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Beat just to combine each addition before adding the next. Gently fold in chocolate chips.

Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, fill each cupcake liner about 3/4 full with batter. Bake in oven for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the cupcakes comes out clean.

Let cupcakes cool in tin on a wire rack until cool before decorating.

Whipped Chocolate Cinnamon Ganache
Adapted from Dessert First
Makes just enough to frost 12 cupcakes (**I had to double for 12 cupcakes)

Ingredients
4 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 chai tea bag

Method
Place chocolate into a medium heatproof bowl.

Combine cream, cinnamon and chai tea bag in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Heat just until it comes to a simmer.

Remove tea bag and pour cream over chocolate. Let sit for a minute before stirring to combine. Stir until chocolate is fully melted and the mixture is smooth.

Pour into a container and chill in refrigerator for an hour or until it is firm.

Place ganache in a stand mixer and whip with whisk attachment until it is light and fluffy. Do not overwhip or it will become dry and crumbly, just like overwhipped cream.

Comments (7)

on

I tried this last night with White Chocolate....It didn't turn out very good. It tasted like chai which was delish but it didn't stay white...probably because of the spices but it also didn't firm up in the fridge and I left it in there over night. Maybe it works best with regular chocolate!

on

Anjuli: White chocolate definitely does not firm up as well as regular chocolate I have discovered this myself. Try it with reg. it is tasty. I actually found that the ganache got a little crumbly myself when I whipped it I think I would like to try letting it sit till at a piping consistency and pipe it without whipping it next time.

on

Tried this recipe last week; they were great! You may not need to double the ganache recipe. I didn't and had plenty left over. I could have frosted another 3 or 4. So it all depends on how much frosting you want on your cupcakes.

on

Over all, this is pretty good. My friends really enjoyed this, but I was less than excited. I felt the cake part was a little too dense and the ganache could use less cinnamon. Maybe it was baker's error...? :o) I'm going to try the flavor combination again, but will make a couple of changes.