I have an idea for a new kind of cake, but haven't tried it yet... How does this sound?

How about using Chai Tea latte in place of the water in a French Vanilla Moist Cake mix? I like to make Chai Tea Latte from scratch, but you could probably use any mix you liked for that. You might need to double up on the actual tea for brewing to give it a strong enough flavor, or add extra spices of the cardamom, ginger, allspice, but I bet that would be delicious!

I once made homemade chai tea ice cream and chocolate chai ice creamwith carmelized pecans that was out of this world good. That would go really well with that kind of cake, too.

Has anyone here made a Chai Tea Cake before? Please tell me about it or if you try this one, please let me know how it comes out. I'll post after I try it, too, but today I must make a Chocolate Explosion Cake!!

Blessings,
AngelWendy

Oooh! Please tell me how to make chai tea from scratch! I'm addicted to it, but Starbucks is soo expensive, and I've yet to find a mix that I like. And by the way, a chai tea cake sounds absolutely heavenly. Let us know how it turns out!!!

Okay..
You need some chai tea to start with..
Boil 2 cups of water (I usually use the microwave)
Put in saucepan the following - 2T Chai Tea, 2T sugar (or less if you prefer it less sweet).

Optionally add the following: fresh vanilla bean sliced open, pinch of ginger, pinch of allspice, pinch more of cardamom depending how much is in the tea blend, and pinch of ground orange peel. You don't have to add any of that. It usually has some of these flavorings added to the tea blend. Note - if you do not have Chai tea, I think you can approximate it with black tea (but honestly not sure which kind) and the spices mentioned above.

Pour boiling water over tea and sugar.
Immediately add 2 cups of whole milk. Heat pan on medium high. Stir constantly til the milk steams. Take it off the heat. Let it steep another minute or two.

Strain it (this is the trickiest part - you need a small enough sieve that fits over the top fo the other container you're using. Pour into another container.
The trick to getting the head of foam is to use a French Press. Pour all the strained tea into the French Press and slowly pump it until the head is about an inch or more. After you've poured out about a half cup or more you can pump it more to get more creamy head on the tea.

Hope that helps!
AngelWendy

Wow, that sounds so good! I'll have to not be lazy one day and try that. Until then, it's Starbucks for me!!

Yum Yum..What brand of tea do you use? Does one have more of the spices than the other? what about the one that comes in the can like the international coffees?

try it with cardamom,cloves (instead of all spice oleoresin). Use Ceylon, Darjeeling, Assam or Kenyan tea.

Usually u get flavoured tea also like orange pekoe(Ceylon Tea), it's tasty.

Just a note - Orange Pekoe is a name which refers to the size of the leaves, nothing to do with flavoring. It usually refers to larger whole leaves. I didn't know that for a long time and it's something most people do not know, but true!

Yes, CCBakes, each brand does add a different amount of spices and different combinations of them. There are also dozens of varieties of Chai even by the same maker. I like UptonTea for most kinds of tea, but I like more spice than they use in the Chai, so I often combine several brands or just add a lot more spices on my own.

~AngelWendy

Chai is the Indian word for tea. What is chai tea ? A brand name ?

I realize that the word Chai means Tea, however no it is not a brand name. Chai Tea is an Indian flavored tea mix that many companies make, both for home brewing and pre-mixed. You can also get it in many coffeeshops or bistros nowadays in the US. It is a mix of black tea, certain spices, and steamed milk. Here is a site with more information about Chai and how to mix your own batch - http://www.odie.org/chai/recipes.html

Blessings,
~AngelWendy

thanks

Well I knew that, just gave a suggestion. It's a leaf tea not dust tea. so after boiling water just add the tea leaves and keep for 2 mts before straining through the sieve, so the flavour comes out well.

I knew about this after my customer from Srilanka gave to me a pack of orange pekoe.

thanks

you might want to check out the DaVinci Syrups for flavoring....they are super concentrated, so they probably won't affect the consistency of icings or cakes (I haven't used any in my baking, but I use their Spiced Chai and mix it with warm milk as an evening drink and I have about 5 different sugar free syrups that I add to my coffee)

Their website is www.davincigourmet.com
They even have recipes for desserts on the website

Oh - and FYI - Marshalls and TJ Max usually have a limited selection of the syrups at about $6 each....ebay is also a good place to get them for less than DaVinci's website pricing

Wow, AngelWendy-
Are we thinking on the same wavelength or what?? I made this almost exact cake this past Sunday night!! I am sooo in love with chai! The cake came out excellent. I brewed my tea just a little stronger than usual, added creamer to taste and let it cool a bit. I just substituted it directly for the quantity of water in the recipe (1 1/4 cup). I only had a plain ol' white cake mix on hand, I'm guessing that french vanilla cake would be that much better! Give it a try- you'll love it!

Momsandraven,

Wow, that's awesome!! So glad to know it will work! I'm planning to bake it tonight. Don't know why this message (your comment) didn't come to me in email, but glad I found it! What kind of filling did you use?

~AngelWendy

I used a butter flavored buttercreme for the filling and frosting. I think a cream cheese frosting would have been better, but I didn't have the right ingredients on hand. I'm sure by now you've made yours, how did you like it? What brand of chai do you use? Always interested in trying out new chai!

I have only tried little bits of it so far as the first one had to be frozen to wait for the recipient to come visit me. The bits I had (from levelling the cake off) were delicious, though! That one is going to have whipped ganache filling and some sort of cream cheese frosting on top since I have to color it to make the character cake. I'm using the cuddly bear pan (not the 3D one) to make a stuffed dog that my friend adores.

I just made a second one this morning (overnight), as I mentioned the idea of the Chai Cake to another friend that is coming to visit this week and I had offered to make him a cake and this is what he requested, too. His has orange zest added and that almost overpowered the chai, even though I added a lot of extra cardomon, cinnamon, and ginger. This one is going to have a whipped ganache filling, too, also by request, and orange cream cheese frosting on top. This one is the lion head pan and I need to find some directions for this one!

I used Chai Tea called Indian Spice Tea from Harney and Sons, but I have also used in the past UptonTea and Stash teas. I like to combine them all.

Blessings,
AngelWendy

AngelWendy, than you for the recipe website. I love Chai tea and would like to make up a batch . Twinings brand has a nice Chai tea bag if you are in a hurry.

Blessings back

Toni

McCormick used to make a Chai Spice seasoning. It was cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and white pepper in equal amounts. I haven't been able to find it for a long time, so I use double strength chai tea instead of the liquid in my vanilla cake recipe.

Not as good, but it works. 

Let me try this again (stupid phone! )

McCormick used to make a Chai Spice blend that was wonderful, but I haven't been able to find it for years. It was a blend of cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and white pepper in equal amounts.

Now I use double strength chai tea for the liquid in my vanilla cake recipe. Not as good but it works.

I've just done a chai sponge cake.  This is the recipe I used...It didnt rise as much as I'd hoped/expected so if it tastes OK and I make it again, I would increase the ingredients by 1/3 or perhaps even double them and probably make it in one deep tin rather than 2 shallower ones.  It's also a little crumbly around the edges but it appears to be moist.  I've decorated the top with buttercream and sprinkles as I've also been wanting to experiment with using sprinkles - simple enough I know but not something I've done before!

Ingredients:

Sponge:

150ml milk (semi-skimmed or whole)

5 chai tea bags

1tbs instant chai latte powder (optional)

110g butter

225g caster sugar

2 free range eggs

125g self-raising flour

120g plain flour

Buttercream:

125g butter

250g icing sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Grease and line 2 8 inch sandwich tins.
2. Put milk into a saucepan and heat gently until the milk just comes to the boil.
3. Add the tea bags, cover and allow to steep for at least 30 mins.
4. Mix the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the latte powder if you want a stronger flavour.
5. Beat in the beaten eggs
6. Remove the tea bags (making sure to squeeze them!)
7. Add the flours and milky tea  until the mixture is smooth.
8. Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 20-25 minutes.
9. Turn out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
10. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together until it is light and fluffy then use to sandwich the cakes together.
11. Dust with icing sugar.
12. Slice and enjoy with, you’ve guessed it, a cup of tea!