Tea + Cake = Vanilla Chai Cake!

It wasn't until very recently that I discovered this tea blend called vanilla chai when I decided to be adventurous for once and ordered it in a coffee shop. (Ironic really...say tea shop and cake always springs to mind!)

Anyway...this delicious tea blend includes black tea, ginger, cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, black pepper, calendula, and of course vanilla. When brewed, this full bodied tea produces a spicy and creamy aromatic flavour. 

Apparently Chai is so prevalent in India and Sri Lanka that it could be called their national drink! The word chai literally means tea in Hindi. 

So I thought...let's make a vanilla chai cake! I've made earl grey cupcakes before so why not mix it up a bit and create my own unique tea cake?! After all we all know that vanilla is amazing in cake already and the added combination of sweet spices just takes this to a whole new level! 

If you're wondering where to buy this tea from - all good supermarkets stock this, so what you waiting for? Get brewing your tea...

Ingredients (Makes an 8 inch cake):

For the Cake

170ml milk (45ml is for the buttercream)

4 vanilla chai tea bags

225g softened butter

225g caster sugar

4 eggs (at room temperature)

225g self raising flour

2 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp vanilla extract

For the buttercream

170g butter

500g icing sugar

45ml infused milk

Sprinkle of ground cinnamon to decorate

Method

Preheat your oven to 180°C /Fan 160°C/ Gas 4 / 350°F. Grease two 20cm /8 inch sandwich cake tins then line the base of each tin with baking parchment. 

Heat the milk in a saucepan over a medium heat until it just begins to boil. Remove from the heat and add the teabags. Cover with a lid or clingfilm and leave to infuse for 30 minutes. Once infused, put 3 tbsp (45ml) aside as reserve for the buttercream later.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture looks pale and smooth, add the eggs one at a time, mixing for a few minutes after each addition. You may need to add a tablespoon of flour at this point if it starts to look curdled. Add the vanilla extract and stir.

Combine the flour and baking powder in another small bowl. Add one-third of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat well. Pour in one third of the infused milk and beat again. Repeat all these steps until all the flour and milk has been added.

Spoon half of the mixture into one tin and the other half in the other tin. Make sure to level off the mixture with a palette knife and then bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.  Turn them out, peel off the baking parchment and then leave to cool completely.

To make the buttercream, cream the butter in a large mixing bowl and then add half of the icing sugar with the cold 3 tbsp (45ml) of infused milk leftover. Beat with an electric whisk or in a free-standing mixer until smooth and then add the rest of the icing sugar and beat again. 

To assemble the cake, spread half the buttercream over one sponge and then sandwich together, spreading the other half on top. Sprinkle with a dusting of cinnamon to finish.