This weekend was the maiden voyage of my new oven. First time out, it was all good. And actually fun again to bake without constantly monitoring the temperature. Soon, I promise, I will read the manual, but until then I'll stumble around. Really, the stove/oven book is not nearly as good as say, the new issue of Food and Wine.
Chai Tea Latte Cupcakes. I've had these on my list for a while, more of a priority when we had a chill in the air, Its July, its 90-ish and its humid, the boat has sailed.... A bit of a back story to this weeks' selection. I had purchased the Chai tea bags a while ago, last week out of curiosity I broke open the box, free from the cellophane, the fragrant spices consumed my pantry in about 10 minutes. I used the "baggie inside of baggie inside of a baggie inside of a baggie inside of a plastic bowl" method to contain the spiced tea, with limited success. I was still getting hints of chai-ness in my Honey Nut Cheerios and the boys Science Diet Mature Cat kibble was taking on a spicy aroma. Clearly it was time to bake.
I'm not a hot drink person, ever. I don't really understand the whole coffee/ tea thing as a beverage of choice. I don't understand any of the options at Starbucks - seems like a lot of choices and strong possibility of things going wrong. I'm a purist, no condiments for me, generally. I fear someone accidentally throwing in an unwanted flavoring or option. Don't get me wrong, I know Starbucks has a stellar training program for the barisitas, but things happen, attention wains.
My point is, I've never had a Chai Tea Latte in my life and had to do a little research to get to the cupcake. I needed to understand the spice combination that makes the tea so special. After many Google searches it was not clear cut, a pinch of this and that, lots of cinnamon and ginger, optional cloves, coriander, star anise, lemmongrass, vanilla, saffron, rose and cardamom. Seems most people like a tiny touch of pepper, white or black was debated. It took a little while to arrive at the proper proportions of spices to mingle with the tea and stand up in a baked good. I wanted my cupcakes to have a hint of black tea with the !BANG of the spices without an overwhelming spice leader. I didn't want anyone to say "Your cinnamon cupcakes were good." While I love compliments, clearly, the cupcakes didn't deliver if they missed the black tea, cardamon, cloves, ginger, pepper etc.
I opted for a milk based cake so that I could steep the chai and black teas a bit. I upped the spice flavor by adding ground spices to flour. I netted out with good flavor and only a little disappointment. The pretty pinkish-purple milk, thanks to the tea, did not carry over into the baked cake; they were more tan than lavender. Yogurt added moistness to the final product. To keep the latte theme going I topped the cupcakes with a rich vanilla buttercream and a sprinkle of spice. Good no matter the temperature.
Chai Tea Latte Cupcakes
Makes 30 cupcakes
3 3/4 c AP flour
4 1/2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
3/4 c unsalted butter at room temperature
2 1/4 c sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 1/2 c whole milk
2 t vanilla extract
6 best quality Chai tea bags
2 best quality black tea bags
2 T Chai spice mix (below)
Preheat oven to 350. Bring milk to simmer, remove from heat, steep teabags in milk for 15 minutes. Remove tea bags, allow to cool.
In small mixing bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder and chair spices. Place butter in bowl of standing mixer, cream until light, add sugar beat on high until light and fluffy. Add eggs yolks one at a time, mixing well. Add vanilla. Alternately add flour and milk mixing well between each addition.
In separate bowl, whip egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Fold into batter.
Fill wells of cupcake pan 3/4 full bake 15-20 minutes.
Chai Spice Mix
1 T + 1 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
1 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground white pepper
pinch of black pepper
1/4 t cardamom
pinch of ground star anise
Top with vanilla buttercream.
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