The Cake Slice Bakers: Chai Spiced Cake with Honey Ginger Cream

A great man once said "If at first you don't succeed, don't cry about it, you big baby! Do it again!"

Or something like that.

I initially made this cake for Easter dinner.  It was very easy to put together.  Very straightforward.  Mix the dry ingredients.  Mix the wet ingredients (minus the milk).  Add butter and some milk to the dry mix.  Then add the wet ingredients.  Pour in pan. Bake. Eat and enjoy.

Here is what I did:

Mix the dry ingredients.  Mix the wet ingredients.  Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Curse the fact that I forgot to add the butter.  Try to add the butter at the end, watching it clump and coagulate.  Take a spatula and try to press the lumps of butter out.  Beat for ten minutes.  Fret the entire time that I am overbeating the batter. Pour uneven amounts into pans.  Overbake. Shape cake sloppily.  Ice cake sloppily.

What was amazing about this cake, however, is that after the disaster that was my experience baking the cake, it still tasted good.

Great, in fact!  It was slightly dry and didn't rise at all, but the cake was still delicious.  It was a hit at Easter dinner.  People commented on how amazing the cake was.  They paired it with strawberry ice cream.  Even more amazing! 

So I tried it again, knowing that if the cake was that good after I pooped all over the process, it would be amazing when I didn't poop all over the process.

And WOW, was this cake amazing.  I mean, really. WOW.  The batter was light when I poured it (in even amounts this time) into the pans.  The cake rose beautifully.  For the first time ever, I took my time to even out the edges carefully.  The cake was light with a gorgeous crumb when I evened out the tops.  To ensure moistness (why do people hate that word when describing cakes?  It is the ultimate compliment!), I added some ginger simple syrup to the layers and frosted the cake.  

The dynamic chai flavors of cardamom, star anise, ginger, cinnamon, peppercorn and cloves shone through and paired perfectly with the sweet and slightly tangy honey ginger frosting.  

Without a doubt - and I mean this wholeheartedly - without a doubt, this is my favorite cake I have ever eaten. Ever. Ever, ever, ever.  

Please, if you can, for all that is good and holy, make this cake.  You don't know what you are missing.  Check out the other Cake Slice Bakers here. And check out the book, Sky High:  Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes here.

Chai Cake with Honey Ginger Cream adapted from Sky High:  Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes

1 1/3 cups milk
6 chai tea bags
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ¾ cups cake flour
2 cups sugar
4 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
Honey Ginger Cream (recipe below)
 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.   Butter the bottoms and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans.  Line the bottoms with rounds of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.
 
In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium-low heat.  Add the tea bags, being careful not to let the paper tags dip into them ilk. Remove from the heat and allow the tea to steep for about 5 minutes.  Remove the teabags carefully squeezing the milk from them back into the pan.  Let the chai milk cool completely.
 
In a medium bowl, combine whole eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and 1/3 cup of the chai milk.  Whisk to blend.
 
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt in a large mixer bowl.  Beat on low speed for about 30 seconds the dry ingredients.  Add the butter and the remaining chai milk and, with the mixer on medium low, beat to blend well.  Raise the spread to medium and beat until light and fluffy.  Add the egg mixture in 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing only to incorporate after each addition.  Divide the batter evenly among the 3 prepared pans.
 
Honey-ginger cream


2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

6 ounces softened cream cheese

6 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temp

1/2 cup honey (liquid)

1 tsp. freshly grated ginger


 
Place all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse to incorporate, then scrape down the bowl and process until smooth and well blended.  Transfer to a bowl and chill for an hour before using to fill and cover the cake layers, allowing any excess to drizzle down the sides.

Decorate as desired.

Comments

[justcooknyc]

I have a copy of that sky high book and now I can't believe I haven't tried anything from it yet. chai, wow, very col.

[Monica H]

Your cake looks great! Thank you for your comment on my blog, it made me feel better about m y diaster :-)

[jin hooi]

yeah, agree totally !! This cake is amazing !!! well done

[Natasha - 5 Star Foodie]

This cake sounds amazing and Honey Ginger Cream just delicious!

[The Duo Dishes]

Cardamom's in there! Yessss. This sounds heavenly. Light, fluffy, sweet, spicy. It's good stuff. The ginger simple syrup is genius too!

[food librarian]

How beautiful is this?! What a wonderful color and crumb.

[Brownie Power]

WOW this cake looks wonderful!!! I have to bake this soon. Thanks for the recipe!!

Love your blog!

[Katie]

I totally agree with you. This was one of my favourite cakes. Loves the idea of the ginger syrup.

[Rico]

it look great really does, and delicious..Cream a little soft but scrumptious. well done great post :) xxx
Rico-Recipes

[Kristen]

This looks incredible - oh my gosh! Yum!!

[bergamot]

The cake looks delicious. Chai in our language means tea with milk with or without spices. Do you mean the same thing?

[ingrid]

Good for you that you tried again! I tend to want to throw in the towel pretty quick. :(

Everyone's raved about this one so, it's going on my must bake list. I'm also going to copy you make use a simple syrup.
~ingrid

[Sihan]

the interior of the cake looks pretty good despite the mishaps that happened during baking! I'm glad everyone enjoyed it!

[Tangled Noodle]

Wow! This cake must be something else. I'd love to try new flavors outside of the usual chocolate, vanilla, etc. I tend to be pretty disorganized in the kitchen so I promise to pay attention to the recipe so that I don't poop all over it!

[Margaret]

Cake looks perfect. Chai is such a great spice. Wish I had had time to make this cake. Everyone's looks so yummy.

[Nicole]

This IS quite good..."Sprinkles" cupcakes actually makes a cupcake very similar to this...yum!

[Dimah]

That looks amazing!

[oneshotbeyond]

chai anything is my friend. Mmmmmm

[Zoë François]

The cake looks and sounds so absolutely wonderful! I adore these flavors!

[Jen]

This looks and sounds delicious. Found your site through Cherryspoon on Foodbuzz. Can't wait to try the Honey Ginger Cream.