Chai Cake
This delicious Chai Spice Cake is inspired by the warm spices in chai tea, with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, nutmeg, and more. These spices add fantastic flavor to this moist buttermilk cake, making it perfect for fall and winter celebrations.
Table of Contents
How to Make Chai Cake
You can find the full, printable cake recipe further down in this post. Here is a quick look at the process!
- After preheating the oven and preparing the pans, we combined the dry ingredients in a medium bowl- this is the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper, and spices. Whisk for 30 seconds to blend. Set aside.
- Next, in another bowl, we added these wet ingredients: the buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla. Set aside.
- We mixed the softened butter in an electric mixer until smooth. Then, we added the white sugar and brown sugar, mixing at medium speed for 3-5 minutes until lightened and fluffy.
- Next, we added the room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing after each until the yellow was blended.
- Finally, with the mixer on low speed, we alternately added the dry and wet ingredients (starting with the dry ingredients). We did three additions of dry and two additions of wet.
- Mix just until combined. Add to the prepared pans, and bake. Once done, allow to cool for ten minutes on a wire rack before turning out.
Cream Cheese Frosting
We love cream cheese frosting, especially when it comes to spice cakes! This simple and flavorful frosting combines softened butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, and vanilla extract.
Make sure that the cake layers have cooled completely before frosting. Cream cheese frostings are a bit softer than vanilla buttercream- if at any time the frosting or piping bag becomes too soft, just pop it in the refrigerator for a few minutes to thicken.
Decorating the Cake
Decorate the Chai Cake however you like! You'll have plenty of frosting. After filling the chai cake layers, we applied a thin "crumb coat" as we always do, and then chilled it for about ten minutes in the freezer to firm things up before applying the final coat.
After smoothing over the frosting with a spatula, we decided to get a little fancy and applied scrollwork using a disposable piping bag fitted with a piping tip 4. If you're interested in cake decorating, make sure to check out our section of Buttercream Techniques!
Recipe FAQs
More Spice Cakes
We've made many spice cakes over the years! In addition to today's cake, don't miss our Gingerbread Pound Cake, Spice Cupcakes, Applesauce Spice Cake, Pumpkin Spice Cake, and more.
Thanks so much for stopping by today! We hope that you enjoy this recipe. Make sure to check out our full section of cake recipes as well as our cake decorating tutorials. You'll find cake recipes from scratch, cake mix recipes, pound cakes, and more.
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Chai Cake
Ingredients
For the Spice Cake Layers
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened (170g)
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1½ cup white sugar (300g)
- ½ cup light brown sugar (packed into measuring cup) (100g)
- 3 cups cake flour ( if you do not have cake flour, see Note below) (342g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (8g)
- ½ teaspoons baking soda (3g)
- ½ salt (3g)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon (4g)
- 2 teaspoons cardamom (4g)
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger (2g)
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg (1g)
- ½ teaspoon allspice (1g)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves (.5g)
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper (.5g)
- 1 ¼ cups buttermilk (296g)
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil, we use canola oil (64g)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (8g)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 3 sticks unsalted butter softened (339g total)
- 16 oz cream cheese softened We use two 8 oz packages, full fat.
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 8g
- ½ teaspoon salt 3g
- 6 ½ -7 cups powdered sugar 747g-805g
Instructions
For the Spice Cake Layers
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, grease, flour and add a circle of parchment or waxed paper to three 8x2 inch round pans
- In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper, and spices. Whisk for 30 seconds to blend. Set aside.
- In another bowl, add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and mix at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the sugars (white and brown).
- Continue to mix on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes (a bit longer if using hand mixer) until lightened in color and fluffy.
- Add the room temperature eggs one at a time mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of liquid ingredients). After last addition, mix just until combined.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 23 to 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let cool in pans 5 to 10 minutes then turn out.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cut the softened butter into slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. Mix on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth.
- Cut the softened cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, mixing at low to medium speed until incorporated. Add the vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing on low to medium speed until blended.
- If the frosting becomes too soft, just refrigerate a short while to firm it up a bit.This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix.
Decorating
- Decorate the cake however you like! We assembled the cake, frosting between the layers and then applied a thin "crumb coat" of frosting. At this point, we like to chill it in the freezer for 10 minutes (or longer in the refrigerator) to firm things up a bit before adding the final coat of frosting. After smoothing the final coat with a spatula, we added scrollwork & borders using a piping tip 3.
Storage
- Because of the cream cheese frosting, this cake should be stored in the refrigerator (in an air tight container or under a cake dome). However, for the very best flavor and texture, allow it to sit at room temperature for 2-3 hours before serving. This will allow time for the cake to warm and soften.