I can’t claim that these are entirely my idea, but they’re as close to it as I’ll get! Having received a sneak peek recipe from my insider friend at Quadrille, I was keen to give Fiona Cairn’s masala chai cake with ginger fudge frosting (from ‘The Birthday Cake Book’) a go. I’ve long been a fan of the chai latte, particularly on cold autumn days and pre-Christmas shopping trips – so this sounded right up my street.
As expected, the cake was lovely, and tasted just like my much-loved chai latte, although personally I’m not a fan of too much ginger, so found the icing a little strong. The original recipe is made with milk infused with the spice, similar to traditional chai tea, which although it gives a lovely deep flavour, is a little long-winded to make. I have a short attention span, and little patience, especially when it comes to cake, and hence I was inspired to make a cupcake using the same flavours, but with a shortcut method.
These are perfect for autumn, rich brown in colour from light muscovado sugar and full of the warming flavours of clove, cinnamon, cardamom and ginger. Naturally, to suit my tastes I’ve cut down on the ginger in these, but that’s the beauty of recipes like these – the ratio of spices can always be adjusted to suit. They’re much better if you grind your own spices, plus all that work with the pestle and mortar is a good stress reliever, but ready ground work well too if you’re sort on time or strength!
I’ve finished these with buttercream made with golden icing sugar and a whisper of cinnamon and topped with traditional butterflies – just because they’re a childhood favourite. Yummy!