Eggless Masala Chai Cake (With Cream Cheese Frosting)
This egg-free masala chai cake is moist, pleasantly tender, and full of chai spices and real brewed chai (tea) in the batter. It’s an easy, one-bowl recipe that's perfect as a snack cake, but you can also dress it up with a brown sugar chai cream cheese frosting for special occasions.
Equipment
- mixing bowls
- Measuring Cups & Spatula
- Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer
Ingredients
For Making Chai
- 250 ml whole milk
- 1 tablespoon loose black tea (unflavored) or use 3-4 tea bags
Dry Ingredients
- 230 g all purpose flour sifted
- 150 g light brown sugar make sure it's not lumpy
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1-1.5 teaspoon chai masala adjust quantity depending on potency of your chai masala or how strong you like the aroma of spices
Wet Ingredients
- 95 ml oil any neutral oil will work
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 6 oz cream cheese
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup powdered sugar confectioners sugar
- 2-4 tablespoon heavy cream or as needed to adjust the consistency of frosting
- ½ teaspoon chai masala adjust quantity depending on potency of your chai masala or how strong you like the aroma of spices
Chai Masala Powder Spices (May have leftovers)
- 20 green cardamom pods
- 3 cloves
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg fresh grated
- ½ teaspoon black pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Make The Chai Masala (If you are making your own)
- Open the cardamom pods and fine pound the seeds along with cloves in mortar pestle. Or use a dedicated spice/coffee grinder.
- In a small bowl, mix the powdered cardamom & cloves with anise, nutmeg, black pepper powder and ground cinnamon. Your chai masala is ready.
Bake Masala Chai Cake
- Line a 8 inch square pan with parchment paper.Preheat your oven to 350F.
- Start by brewing chai. Pour milk in a pot, place on medium flame and let milk warm up a little.
- Add loose black tea to milk and bring to a boil. Reduce to low flame and simmer for 3-5 minutes for the color to deepen and the chai flavor to become strong.
- Strain the chai and measure 225ml. You may have some extra chai that you can sip on. Let stand.
- In a large bowl, add the sifted all purpose flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, chai masala powder and a pinch of salt. Mix lightly together using a spatula.
- Pour the oil, chai that we made earlier. Also add the vinegar.
- Using a spatula, gently combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients to make a smooth batter. The batter will be deep caramel in color, will look sticky and will flow like a ribbon.Avoid overmixing.
- Immediately pour the cake batter into the lined pan. Spread and smoothen out using an offset spatula.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 22-26 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Pull out the baked cake from the oven and let cool for 10-12 minutes in the cake pan itself. Then, transfer to a wire rack and cool down completely before frosting.At this stage, the cooled cake can be stored in the fridge wrapped in a plastic wrap for 1-2 days. Frost and serve whenever you want.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a medium bowl, add softened cream cheese. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy (about 1-2 minutes).
- Add the brown sugar, powdered sugar, and chai masala. Beat again on low speed, gradually increasing to medium, until the sugar is fully incorporated and the frosting is smooth.
- Add 2 tablespoon of heavy cream and mix until combined. If you prefer a lighter consistency, add more heavy cream, 1 teaspoon at a time, until you reach your desired texture.
- Taste the frosting and adjust the chai masala if needed for a stronger flavor.
- Spread or pipe the cream cheese frosting on top of the cake. Sprinkle a few pinches of chai masala on top. Serve! Store cake leftovers in an airtight container, refrigerated for about 5 days.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!