Chai Spice Cupcakes

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These chai spice cupcakes are made with a soft and moist cake base that’s infused with tea and spices and topped with a swirl of creamy chai spiced buttercream frosting. They’re fragrant with warming spices and the perfect cupcake as a Fall dessert.

These chai cupcakes are perfectly spiced in both the cupcake base and buttercream frosting. The cupcakes are infused with black tea so that they are more like a chai latte cupcake, reminiscent of the spicy and gingery smell of a cup of chai with the creaminess and aroma of milk and tea.

Fall baking and Fall flavours are my favourites of all time. But chai tea flavoured things are on my mind all year round. And I'm not talking about a hint of chai spice. I don't know about everyone else but when I make tea flavoured things, I really want that strong tea flavour to come through. I drink tea with like three tea bags to one cup of water... just me? Every bite of these chai spice cupcakes are full of pure chai flavour.

chai spice cupcakes scattered around a wood platter

Ingredients you will need

Milk - Feel free to use any kind of plant milk - it doesn’t matter here. I used oat milk. You’ll infuse the milk with tea to use as the liquid in the cake batter.
Black tea - Any kind of strong black tea like Assam tea or Darjeeling tea works well.
Cake flour - You can substitute with all-purpose flour with no issues but cake flour will make the cupcakes softer and fluffier.
Baking powder - This helps the cupcakes rise when baked.
Chai spices - Many different spices go into a chai latte or traditional masala chai. In this recipe, I’ve opted to use ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cardamon, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg to achieve a similar spiced taste.
Salt - An essential for flavour and baking chemistry.
Unsalted butter - This is for both the cupcake batter and the buttercream frosting. It’s essential that your butter is softened to room temperature.
Granulated sugar - For some sweetness in the cupcakes.
Eggs - Eggs help hold the cupcakes together when baked. They should be at room temperature but it’s not a big deal if you forget.
Vanilla extract - This always makes baked goods smell amazing especially when combined with all the chai spices.
Powdered sugar - This is for the buttercream frosting. The amount I use in this recipe is probably much less normal American buttercream but I promise it makes a better buttercream (especially if you usually think they are too sweet) as long as you whip the butter and buttercream really well for the entire indicated time.

How to make chai spice cupcakes

Preparations

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Steep the tea

In a small pot or using a microwave, bring the milk to a simmer. Add the black tea bag or loose leaf tea to the hot milk and let it steep for 5-10 minutes. Squeeze all the infused milk out of the tea bag or tea leaves before discarding. Set aside to cool.

infusing milk with black tea and mixing cake batter

Make the cupcake batter

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the softened butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the sugar and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat again until creamy.

With the mixer on low speed, add in half of the flour mixture and all of the milk. Mix until just combined. Add in the rest of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until the batter is just combined and smooth. Don’t overmix.

Using a 2” ice cream scooper or two spoons, scoop 1 heaping spoonful into each cupcake liner until about ¾ full.

mixing cupcake batter and scooping it into cupcake pan

Bake cupcakes for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting.

Make the buttercream frosting

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the softened butter with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed for about 10 minutes until it becomes very pale in colour and creamy.

Add in the powdered sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, nutmeg, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high speed for another 10 minutes until creamy and fluffy.

Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with an open star piping tip. Pipe frosting onto the tops of the cupcakes starting from the outside into the middle. Sprinkle the chai cupcakes with a bit of cinnamon, if desired.

whipping and piping chai spiced buttercream onto cupcakes

Frequently asked questions

How to store chai spice cupcakes?

You can store these cupcakes covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Can you freeze chai spice cupcakes?

Yes! You can freeze the unfrosted cupcakes by themselves by wrapping them well and freeze for up to 1 month.

To freeze the cupcakes with frosting, place the cupcakes on a plate and freeze the whole plate, uncovered so that you don’t smoosh the frosting, for about 1 hour until the frosting has hardened. Then you can wrap the cupcakes individually and freeze for up to 1 month.

Thaw in the fridge overnight and let the cupcakes come back to room temperature before eating.

Can you make buttercream frosting without a stand mixer?

You don’t need to have a stand mixer but you do need to have some sort of handheld electric mixer. A stand mixer makes it easier because you can leave it beating for long amounts of time but a handheld mixer can do the same as long as you can stand and hold on to it for the same amount of time. Ensure your butter is very soft to begin with and make sure you beat it until it becomes very pale off-white in colour.

What types of tea are best for chai cupcakes?

Any variation of a strong black tea works well for chai like Assam, Darjeeling, or just any regular black tea. Since it is going into a cupcake batter, it doesn’t need to be anything fancy or high quality as the taste will be subtle.

Chai Spice Cupcakes

Ingredients you will need