Description
Bake this fragrant Chai Spice Cake with creamy brown butter frosting. My easy recipe blends warm spices for a comforting dessert, perfect for any gathering.
Ingredients
Scale
- Chai Spice Cake Base Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups (300g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk, room temperature
- ½ cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Chai Spice Blend (for cake):
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- Brown Butter Frosting Ingredients:
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter
- 4 cups (480g) powdered sugar, sifted
- ¼ cup (60ml) heavy cream or milk, plus more if needed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prep Your Pans & Dry Mix:: First things first, get your two 9-inch round cake pans ready. Grease them up and flour them, or line the bottoms with parchment paper – I’m a parchment girl myself; it saves so much stress! Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). In a big bowl, whisk together your flour, both sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and all those glorious chai spices. Give it a good whisk, making sure there are no spice clumps. This is where the magic starts to smell really good, honestly!
- Wet Ingredients Whisk:: In a separate, medium-sized bowl, crack in your eggs. Whisk them lightly, then pour in the buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Give it all a good stir until it’s just combined. Don’t overmix here; we’re just getting everything friendly before it meets the dry ingredients. I once got impatient and just dumped everything together, and the batter was a bit separated. Oops! Take your time with this step for a smooth Chai Spice Cake batter.
- Combine & Mix:: Now for the big moment! Pour your wet mixture into the dry ingredients. With a whisk or a rubber spatula, mix until *just* combined. And I mean *just*. Overmixing develops the gluten too much, and we’re aiming for a tender Chai Spice Cake, not a rubber ball. A few small lumps are totally fine, even welcome! The batter should smell heavenly, a real burst of warm spices. It’s truly a delight for the senses.
- Bake the Chai Spice Cake:: Divide the batter evenly between your prepared cake pans. I usually use a kitchen scale for this because I’m a bit obsessive about even layers, but eyeballing it is okay too. Pop them into your preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. My oven runs a little hot, so I always check around 28 minutes. The kitchen will smell absolutely incredible, trust me!
- Cool Down:: Once baked, let the cakes cool in their pans on a wire rack for about 10-15 minutes. This is crucial! If you try to remove them too soon, they’ll likely fall apart, and that’s just heartbreaking. After that initial cool, gently invert them onto the wire rack to cool completely. They need to be totally cool before frosting, or you’ll have a melty mess, and I’ve learned that the hard way with this Chai Spice Cake.
- Make Brown Butter Frosting:: While the cakes cool, let’s make that glorious brown butter frosting. In a light-colored saucepan (so you can see the color change!), melt the butter over medium heat. Keep stirring and watching it closely. It’ll foam, then quiet down, and then little brown bits will appear at the bottom, and it’ll smell nutty. That’s your cue! Remove from heat immediately and pour into a heatproof bowl to stop the cooking. Let it cool until it’s just barely warm, but still liquid. Once cooled, beat the brown butter, powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla until light and fluffy. If it’s too thick, add more cream a teaspoon at a time. This brown butter frosting is the perfect companion for our Chai Spice Cake!