Chai cake. This Cinnamon Swirl Chai Bundt Cake recipe makes a perfectly spiced cake. The light buttery chai cinnamon swirl is delicious with brunch or afternoon tea.
Bundt cake recipes are plentiful, but most bundt cakes are very dense and often dry, so I prefer this recipe. I've adapted it from an Italian lemon bundt cake recipe by Mamma Agata, famous for her cooking school in Ravello, Italy.
What makes it even better is that the cinnamon swirl layer includes chai spices. The cinnamon swirl turned CHAI cinnamon swirl takes it over the top! You'll be amazed at how easy this light and moist cinnamon bundt cake is to make.
A cinnamon swirl cake is delightful enough, but adding a few chai spices to the swirl takes it to another level. Masala chai cake, anyone?
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Chai spices are in masala chai, the famous Indian spiced tea drink. Masala chai is a powerful blend of tea, herbs, and spices cherished for centuries in India.
Masala means 'mixture of spice' in Hindi. Chai rhymes with 'pie.' Chai is the word for tea in many parts of the world. So when we commonly say 'chai tea' in America, we are saying 'tea tea.' Masala chai is the spice mix (masala), tea (chai), or spiced tea.
Even though I'm calling this cake chai, I'm referring to the spices in a masala chai, not the tea itself. Most Americans are more familiar with the term chai than masala.
In addition to the brown sugar and cinnamon, I've added ground ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, and cloves. These are the traditional spices of masala chai. The cardamom flavor makes it!
How to Make Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake
Bundt cakes are the easiest cake you can make. Layering in the chai-spiced cinnamon swirl is super simple. The secret to this cinnamon swirl bundt cake is the creamed butter and sugar.
Pro Tips:
- Bring the butter to room temperature, so it's nice and soft.
- Whip the butter on high speed for at least two minutes.
- Add the sugar and continue to whip it into a soft cream.
I like to use an Italian very fine flour for the flour (type "00"). I use it in all my recipes. Italian "00" flour has a smoother, silkier texture to it. My family also seems less sensitive to it compared to American flour.
Pro Tips:
- Mix the blended ingredients on high for no more than five minutes. The batter will have a consistency similar to a mousse.
- Use a non-stick bundt cake pan or coat with butter and flour to create a non-stick surface.
- Keep the oven door closed while baking so the bundt cake will rise properly.
Bundt Cake Vanilla Glaze
I've used a basic vanilla drizzle glaze made from confectioners' sugar and added a strong brewed black Assam tea for the icing. You can find Assam black tea at any specialty tea shop or use a good English Breakfast tea traditionally made from a blend that includes Assam black tea.
The cinnamon swirl cake has all the flavors and ingredients of a traditional Indian masala chai.
Pro Tips:
- For a thinner glaze, use whole milk. Add more milk or less confectioners' sugar to adjust for thinness.
- For a thicker vanilla glaze, use heavy cream instead of milk. Then adjust the cream and confectioners' sugar for thickness.
I used a thin vanilla tea glaze for this recipe and drizzled the glaze while the cake was still slightly warm. I wanted the cake to absorb some tea glaze, so I drizzled a little bit at a time and let the drizzle seep into the cake. I repeated this three times.
Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake
For the bundt pan, I used a 10" non-stick pan from Calphalon. I love the size and the fluting design. It's the only bundt cake pan I'll use. You can buy them almost anywhere that sells Calphalon or on Amazon. Plus, the non-stick feature makes it amazingly easy to remove the cake.
Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Bundt Cake Mix
- 250 gram butter (2 sticks) softened
- 1 ¼ cup sugar (300 g)
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups flour (300 g) "00" flour
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoon baking powder (16 g) it seems like a lot but it's not
- ½ cup whole milk (125 ml) use whole milk not skim
Cinnamon Swirl Chai Spices
- ½ cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon Allspice Allspice is a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves
Vanilla Tea Glaze
- 1 ½ cup confectioners' sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoons whole milk
- 6 teaspoons strong black brewed tea Assam or English Breakfast
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract not artificial
Instructions
Bundt Cake Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 ℉ and grease a 10" bundt pan.
- Whip butter in mixing bowl for at least two minutes or more.
- Add the sugar to the butter and whip into a soft cream.
- Add the eggs and blend in well.
- Add the salt, flour and baking powder mixture a little at a time while blending.
- Add the milk and blend in well.
- Mix all the ingredients together at medium speed for five minutes (no longer).
- Pour half of the batter into the bundt cake pan.
- Layer in the cinnamon spice mixture.
- Pour the remaining bundt cake batter over the cinnamon spice cake mixture.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 ℉ for 40 minutes.
Cinnamon Swirl Chai Spices
- Blend all the spices and brown sugar together in a bowl. Set aside.
Vanilla Tea Glaze
- Drizzle glaze onto slightly warm cake one third at a time. Allow the cake to absorb the tea glaze between drizzling.
Notes
-
- Bring the butter to room temperature so it's nice and soft.
- Whip the butter in a mixing bowl on high speed for at least two minutes.
- Add the sugar and continue to whip into a soft cream.
- Mix the blended ingredients all together on high for no longer than five minutes. The batter will have a consistency similar to a mousse.
- Use a non-stick bundt cake pan or coat with butter and flour to create a non-stick surface.
- Keep the oven door closed while baking so the bundt cake will rise properly.
- For a thinner icing use milk. Add more milk or fewer confectioners' sugar to adjust for thinness.
- For a thicker vanilla icing use heavy cream instead of milk. Then adjust the cream and confectioners' sugar for thickness.
Nutrition
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Marie Freedman
This looks fabulously delicious.