The Cake Slice presents: Chai Cake w/ Honey Ginger Cream

I am so glad I joined The Cake Slice! Last month's Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake was fabulous, and this month's cake is even better! For April, we made this delicious chai spiced cake with honey ginger cream cheese frosting. Whoa! The cake is so soft and jam-packed with flavor. The honey and ginger flavors in the frosting are a perfect compliment to the warm spicy flavors in the cake. The recipe actually calls for cardamom, but have you seen the price of that stuff? I dunno if it's the same everywhere, but it was OUTRAGEOUS at my local grocery store. I substituted a little extra cinnamon and some cloves, and it tasted great! This cake would've been really perfect for Thanksgiving, but I'm glad they waited until I joined to bake it! I'll definitely be using this recipe as my go-to for spice cake! The frosting was extremely soft, so my cake is less than beautiful. I think when I make the cake again, I'll frost it with honey ginger SMBC!

Steeping the tea... Ohh I wanted to drink that so bad!Baking the layers...
Cooling time!
My sub-par cake...
...WAS FREAKIN DELICIOUS!
And what do you do with leftover cake scraps? Make cake truffles, of course!

UPDATE: Lots of you asked how to make the cake truffles. When you level the tops of your cakes, save the scraps. Mix it with a few spoonfuls of the frosting until you have a smooth, even mixture. Roll the mixture into bite-size balls and place them on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Freeze the balls until firm, about 10 minutes. Dip them in melted chocolate or candy melts. I like to keep mine in the fridge so the centers stay firm! Left at room temp, the centers will be extremely soft.

Chai Cake w/ Honey Ginger Cream (from Sky High Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne)
Makes an 8-inch 3-layer cake

1 1/3 cups milk
6 chai tea bags, without added sweetener, such as Tazo (I used Stash)
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups cake flour*
2 cups sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom**
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
[*1 cup of cake flour is equal to 3/4 cup of all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.]
[**Cardamom substitute is an equal amount of brown cardamom OR equal parts ground nutmeg and cinnamon OR equal parts ground cloves and cinnamon]

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides of 3 8-inch round pans and line with parchment paper. Grease the paper as well.
In a small saucepan bring the milk to a simmer over medium-low heat. Add the tea bags, careful not to let the paper tag fall into the milk. Remove from heat and allow the tea to steep for 5 minutes. Remove the teabags and squeeze out the milk. Let the chai milk cool completely.
In a medium bowl mix the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and 1/3 cup of the chai milk. Whisk together.
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Beat on low for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the remaining chai milk, on medium-low speed. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy (If you're using cake flour, don't worry about over beating. If you're using all-purpose flour, beat just until mixture looks almost even). Add the egg mixture in three additions scraping the between additions. Divide the batter evenly among the pans.
Bake the cakes for 26-28 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean (My cakes were done at 22 mins). Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and peel off parchment paper. Cool completely.
To assemble the cake place one layer flat side down a serving plate and top with 2/3 cup of icing. Spread to the edge and repeat with second layer. Place third layer on top and spread the remaining ginger cream on top allowing it to drizzle down the sides of the cake like icicles.

Honey Ginger Cream
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup honey (any kind as long as liquid)
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

Place all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse to blend together, then scrape the sides of the bowl and pulse until smooth (I mixed mine with a hand mixer on medium speed).

Mocha Spice Cupcakes

This recipe was sent in by Kim Plank. It's from MarthaStewart.com and it's for Mocha Spice Cake with Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Thanks Kim!

Tuesday evening, I got home late from work. I almost didn't make these cupcakes, but when I looked at the recipe again, I realized how easy they were. Not to mention they were paired with chocolate SMBC (which I LOVE!!). I didn't have any fresh ginger, so I omitted it and just used the dry ground ginger. I accidentally forgot to 1/2 the spices when I halfed the recipe. I didn't notice until I'd already put double the ginger AND cinnamon. When they were all done, you could definitely taste the ginger, but it wasn't overpowering even with the extra teaspoon. The coffee flavor was definitely unnoticeable though... maybe because of the ginger overload? Anyway, the cupcakes were definitely a hit. Someone at wing night even asked if he could order 20 of them for a football party he's going to. Sweet! These are definitely a great idea for the Fall and Winter months!

Sorry the photo isn't great. I didn't have a lot of time. :(

Mocha Spice Cupcakes (recipe from MarthaStewart.com)
Make enough for 12 cupcakes and one 8x4 loaf cake

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (I omitted)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup hot coffee

Place rack in center of oven, and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line muffin pans with paper liners.
In bowl of mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter on medium until light. Add brown sugar and eggs; beat on medium-high until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla, cocoa, fresh ginger, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, baking soda, and salt; mix well.
With mixer on low, add a third of flour; mix just until combined. Add half of sour cream; mix. Repeat with remaining flour and sour cream, ending with flour. Pour coffee into batter; mix until smooth. (It will be VERY thin.)
Pour batter into pans. Bake 18-20 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking, until a few crumbs remain on a cake tester that has been inserted in center and removed. Let cool slightly in pans on wire rack. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream (my own recipe)
3 egg whites
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate (You can use 4 oz. of bittersweet chocolate altogether, I just didn't have any)

Melt chocolate in microwave safe bowl on high-powder for 45 seconds. Stir and microwave for an additional 10 seconds, if needed. Set aside.
Combine sugar and egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer (or top of a double boiler). Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water; whisk until the mixture feels hot to touch and the sugar is completely dissolved (Mixture should read 160 degrees F on a candy thermometer), about 5 minutes. Transfer the bowl to the mixer stand. Using the whisk attachment, beat the mixture on high until cooled, about 6 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment. On medium speed, add butter a few tablespoons at a time. Increase mixer speed to high and beat until thickened, 1-2 minutes. Add melted, cooled chocolate, and stir until blended.

Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 5
Tenderness: 5
Frosting: 5