Chai Spice Cake

This is THE BEST chai spice layer cake! A coffee house dirty chai latte with extra caramel drizzle… but make it a cake. Soft, light, and moist chai spiced cake layers wrapped in a silky smooth cream cheese frosting and a salty sweet caramel drip.

Ingredients

• Butter & Oil. I love a cake that uses both butter and oil. The butter brings the flavor while the oil keeps it *moist*. I highly recommend using a high quality butter like Kerry Gold and also I use salted butter for baking MOST of the time. Don’t be afraid of salt! For the oil, I used vegetable oil, but any neutral oil will work fine!
• Vanilla & Almond Extract. Vanilla is a given, but this cake also has a little almond extract that gives it the most beautiful flavor that you can’t really put your finger on.
• Chai Spice Blend. I make my own chai spice blend with cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice, ground cloves, ginger, and a tiny pinch of fresh ground black pepper. Trust me! It’s everything.
• Cream Cheese. This chai spice cake is wrapped in a silky smooth cream cheese frosting. Always grab the Philly. It truly is the best. And for the silkiest finish, make sure to let the cream cheese come to room temperature before making the frosting.
• Espresso Powder. Totally optional, but I think espresso pairs so well with chai, so I whipped in a little espresso powder with the frosting. Simply dissolve some espresso powder into warm (NOT HOT!) heavy cream and mix it into the frosting. It’s absolutely delicious!

Tips and Tricks for Making Perfect Cakes

• Mix well but don’t over mix. When making cakes in a stand mixer, the egg whites especially tend to settle to the bottom of the bowl. If they don’t get properly mixed in, that will cause your cake layers (or cupcakes) to bake unevenly. I always do a final mix with a rubber spatula to make sure everything is evenly incorporated.
• Use a nonstick spray that contains flour. My go to for spraying my cake pans is Baker’s Joy. It contains flour so your cakes never stick!
• Chill. You and the cake both need to chill 😉 Relax, take your time, and try not to stress. Stacking layer cakes can seem intimidating, but just follow the recipe and all will be well. Also chill the cake! If you try to frost a cake while it’s still warm, or even room temperature, the crumbs are going to lift and mix in with your frosting and prevent the cake from having that smooth finish. After the cake has cooled to room temp, pop it in the fridge or freezer for 30 minutes before frosting.
• Invest in the proper tools. My must haves for making layer cakes are – offset and straight spatulas for frosting, cake smoothers, piping bags and tips, a turntable, and quality cake pans.
• Know when to take it out of the oven. I remove my cakes from the oven when a toothpick comes out MOSTLY clean with a few moist crumbs attached, not when the toothpick is completely clean. If you wait until it’s completely clean, the cake will over bake while it cools in the hot cake pan. Removing it when there’s still some moist crumbs on the toothpick accounts for the bit of extra baking your cakes will go through once they’re removed from the oven.

How to make Chai Spice Cake

Bake the Cake Layers.

Preheat the oven to 350 and spray three 8″ cake pans with a non stick spray that contains flour. (or use regular non stick spray and dust with flour)

In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar for about 5 minutes, or until well combined and fluffy. Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly drizzle the oil into the bowl. Continue to mix until fully combined, about 1 minute. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. Mix for 3 minutes or until well combined. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure no egg whites have settled at the bottom.

In another bowl, whisk the flour, chai spice mix, salt, and baking powder. Then, alternate adding the dry ingredients and buttermilk to the cake batter. Add half the dry, then all of the buttermilk, followed by the remaining dry ingredients. Stop the mixer when there are a few streaks of flour remaining and do a final mix with a rubber spatula to make sure everything is evenly mixed.

Evenly divide the batter into the prepared cake pans. You can do this by weight using a kitchen scale, or I like to use a large cookie scoop with a trigger. It’s quick and easy and ensures you have the same amount of batter in each pan. Bake at 350 for 28-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs attached. Allow the cakes to cool in the cake pans for 10 minutes, then flip them out onto a clean surface, wrap in plastic, and chill in the fridge while you make the frosting.

Make the Cream Cheese Frosting.

In the bowl of your stand mixer (or with an electric hand mixer) cream the butter and cream cheese until completely smooth, about 5 minutes. Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl so that no lumps of cream cheese remain. Mix in the vanilla until combined.

Add the powdered sugar 1/2 at a time, mixing on low for 3 minutes after each addition. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, dissolve the espresso powder into the warm (not hot!) heavy cream. Mix into the frosting until combined. *If you want to leave out the espresso powder, just add room temperature cream instead.

Fill & Frost the Cake.

Remove the chilled chai spice cake layers from the fridge and level off the tops if needed. This cake should bake pretty flat and even, but if the tops are domed slightly, just trim them with a sharp knife. I find it helpful to frost my cakes on a turntable and I use this one from Ikea. It doesn’t have to be specifically for cakes, any lazy susan will work.

Place your cake board or plate onto the lazy susan and spread about 2 tsp of buttercream on the plate to act as “glue” to hold the cake in place. Place the first layer in the center, then use an offset spatula to spread about 1 C of the frosting into an even layer. Repeat with remaining 2 layers. Then, switch to a straight spatula to frost the sides of the cake. I went for a semi-naked look on this cake, but add as much as you’d like.

If you are doing the caramel drip, chill the frosted cake in the fridge for 30 minutes. This will help cool the caramel as it drips down the sides and prevent it from just falling off the cake. You can use my homemade salted caramel sauce or a store bought caramel sauce as long as the consistency is thick, but pourable. I like to use a spoon to do my drips. Just grab a bit of cooled caramel on a spoon, and tip it on the edge of the cake so that it starts to drip down the sides. Do that all the way around, then fill in the top of the cake with more caramel. I topped mine with some extra piped frosting using a Wilton open star tip.

Chai Spice Cake FAQs

• Can I make this cake gluten free? I haven’t tested it, but you should be able to make this cake GF by swapping the all purpose flour with a 1 to 1 gluten free flour replacement like Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Baking. Make sure to also use GF flour to dust the cake pans.
• Can this be made into cupcakes? Yes. Fill 24 cupcake liners 3/4 of the way to the top and bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs attached.
• Can I bake this in advance? Yep! Just bake the cake layers and wrap in a layer of plastic wrap and then foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. To frost, let the cake thaw in the fridge the day before.

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