Hey everyone! Welcome to the results of the Fall Recipe Poll. I am sooo, sooo sorry that I didn't get this post up sooner, and even sorrier that I never had a chance to make these!
Technically, the carmel apple shake won, but I made the huge mistake of not checking out the recipe beforehand and some of the ingredients were things that you can only buy online or in health food stores. I didn't want to get into that because I would probably only make the shake once or twice. Therefore, you guys get the recipe of the Chai Latte Cupcakes.
I love chai tea lattes, so I'm hoping that when I do actually get the chance to make these, they will be just as yummy as I imagine!
In this recipe, you start with the basic cupcakes (which is below) and then you add other things to make the cupcakes chai, pumpkin chai, or vanilla chai.
The Perfect Yellow Cupcake Recipe
1 cup unsalted butter (I soften this up in the microwave first, after cutting this into cubes for easier mashing)
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
3 cups sifted cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk (my secret: I use low fat goat’s milk which tastes like cream)
2 tablespoons of either melted cream cheese or sour cream (really adds a lot of moisture!!!)
If this is all you want to do, scoop into your muffin papers/tins and bake at 350 for 20 25 minutes. You can freeze after they cool, if needed.
Now, onto the fun stuff:
Chai Latte Cupcakes
What you will do is bring 1 cup of water to boil and place two black tea bags (does not matter if it is decaffeinated, in fact I often make it without caffeine because I have a lot of friends who don’t like caffeine) in the water. Let it boil for about 2 minutes, then reduce to a simmer and let it simmer for about 20 minutes, or until it reduces to 1/3 a cup of water. You’ll add HALF of that to your basic batter. Then you will add the following spices:
* 2 tablespoons Cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 teaspoon cloves
I almost always add MORE spices than that, but I am giving you the minimum because I know that people have different tastes than me, so just taste your batter and adjust accordingly.
The frosting for this should be a buttercream frosting with the addition of 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon.
Vanilla Chai Latte Cupcakes
Simply add an extra 1/2 teaspoon to vanilla to the batter and when making the buttercream frosting add 1/4 teaspoon vanilla and then sprinkle each cupcake with a little cinnamon.
Pumpkin Chai Latte Cupcakes
To the Chai Latte cupcake batter, mix in 1 cup of NON SPICED pumpkin puree. If you have only pre-spiced pumpkin puree, please adjust your spices accordingly.
Frost these with a cream cheese/butter frosting with 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla mixed in.
And since it is the season, a generous topping crunchy orange sugar sprinkles is always super nice!
