Chai Teacupcakes

I got these adorable little silicone cupcake molds for my birthday and just couldn't wait to try them. Of course, since they are shaped like teacups, I wanted to make a cupcake that was reminiscent of tea and thought chai would be perfect. I researched several recipes and ended up using the Martha Stewart one from her Cupcakes book.  It was meant for mini cupcakes, but adapted well to making regular sized ones with just a little more baking time.  However, her recipe included a condensed milk icing and I wanted to swirl some buttercream on top, so I came up with this yummy cardamom-cinnamon buttercream and sprinkled just a little cinnamon on top.  Just like they would when you order a chai latte from the local cafe, right?

This is the box of the cupcake molds that are made by Fred.  They make all kinds of fun stuff! 

I even used my matching pink Reiss milkpot to warm the milk and make the black tea infused milk to use for the recipe. I just wanted to drink that, but resisted and used it for the cupcakes.

The batter had LOTS of spices in it and I've never smelled such a fragrant flour mixture!  I liked the Martha recipe as it called for using each and every spice that is in Indian chai vs. cheating and using one of the pre-made chai mixes. This has cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, clove, and freshly ground nutmeg.  It smelled like fall or like I was ready to make a pumpkin pie. 

I was hoping I didn't put too much batter in the cupcake molds and since I have just these four, there was lots more batter to make other cupcakes.  It felt so boring just putting the batter in cupcake papers!

Here are my chai teacupcakes fresh out of the oven. I probably could have used a little less batter in the molds, but they rose nicely and I was so exciting to frost them!

The buttercream came together so nicely and was easy to pipe on. It had these pretty little specks of cardamom and cinnamon in it and I sprinkled them with a bit more cinnamon as well.  I thought the bright white buttercream looked so pretty with the white molds as well.  Almost too adorable to eat!  I shared them with four very special friends and showed off the fun cupcake molds.

I had lots more cupcakes and lots more buttercream so I sampled one to make sure they were good and sent the rest off to be enjoyed by others.

Recipe for Cardamom-Cinnamon Buttercream

2 sticks unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk

Cream the butter in an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla, cardamom and cinnamon and mix thoroughly.  Continue beating on low speed while adding the sugar a cup at a time and alternating with a little milk, beating smooth between each addition and scraping the bowl as needed.