Masala Chai Cake
A very unusual cake but the flavors will surprise you. This Masala Chai Cake or India Tea Cake is moist and delicious with a light essence of aromatic chai combined with spices and lots of roasted hazelnuts. Even if your not a chai lover, you’re going to love this Tea Masala Cake. And if you are a chai lover, you going to love me more…
ABOUT THIS CAKE – Masala Tea Cake / India Tea Cake
Firstly, this is a moist and rich cake combined with light flavors making this the best Masala chai cake or Indian Spice Cake
Made with masala chai and roasted hazelnuts
Also contains Indian spices that lift up the cake to another level
Perfect for a memorable tea time session
How To Make Masala Tea Cake?
So, when thought about this cake, I asked my mother what she felt about these flavors combined with a cake and she gave me a look that actually meant NO WAYS, DON’T EVEN TRY IT !! Let me tell you she loves tea and is my best critic to date. I normally take her opinion very seriously, however, this time I seem to be against it and decided to trust my instincts
So, I decided, to try the cake recipe I came up with and then bring it to her for a bite. Guess what, she loved it !! And I was so excited to share it with everyone around me for more opinions. I’m so happy to let you know that I didn’t seek any negative reactions. Also, people just loved it and moreover, it surprised them to know that its the tea flavor in the cake that they’re enjoying the most. So, here I bring to you one of my discoveries that is foolproof and delicious. I enjoy every bite of this cake although I’m not a teapot
LET’S TALK INGREDIENTS – Indian Cake Recipe
Roasted Hazelnuts
This cake has a crunch in every bite. It’s loaded with hazelnuts which were pre-roasted, as a result, it brings out the real flavor in the nut. However, to make sure the nuts don’t settle to the bottom of the cake, mix the nuts in the flour before adding it to the cake. Also, this method can be followed for any cake whenever you’re adding nuts to the cake batter
Chai (Tea)
Next, while preparing the tea, add milk and tea powder along with all the spices mentioned in the recipe. Boil well. Do not add water or sugar to this. Also, let the tea be made of only milk. The cake contains other sweeteners, therefore, adding sugar to the tea is not required. Let the tea cool down a bit before you combine it with the cake batter
Masala Chai Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 190 ml full-fat milk
- 2 heaped tablespoons tea powder
- 8-10 cardamom, roughly crushed
- 4-5 cloves
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 100 grams butter, room temperature
- 30 grams castor sugar
- 100 grams roasted hazelnuts, chopped
- 130 grams all purpose flour
- 210 grams condensed milk
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
Firstly, prepare the masala chai in a pan by combining the milk, tea powder, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, strain and set aside to cool
Next, in a bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and roasted chopped hazelnuts. Mix well and set aside
In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the condensed milk and continue beating. Now add the tea and beat until well combined. Add the flour mixture to the batter and fold well, make sure there are no lumps
Pour the batter into a 7-inch baking pan (I used a bundt baking dish that was sprayed with cooking oil and dusted with flour)
In conclusion, bake the cake at 180 degrees C for 50- 60 mins or until an inserted skewer comes out dry.
Recipe Card – Masala Chai Cake
Ingredients
- 190 ml full-fat milk
- 2 heaped tbsps tea powder
- 8-10 cardamom, roughly crushed
- 4-5 cloves
- 1-inch cinnamon stick
- 100 grams butter, room temperature
- 30 grams castor sugar
- 210 grams condensed milk
- 100 grams roasted hazelnuts, chopped
- 130 grams all purpose flour
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
Instructions
- In a pan, prepare the masala chai by combining the milk, tea powder, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, strain and set aside to cool
- In a bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and roasted chopped hazelnuts. Mix well and set aside
- In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the condensed milk and continue beating. Now add the tea and beat until well combined. Add the flour mixture to the batter and fold well, make sure there are no lumps
- Pour the batter into a 7-inch baking pan (I used a bundt baking dish that was sprayed with cooking oil and dusted with flour)
- Bake the cake at 180 degrees C for 50- 60 mins or until an inserted skewer comes out dry
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Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
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Hi Alisha! I would love to try this recipe, but I can’t find tea powder in my area. I’ve only found the matcha green tea kind. Is there a way to make it myself? Thank you!
Hi Jenna .. Matcha or any green tea doesn’t work for this recipe. You will have to look out for tea leaves or any regular tea to make this one. Try getting it at an Indian store near you
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That’s very kind of you .. Thankyou !!
Made this yesterday! The taste was absolutely amazing, but the cake kind of sank and got totally stuck to my tin. Not sure why this happened, as I preheated the oven and set the temperature as per the recipe. Could it be because the Cake tin was too large?
Sounds like the oven temperature were a bit low .. Maybe you could try increasing the temperature of the oven .. Also, stuck to the tin?? This shouldn’t happen if you’ve put butter paper or parchment paper before pouring the batter in the tin
I have a question, your cake picture looks beautiful with the top have the sliced look? How did you get that shape? Does your bundt pan have that top cover? Or did you use a different trick?
Hi Madhu
I’ve not understood your question but if your talking about the pattern of the cake top, its because I’ve used a silicone mould to bake this cake. The silicone mould has this effect on it due to which the cake has its look (No special effect or tricks used)
Hi, I baked this twice. First in mini cupcakes and it turned out great. 2nd time I made in a loaf tin and the cake completely sunk in. Used the exact same recipe. What could’ve been the issue?
Hi Hannah
Sorry to hear about your 2nd attempt with this one but its probably the baking that went wrong ??! It Doesn’t matter which baking dish you use, the cake shouldn’t sink. I think the cake was probably not baked completely OR the temperatures were low. Also, preheating your oven is essential. Check out if all these steps were done right
Does this recipe require condensed milk ? Or can it be optional
It definitely needs condensed milk. You can even use homemade condensed milk
Hello Alisha! What temperature would you recommend if I use a round pan instead of Bundt pan?
Hey Alisha, may I know the duration to bake if used a round pan? Thanks!
Hi Anne
Whichever pan you bake in, the duration would be the same if the quantity of batter is the same as mentioned in the recipe
Hope this helps
Hi again..
The same temperature as mentioned would work well
I had a question- is it okay if the amount of milk in the tea is reduced when boiling? Or is that supposed to happen?
Hi Mashal ..
Yes !! All we need is a slight boil. I’ve kept in mind the boiling while setting up the quantity of milk in this recipe.
Of course, I’d not recommend over boiling thou
Hello Alisha, can we add walnuts to this cake as they are easily available? Or do you think hazelnuts would taste better in this cake than walnuts?
Hey Nitika .. Walnuts will taste great. Go ahead and add them instead of Hazelnuts
Hello Alisha,
It is beautiful cake, just wanted to ask if I can increase amount of flour or reduce condensed milk to reduce its sweetness
Hey Megha
Try reducing the amount of condensed milk to 150 grams, should work for you. Don’t add more flour
Hi , i want to make this cake without the hazelnuts as we have a nut allergy in the family. So what can use in place of hazelnuts?
Hi Seema.. The nuts add a lovely texture to this cake. But if you’d like making it without the nuts go ahead and skip it (no change in the remaining recipe)
This recipe doesn’t have any eggs in it. Is that right?
Hi Basbous
Yes !! It is an egg-free recipe
what kind of frosting would you recommend pairing with this cake? if i wanted to bake it in an 8 inch round pan? Thank you! excited to try this!
Hi Zunaira
I like this cake best served without any frosting. There are a couple of cake recipes which I believe need no frosting, this is one of those recipes !!
But if you’d still like to combine it with some frosting, I think Hazelnut buttercream or even chocolate ganache would go well
2. You can use the same recipe (quantity wise) for an 8-inch round cake. If you’d want a tall cake for frosting purposes then double the batter and bake in an 8-inch tin!!
This looks so pretty and combines two of my loves, tea and cake. Now I have to think of a special occasion to make this for.
Thanks Gene !! Hoping you’ll love it as much as I do !!
Can we make it without condensed milk!?
Hi Geetika
Condensed milk is super important in this recipe. I wouldn’t recommend doing it without condensed milk
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