Monday, July 27, 2009

Rooibos Chai Latte Cupcakes



I got the recipe from Love & Olive Oil (one of my favourite foodblogs) and adapted it slightly according to what I had on hand. These cupcakes are simply delicious, not too sweet, just spicy enough, moist and chewy. 

I think they would be good even without an icing, but the matching white chocolate cream glaze (also flavoured with chai spices) is the perfect complement to the cupcake. This one is a keeper and I'm already planning to use the base recipe with some different flavourings added - I'm considering a lemongrass flavoured cupcake with perhaps a lemon curd-ish frosting...

Rooibos Chai Latte Cupcakes
Adapted from Love & Olive Oil
Makes 9 cupcakes (Love & Olive Oil says 12 - maybe I'm using a bigger baking tin?)

1 cup milk
3 rooibos chai tea bags
1 chamomile tea bag
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups (plus 2 tablespoons) cake flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons caramel (or vanilla) extract

For glaze: *
100g white chocolate
1/2 cup cream
1 1/2 - 2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Prepare a muffin tray with cupcake liners.
2. Add teabags to milk and heat in microwave for 3 minutes on high. Allow to steep for a further 5 minutes or so, then remove teabags, squeezing out as much milk as possible. Re-measure, and add more milk to make up 1 cup. Whisk in cider vinegar, and side aside until curdled.
3. Meanwhile sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Pour in tea-milk mixture, along with oil, sugar, and caramel essence, and stir just until no large lumps remain.
4. Divide batter evenly among 9 cupcake liners (liners should be 2/3 full), and bake for 20-22 minutes or until puffed and golden. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
5. For white chocolate glaze: Break chocolate up into the milk, microwave on 60% power for 2 - 3 minutes, until melted. Stir to combine, add spices and add enough icing sugar to make a thickish & spreadable frosting. Spread each cupcake thinly with the glaze. Wait a few minutes until dry, then add another layer. Decorate further as you wish.
* The glaze recipe makes a lot more than what you need - reserve the remaining glaze for another use (or another batch of cupcakes!)

Nutritional info (per cupcake): Calories 304.7 Total Fat 12.6 g Saturated Fat 3.6 g Polyunsaturated Fat 5.3 g Monounsaturated Fat 1.9 g Cholesterol 6.4 mg Sodium 224.5 mg Potassium 76 mg Total Carbohydrate 42.8 g Dietary Fiber 0.9 g Sugars 14.5 g Protein 3.1 g




8 comments:

Anonymous said...

This look delicious! I will have to try them. Like the way you presented them!

Marisa on July 30, 2009 9:08 am said...

Thanks so much, I try my best, but don't really know too much about photography, figuring it out as I go along so I can get decent pics for my blog. :-)

Try the cupcakes - they really are good.

Homemade Heaven on August 05, 2009 11:45 am said...

I saw the use of tea to flavour cake just last week (for the first time) and thought how clever - you have taken it to a new level!

Marisa on August 05, 2009 11:56 am said...

Thanks for your kind words Rose&Thorn!

elrieta on August 06, 2009 9:22 am said...

Decent pics..? Dit lyk stunning!! Ek het eers gedink jy gebruik sommer web pics, maar toe lyk hierdie cupcakes darem maar soooooooo bekend...! Jy doen baie goed, hoor!

Marisa on August 06, 2009 9:34 am said...

Dankie man! Ek's nou glad nie eers naaaaaaaaaaby aan pro fotograaf soos jou man nie, maar ek probeer iets neem wat lekker sal lyk om te eet. :-)

Kindra on August 09, 2009 6:25 am said...

Wow, these sound INCREDIBLE. Love the way you packaged them up so prettily.

Marisa on August 11, 2009 9:06 am said...

Thanks Kindra - that's a great compliment coming from you!

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