Chai cake

This tea cake pays homage to Sri Lanka’s major food export products by combining tea and spices with the classic butter cake. Serve it Sri Lankan-style with a cup of tea, or a dollop of cream!

Chai tea cake Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  8

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• 15 g black leaf tea
• 1 cup (250 ml) boiling water
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 14 cardamom pods, whole
• 4 eggs, separated
• 250 g butter, softened
• 250 g caster sugar
• 250 g plain flour
• 1 tsp (5 g) baking powder
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 30 g sultanas
• 30 g cashews 

Cooling time: 10 minutes

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160 ˚C (fan-forced). Line a 20 cm cake tin with baking paper.
    
2. Combine the black tea with boiling water in a heatproof jug and allow to steep for 5 minutes, then strain and set aside.
3. Snap the cinnamon sticks into smaller pieces, then place into a spice grinder with the cardamom pods. Grind to a fine powder and set aside.
4. In an electric mixer with the whisk attachment fitted, beat the egg whites on high speed until they form stiff peaks, then transfer to a medium bowl. 
5. Add the egg yolks to the stand mixer bowl and whisk for 2 minutes. Switch the whisk attachment to the paddle beater. Add the butter to the egg yolks and beat on high speed, until smooth. Add the sugar and mix for 3 minutes, or until smooth and creamy.
6. Remove the stand mixer bowl from the appliance, then use a spatula to gently fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture.
7. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder, then sift directly over the egg mixture. Add the vanilla, 2 tbsp brewed tea and half the ground chai spices, then gently fold together into the cake batter. Take care not to over-mix.
8. Spoon the cake batter into the prepared cake tin, then sprinkle with sultanas and cashews.
   Sprinkle the remaining chai spice mix over the top of the cake and gently press in to prevent it from burning.
9. Bake for 1 hour, or until a cake testing skewer comes out from the centre clean. If the cake is browning too quickly in the oven, cover it with foil.
10. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin. Serve.

Note

If you don’t have a spice grinder, substitute the whole spices with pre-ground, however it’s worth investing in a spice grinder as home-ground spices provide deeper flavour.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

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