There is no concept of Chai Tea Latte in India. Seriously! Now that Starbucks is mushrooming up at every nook and corner of the country, you may see chai tea latte on their menu. But forget about Starbucks when you are visiting India. Try the Masala Chai instead.., served and sold by Chai Wallahs or the tea vendors all over India. Originating in India, chai has hit coffee and tea houses worldwide and become a new trendy beverage!
As all of you may know, Chai means ‘tea’ and the word chai comes from the Chinese word – chá. Masala Chai is pre-dominantly Indian though. It’s made by adding a blend of spices and sugar to black tea.
I’m a coffee drinker but when I’m at home, I invariably make myself cups of Masala Chai to enjoy. In India, every time of the day is a chai time. You are bored and want to break the monotony…, go for a cup of Masala Chai. You are studying late into the night and need to stay up…, go for a cup of Masala Chai. You have friends over., greet them with cups of Masala Chai. Masala Chai is just not a beverage., it’s a way of life. In my family, Masala Chai is made numerous times of the day serving the stream of relatives who stream in and out.
There are various Chai blends available everywhere but trust me, there is nothing like trying your own masala chai at home and the taste is much better and extremely flavorful. 
INGREDIENTS: – For Masala Chai
- 2 cups water
- Sugar per taste
- ¼ cup whole milk (or, more if you like it milkier)
- 3 TBSP Loose Black Tea
- ½ inch cinnamon stick – crushed roughly
- 1 TBSP Cardamom Powder
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 TBSP Crushed Ginger
METHOD:
- Boil the water with the spices for 3 to 4 minutes
- Reduce the heat and let the water simmer
- Add sugar and tea leaves and boil for 2 more minutes
- Add Milk and let the mixture boil for another 2 to 3 minutes
- Pour the prepared tea through a sieve into cups
When you have your Masala Chai ready.., you will realize that how versatile this beverage can be. Move over Coffee Cakes. Now cakes flavored with chai spices are trending big. All I have done in this recipe is that I used previously prepared masala chai as a wet ingredient. I also added the contents of an earl grey tea bag in the dry ingredients to give the cake extra tea flavor.
To keep matters healthy.., I used the Greek Honey Yogurt as the glaze.
INGREDIENTS: – Masala Chai Cake
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 chai tea bag (I used the Earlgrey Tea Bag)
- 7 TBSP Olive Oil
- 1/2 cup Masala Chai
- 1 TSP Rose Water or Vanilla Essence
- 1 egg (room temp) or 1/4 cup of mashed banana if you want to make it eggless
- 1 TSP crushed Cardamom
Yogurt Glaze
- 1 cup Honey Greek yogurt (I used Trader Joe’s Honey Yogurt. If you don’t have honey yogurt available, use plain Greek yogurt and add ½ cup sugar to it)
- ½ cup milk
- Fresh Blackberries or any other berries (Optional)
METHOD:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Butter your cake pan
- In a medium bowl combine flour, Sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and contents of the tea bag.
- Whisk these all together and form a well in the center.
- Pour in oil, Masala Chai, Vanilla/Rose essence and the egg.
- Use a fork to lightly beat the egg and then slowly incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined. Do not over mix. If using a mashed banana to replace egg then lightly mix the mashed banana into the mixture.
- Pour into the cake pan. Sprinkle the crushed Cardamom on top and Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, let cool in the pan on a wire rack for a few minutes and then turn out onto the rack to cool completely.
- Stir yogurt and milk together in small bowl to make the glaze and garnish with fresh berries
PIN for Later:
I would love this for breakfast (:
Beautiful Aish as always.
Hi aisha
Thank u for the innovative recipe. Kept my tea cupcakes in the oven just now. Only thing is my batter did not have any tea flavour. Is it becoz I did not put the early grey tea bag in the dry ingredients? Did u put the lose tea leaves from the tea bags. and can I use the normal Lipton tea bag. Thank u once again
Hey!! Yes, adding the earl grey tea leaves inside the batter gives it more of that tea flavor but you can add any other tea bah as well – Lipton too.
How was the taste?
this looks incredible! i am seriously drooling. AND your pictures are amazing!
Yum! Those both sound delicious. I think my husband would really like the tea. I’ll have to try making it sometime soon.
Those berries look so delicious! I would love to try the tea as well.
Looks great! Will try to bake it.
Ohhh my goodness, these sound amazing! I love chai ANYTHING so this would be perfect.
Both the tea AND the cake look amazing! Just the thing for a weekend breakfast treat. I can’t wait to try them both!
Oh my..that looks so good! Yum!
This looks so delicious. I love Chai tea.
I can imagine this as a delightful afternoon snack! Yum!
This looks amazing!! I love the idea of baking with warm spices and tea, the flavor combo is epic. Now I just need to figure out how to convert this beauty to Paleo so I can enjoy it all winter long 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
This sounds delicious! I also substitute butter with olive oil 🙂
The breakfast cake looks tasty! Nice idea to top it with yogurt!
I’m such a fan of the spiced chai tea and love the idea of the Masala Chai Breakfast Cake. The newish trend of infusing tea into baked goods and savory dishes is one that really needs to gain more steam!
I love chai tea so I’d really love to give Masala Chai a try! On top of that, I’d love to make this cake too! It looks and sounds so yummy!
This cake is perfection! I am a huge tea lover so this one is right up my alley. Thanks for the recipe!
This recipe sounds extra delicious. I love Masala Chai included.
Who doesn’t want cake for breakfast. My kind of breakfast for sure. Anything with chai has got to be delicious.
Delicious! I love cake for breakfast lol
This sounds great! I love how you provided two different recipes so we can get a feel for the taste! Thank you for sharing.
You had me at chai <3 I've been putting chai spice into everything lately, it's so good!
Cake for breakfast? YES! I am totally in! It looks so good and it’s definitely something that i’d make for me and the kids!
This is certainly something quite unique I have across in days… I am a chai lover and especially a cup of hot steaming ginger tea on December mornings !! I am surely going to try this. The picture too looks really good 🙂
Cheers !
Wow I bet your kitchen smelled amazing when you made this! I love a chai tea latte..and in a cake.. OH YES please!
This sounds so good, I love Chai tea, so I must give this a try! Thank you!
Droool
I love chai. Who wouldn’t want cake for breakfast. This would be perfect anytime of the day…perfect with coffee too.
This look delicious! And being a lover of Chai tea, I like this even more! Love how the glaze falls on the edges of the cake!
I love the look of this and I would love to try it! Thanks for sharing!
What a beautiful cake & a great idea to add your tea to it. I love how you’ve used a honey yoghurt glaze for a healthy touch. thanks for sharing.
Your masala chai breakfast cake looks beautiful! Can’t wait to try this recipe, thanks you!
This breakfast cake looks delicious. Also, love your photography.
It sounds delicious and I love the presentation! I haven’t got into Chai tea yet as I’m not a big tea drinker so I actually like the sound of it in a cake more as the flavour would be there but more subtle.
This is such a beautiful cake and the combination of flavours sounds delicious. I would love to have a slice or two, in a meantime I think I will make some chai tea right now.
I’m dying to make this cake! It sounds so perfect for winter!
Wow, this looks really interesting, I haven’t had any like this, gotta try it.
I can just taste all that spice just from the title! haha
I am a die hard tea drinker and splurge on Masala Chai every now and then. It was an extremely popular drink when I was living in Kenya. . .and like with India. . .you surely will be greeted with a cup of Masala Chai when you visit friends. I’m also loving it in this cute, little cake. That yogurt glaze looks so tasty.
Not a big Chai drinker but this makes me want to try more
Oh you had me at eating cake for breakfast!
I love the flavor of chai and making it into this yummy cake is fabulous. this is a tasty breakfast or snack
Omgoodness this sounds yummy and creamy.
The coffee cake looks amazing! It looks so moist and fluffy. You’re making me salivate with the pictures! I love chai spices in my coffee, so this cake is a must try!
Love those ingredients. I am a green tea drinker, maybe I have to try Masala Chai sometimes.
Cake for breakfast?? Count me in! This looks so good, I have never heard of this before!
Breakfast + cake = I’m there. And this with a chai tea? Yaassss ….
I am a tea drinker and like Chai tea although I do not drink it that much, my favorite is Ginger Tea. I think I will try your recipe and see how it goes. Thanks for sharing.
I love the Masala Chai anyway, as I grew up drinking that before all the fake wannabes started popping up. Masada Chai is so satisfying. Glad you wrote this.
Yes!! I wake up to masala Chai everyday. Thank you 😊
This sounds amazing, I love chai tea and I will definitely try your recipe… It would also make great #InheritanceRecipes entry 🙂
I’m so happy that you liked it and yes, please do try and let me know how it came out. Thanks for stopping by.