Brown Sugar Chai Latte Cupcakes with Chai Cream Cheese Frosting
Brown Sugar Chai Latte Cupcakes with Chai Cream Cheese Frosting just screams fall and holidays. Made with warming spices, black tea, and brown sugar before being generously topped with the most delicious cream cheese frosting spiced up with all the fall baking spices. These cute little latte cupcakes will be loved by all who taste them.
Summer is our favorite season, and we usually go kicking and screaming into fall. So we needed a fall treat that would really make the transition easier. Starting with a basic cupcake recipe and spicing it up with traditional latte flavors got us started with fall flavors, but believing more is always better, this spicy cupcake is topped with a tangy cream cheese frosting that’s spiced up with those same chai spices!
And it turns out, these pretty cupcakes are perfect for fall bake sales! Or why not butter up your child’s teacher with something sweet!? Or apologize to your neighbor for a loud party with a few cupcakes?
We think the problems that a gift of cupcakes couldn’t fix are far and few between!
Ingredients: What Makes This Cupcake Recipe Different?
Chai Spice. The Chai Spice blend in this easy cupcake recipe is what makes this recipe special. A blend of all the spices that give a traditional chai masala tea its special flavor are included. Cinnamon, Ginger, Cardamom, Nutmeg, Allspice, Cloves, and Tellicherry Black Pepper are stirred into the batter as well as the cream cheese frosting.
Chai Tea. This wouldn’t be any kind of chai latte recipe without chai tea, so our cupcake starts with Masala Chai steeped in milk, which forms the base of the cupcake batter.
Use a bouquet garni or infuser to steep the tea. This way, it is easy to remove the tea at the end of the steeping process.
Find all these spices and tea, along with hundreds more, at SpiceTopia!
Can This Cupcake Recipe Be Used For Cake?
Yes, this recipe baked as a cake would make a lovely fall dessert – or even a Thanksgiving dessert! Prepare the same way as directed for the cupcakes and then pour into two 8-inch cake pans which have been greased with 1 tablespoon of butter and then dusted with flour. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Frost each layer individually or stack to make an impressive layer cake.
Easy Way to Decorate Cupcakes Without Tools
While baking involves science, decorating cakes and cupcakes is all about creativity! We certainly aren’t decorating pros! Instead, we are more the “figure out how to make it pretty with what we have in the kitchen” types! So here is our take on decorating cupcakes for beginners – without any equipment.
And our go-to cake decorating hack simply involves filling a ziplock bag with frosting and then cutting a star shaped hole in the corner of the bag. When cutting that shape, start with just a small snip straight across. Then cut one very small cut straight up into that hole. Test it out and keep cutting until you are happy with the design.
When it’s time to decorate the actual cupcake, start in the center of the cupcake. Hold the freezer bag about ¼ - ½ inches away from the cake and squeeze while moving the frosting bag around the cupcake.
Experiment and have fun with it! After the cupcake has frosting, add a sprinkle or two of Chai Sugar Spice Blend! We love adding a Cinnamon Stick or a Star Anise to each cupcake to fancy it up further! (Be sure to let those enjoying your cupcakes know these whole spices aren’t for eating!)
How to Make Brown Sugar Chai Latte Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
This recipe involves three distinct steps:
- Stirring together the Chai Spice Blend and the Chai Spice Sugar Blend
- Making the Cupcakes
- Creating the Cream Cheese Frosting and Decorating the Cupcakes.
None of the components are hard to make, but you do need to plan enough time to bake the cupcakes, allow them to cool, make the frosting, and decorate the cupcakes.
Let’s Get Cooking!
- 4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 2 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 tsp Ground Cardamom
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg (Freshly grated)
- 1/2 tsp Allspice
- 1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
- 1/8 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 cup Milk
- 2 tsp Chai Tea
- 2 stick Salted Butter (Room Temperature (1 cup))
- 1 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 3 Large Eggs (Room Temperature)
- 1/2 cup Sour Cream (or Greek Yogurt)
- 2 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Pacific Flake Sea Salt
- 8 oz Cream Cheese (Room Temperature)
- 10 tbsp Unsalted Butter (Room Temperature)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 tsp Pacific Flake Sea Salt
- 4 tsp Chai Spice Sugar Blend
- 3 cup Powdered Sugar
Stir together all the ingredients for the Chai Spice Blend except for the sugar. Measure out 4 teaspoons and set aside for cupcake batter. Into the remaining chai spice blend, stir in ⅓ cup of granulated sugar. Set aside for use in the frosting recipe as well as decorating.
Turn on the oven to preheat to 350° F. Line 24 cupcake molds with paper liners.
Heat the milk until it just barely starts to boil. Remove from the heat. Add the chai tea to an infuser or a bouquet garni. Drop the infuser or bouquet garni into the pot of milk. Cover and steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea from the milk. Place the milk in the fridge or freezer while you move ahead with making the rest of the cupcake batter.
In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 4 teaspoons of Chai Seasoning Blend. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and sour cream, beating until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined.
Add ⅓ of the flour mixture. Beat until combined. Add the remaining mixture. Beat until combined. Stream in the chai infused milk, beating until just combined.
Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cupcake papers. Transfer to the oven and bake for 22–25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Remove and let cool for at least 45 minutes before frosting.
With a stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together until creamy and fluffy.
To the cream cheese and butter mixture, add the vanilla extract, salt, and Chai Spice Sugar Blend. Blend for one minute.
Add 3 cups of powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Beat until fully combined.
Once the cupcakes have cooled, decorate the cupcakes with the frosting. Sprinkle with additional Chai Spice Sugar Blend.
Enjoy!
