I’m not much of a cupcake person. I really want to be–I love the small size and they always look so tempting with the dainty piped icing on top. But I usually find them too sweet, with a ridiculously high icing to cake ratio, and somewhat bland. I just always want cupcakes to be more than what they are, to really live up to their full cupcake potential.
These chai tiramisu cupcakes are the perfect solution for my fellow cupcake skeptics. The cake is incredibly light and spongy, the black tea and coffee add a nice bitter note to counteract the sweetness, and the frosting is out of this world. Seriously. It doesn’t even taste like frosting–think of the flavor of Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream transformed into a fluffy, light-as-air whipped mousse or cream. That is the frosting–it’s luxuriously velvety, it’s sophisticated, it’s flavorful– and I could honestly eat it by itself all day long.
The flavors for this cupcake are inspired by a dirty chai, which is chai mixed with a shot of espresso. Like a tiramisu, the coffee flavor definitely remains prominent in this recipe, but with hints of black tea and masala chai spices to add more warmth and depth of flavor. The cupcake is made with tea-infused buttermilk and masala chai spices; the cake soak incorporates black tea, coffee, and additional masala chai spice; and the mascarpone frosting also incorporates a bit of the coffee and tea mixture. I don’t have espresso on hand so I used instant coffee for this recipe which turned out delicious.
The cake base for this recipe uses whipped egg whites for volume, producing a very light and fluffy cake that is perfect for absorbing the dirty chai mixture. Additional holes are pricked with a fork to help even more of the flavor seep down into the the cupcake. The mascarpone frosting borrows from some components of a traditional tiramisu, using egg yolks that are thoroughly beaten to produce a wonderfully moussey mixture. To avoid serving raw egg yolks, they are often beaten over a double boiler. I wanted to avoid another fussy step, so I took a lesson from Claire Saffitz and heated the tea/coffee mixture until it came to a boil and slowly streamed it into the egg yolks, which I could then continue to whip up without the need to set up a double boiler. I cannot rave enough about the texture of this frosting–it is so incredibly satisfying to make the end texture is an absolute dream.
If you have leftover chai spice mix from the recipe, check out my recipe for masala chai cinnamon rolls.
Chai Tiramisu Cupcakes
Course: Cakes and custardsDifficulty: Baking session12
cupcakes60
minutes20
minutesThese dirty chai tiramisu cupcakes pair the warming flavors of masala chai with coffee for a wonderfully flavorful cupcake. The cupcakes are generously soaked in a dirty chai syrup and topped with a light-as-air mascarpone frosting flavored with coffee and black tea.
Ingredients
- For the cake
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 black tea bag
1/4 tsp chai spice mix (see note)
1 cup (120g) cake flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
4 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup (100g) + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
5 Tbsp melted butter
2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
- For the soak
1/2 cup water
1 black tea bag
1/8 tsp chai spice mix
1 tsp instant coffee
- For the mascarpone frosting
2 egg yolks, room temperature
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp instant coffee
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp water
1/8 tsp of chai spice
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 oz mascarpone
Unsweetened cocoa powder for garnish
Instructions
- Make the cakes
- Place the buttermilk in a cup or bowl and microwave for 10-second intervals until the buttermilk is steaming but not fully boiling. Add the black tea, cover and let steep for 20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. The buttermilk may separate slightly which is fine, but if it starts looking like cottage cheese, it means you overheated it and should start over.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chai spice mix. Set aside.
- In a larger bowl, whisk together four egg yolks with 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp of the sugar. Then mix in the vanilla and melted butter, followed by the tea-infused buttermilk insuring the butter and buttermilk are not piping hot when you add them in.
- Add your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and mix just until there are no more visible flour patches.
- In a clean, large bowl, add your egg whites along with the cream of tartar. Beat with a mixer until the mixture turns foamy and looks more opaque. Then very slowly start pouring in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar while continuing to mix. Continue to beat the egg whites until you have achieved stiff peaks. Fold about 1/3 of the mixture into the batter. Then add the remaining egg whites and fold in gently until well-incorporated.
- Either grease your muffin tin or add cupcake liners. Then scoop out the batter into the muffin tin, filling each one about 2/3 of the way. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. While the cupcakes are baking, prepare the soak in the next step.
- Make the soak
- In a small saucepan, add the water, coffee, tea bag, and chai spice mix. Heat just until the mixture comes to a boil, then turn off and let the tea steep for about 5 minutes. Pour the soak into a small ramekin or bowl, leaving the tea bag in the pan for a future step.
- Right when the cupcakes come out of the oven, you’ll want to apply the soak since it will absorb best while the cupcakes are still warm. Prick the tops of the cupcakes in a few different places using a fork. Then, spoon the soak on top of each cupcake. Spoon the liquid generously over each one, continuing to add more to the cupcakes until you have used nearly all of the soak. At first, it will seem like far too much but you need more than you think for it to soak deeper into the cupcake. Transfer the cupcakes to a rack to let them finish cooling completely.
- Make the mascarpone frosting
- Once the cupcakes are cooled to room temperature, prepare the frosting. In the saucepan with the used tea bag, add in the water, coffee, chai spice, salt, and sugar. Stir over medium heat until the sugar and coffee powder have dissolved and the mixture has just come to a boil.
- Add the egg yolks to the bottom of a large mixing bowl, and begin to beat on medium speed. While constantly beating, very slowly stream the hot mixture into the egg yolks. Pouring just a small amount at a time while ensuring the egg yolks are constantly agitated will prevent you from accidentally scrambling the egg. Once all of the mixture has been added, increase the speed to medium-high and continue beating for several minutes until the beater leaves clear, strong tracks, the volume has increased substantially, and you have a relatively thick mousse-like texture. You can also feel the side of the bowl or dip your finger in to make sure the mixture has successfully cooled down to room temperature.
- Then add the mascarpone and beat on a low speed just until the mascarpone is fully incorporated and the mixture is smooth.
- In another bowl, whip the cream to stiff peaks. You can use the same beaters (no need to wash in between) or just use a whisk since it’s a very small quantity of cream and will whip up quickly. Once the cream is whipped, fold it into the egg yolk-mascarpone mixture.
- Use a spatula to fill a piping bag or gallon-size ziploc bag with the frosting. Cut off the tip of the bag to create a generous circular opening and pipe rings of the whipped topping onto each cupcake. Dust the tops with cocoa powder and, if you’d like, a small sprinkle of the chai spice mix.
- The cupcakes will last for several days in the fridge. Set out cupcakes at room temperature for about 20 minutes before eating.
Notes
- Feel free to use your favorite spice blend for masala chai. I like my chai quite peppery, which I feel also works well to balance out the sweetness of the dessert. This chai mix is adapted from The Hathi Cooks. 2 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 2 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 1/4 tsp ground cardamom, 1/2 Tbsp ground black pepper, 1/4 tsp ground clove, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg. The extra spice mix can be kept in a glass container and used to make chai.
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