Chai Chocolate Cupcakes

i ADORE Chai tea's & Latte's, so when @JunkandPo on twitter posted about these, i ust had to jot it down in my baking book. She pretty much used a basic vanilla cupcake mix, & added a couple teaspoons of chai tea.

My first round, didn't turn out very 'chai-ey', & that was using 4 teaspoons.

Second time round, i tripled the dosage of chai (12 heaped teaspoons) & also added a few shakes of cinnamon powder, and a slight sprinkle of nutmeg. Now these turned out PERFECT! Loved them.

Chai cupcake batter

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup caster sugar

1.5 cups self raising flour

4 eggs

0.5 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla essence

12 heaped tsp of Arcadia's Chai tea powder

5 shakes of cinnamon

1 sprinkle of nutmeg

1. Pre-heat oven to 175'c

2. Place baking cases in muffin tins

3. Place all ingredients into a bowl & beat with electric whisk until smooth & pale, about 2 or 3 minutes

4. Spoon mixture into cases and bake for about 14-16 minutes

5. Remove tray from oven & cool for 5 minutes

6. Remove cupcakes from tray, and cool for another 20 mins

Chocolate buttercream frosting

0.75 cup unsalted butter, softened

0.5 cup milk

1 tbs vanilla extract

8 cups icing sugar

0.5 cup cocoa powder

1. Cream the butter for 2-3 minutes, until pale & smooth

2. Add milk, vanilla extract, & haf the icing sugar & beat for another 2-3 miutes

3. add the cocoa powder, and remaining icing sugar, beat for a further 2 minutes until light & fluffy & of spreadable consistency

Add milk if it's too dry, or extra icing sugar if it is too wet.