It's taken quite the limelight in the beverage/tea arena in the past decade or so. It's become a mainstay must for any cafe. While chai is a great coffee alternative for people like me who don't drink coffee, it's become a tiresome, predictable choice arguably to the point of boredom. Sure, its reliably there for you but who gets excited over chai anymore? But chai CAKE! This is an entirely different matter. This warrants a little perk of the posture, a little clearing of the throat. Excuse me? Chai cake? It's like you taught the old dog new tricks! I don't know about you but I had never heard of such a thing. Chai had reclaimed center stage for me when I saw this cake recipe. But topped with honey ginger cream cheese frosting? Well, that just... well.... er... takes the cake. Seriously, this is one killer cake.
Others seem to agree. The recipe suggests the use of Tazo Chai, but I distinctly remembered having an aversion to their chai (it's too something, clove-ridden?) so I went with the Celestial Seasonings brand and was very happy with it. The only other thing I would tweak just barely next time is to lessen the sugar by a 1/4 cup in the cake batter. The frosting is plenty sweet already.
I've been poring over gigicakes.net lately. This is where I got the recipe so I'll send you right over there if you're interested in making it. She picks absolutely the most delectable looking recipes and magically whirls then into beautiful masterpieces.
great job! the cake looks amazing!
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