If you’d told me a few years ago that I’d enjoy anything about fall other than, say, eating pumpkin-y things and, nominally, wearing fluffy slippers, there’s not a chance I would have believed you. (This is how deep my fear of the cold runs.) But then we moved to a quixotic land where my Michelin Man puffer jackets are happily useless, so I no longer had the cold to dread; and shortly thereafter a very important fall birthday was added to our calendars that B2 and I are way more excited about celebrating than we’ve ever been about our own. A year later, here I am: recovering SAD-sufferer and cautious fall enthusiast.
B2 and I are scuttling around getting ready for Luke’s first birthday party with all the zeal of silly first-time parents who are fully aware of their ridiculousness and are choosing to ignore it; our parents are egging us on with the equal vim of first-time grandparents. We’re having a little party at home that is less little than we first thought it would be, with grandparents and aunties and cousins flying in to celebrate B3’s special day. Our apartment is filling up with things like B2’s craftsy dol towers and Post-It scribbles about cake and party favors waiting to be dropped into goody bags. Although this birthday is a bigger hubbub than usual because it’s his dol, I love the thought that fall is becoming, more than warm spices or cozy throws or anything else, a celebration of a trip around the sun with our little guy. I can’t think of anything better. (Not being cold, however, is close.)
Of course, all that said, I still like the warm spices — which is why these baby chai masala Bundt cakes (who got their name thanks to Nik!) are making an appearance this week. The recipe is part of King Arthur Flour’s Year of the Bundt celebration, and it is all my fall baking dreams epitomized. It’s the best recipe I’ve found yet for a simple pound cake — dense and moist with a close crumb and a rich texture that only gets better as it keeps — that’s made even better by an exuberant but not overzealous (unlike our birthday planning, say) dose of chai masala, which infuses it with a round, complex flavor, warm and fragrant from spices like ginger, cardamom, black pepper, and cinnamon. The cake is simple and not too sweet, carried as much by its brown sugar and honey undertones as its lively spices, but you can roll it in a bit of spiced sugar if you like, or drizzle it with a glaze. We wrapped two baby cakes up for a picnic and froze the rest for later; it’s wonderful either way.
I hope you’re all having good, cozy falls! Tell me if there’s an especially delicious fall thing I should be baking or making.
chai masala bundt cakes
Recipe hardly adapted at all from King Arthur Flour.
- Yield: makes 1 large 10-inch bundt cake, 4 medium 5-inch bundt cakes, or many minis 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks, or 226 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (213 grams) light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup (85 grams) honey
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons chai masala (like this one or make your own (see Notes)
- 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup Greek yogurt (sour cream also works)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and honey until smooth and light. This will take about 2 minutes with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed, or 4-5 minutes whisking vigorously by hand.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute or two and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl between additions. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chai masala (or spices of your choice).
- Gently fold half the flour into the butter and egg mixture. Next, fold in the Greek yogurt (or sour cream) and vanilla extract. Finally, fold in the remaining flour. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat briefly, to incorporate any sticky residue.
- Thoroughly grease a large Bundt pan or mini Bundt tray that holds up to 9 or 10 cups (I used this fun one. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, and bake until a cake tester, bamboo skewer, or long toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50-55 minutes for a large Bundt cake, 30-40 minutes for smaller Bundts and 20 minutes or so for minis.
- Remove the cake from the oven, and cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning it out onto a rack to finish cooling. Store any leftovers, tightly wrapped in plastic, at room temperature for several days; the cakes also freeze beautifully for months.
Notes
If you don’t have a spice grinder, you can make your own chai masala with the following: 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 2 teaspoons ground cardamom, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Of course, this pound cake works just as well with a mix of the fall spices of your choice — a pumpkin spice blend would be great, too!
fatimah
i literally just bookmarked this recipe to bake but now i realize that i need to make it in mini form! so adorable and delicious xx
brioche has also been on my mind lately because what’s more cozy than lots of butter haha
Bill
Happy Birthday to B3
You may have noticed how quickly this first year went bye
WAIT
Cause they just start to pick up speed as he grows- I have mentioned my wife and I have 5 and it seems like….only yesterday- our youngest is now a sophomore in college WHEW- that was fast- You are great parents and loving your B3 is the best recipe you can ever do
Jenny | The Baking Skillet
This sounds lovely with those warm spice and honey notes… and you have the cutest bundt pans!!
almost properly
Spiced bundt cake sounds amazing. I am wishing that we weren’t mid-move and unfortunately my bundt pan didn’t make the list of “kitchen essentials” that aren’t yet packed away.
We’ve been enjoying lots of savory pumpkin things… plus some super tasty apple butter that gets roasted in the oven after it simmers to intensify the flavors. I have to say. Its pretty stellar. But anything with warm spices is right up my alley this time of year.
Excited to get moved/unpacked at the end of the month and MAKE THIS CAKE!
Rossi @ A Baking Girl
such beautiful bundt shapes!!!
Maggie
Happy Birthday to Luke! These mini bundt cakes are so cute and I think they are perfect for the celebration. It’s so nice to hear that your family will be around.
Hope you guys have an amazing time 🙂
lindsey
eeeee! so excited for b3’s dol!!! i’m sure you guys are going to make the most perfect, love-filled party for little luke. and all the crazy-making things are worth it in the end as long as you all get to share in the joy that is family and friends coming together to celebrate your sweet babe! oh goodness, these cakes, cynthia! they are works of art! totally stunning (as per usual!). big XO’s
Charmaine
Beautiful photos! So, I’m itching to make this delicious cake, have all the ingredients except yogurt or sour cream. I do have an about to expire carton of buttermilk, I would decrease it by about 1/4 cup to avoid a too runny batter, thoughts?
tworedbowls
Hi Charmaine, yes! I think that would work! Great idea to reduce it by 1/4 cup. I’d love to hear how it goes if you try it. Thank you for reading!
Kelsey @ Appeasing a Food Geek
Oh stunning! And wonderful for that fall baking aroma that I associate with the leaves changing. Love hearing about the birthday party too 😉 xoxo
robyn | sweetish
oh my goodness i relate so much to this cynthia. i’ve suffered from SAD too (big time!) and my little one has a Fall birthday too so it gives me more reason to look forward to fall. Although being in LA area it’s fall is really just pumpkin spiced latees and loafs.
I also love that you called these little baby cakes. I call so. many. things. “little baby” somethings. So this post felt like a friend! I have to make these little cakes! i’m all about desserts that aren’t too sweet. xoxo
Laura | Tutti Dolci
I love bundt cakes and these are so beautiful as mini cakes!
Leslie R
bundt cake = chai?! YES PLEASE! I’m so making this recipe this week!
Leslie
http://www.alifewellconsumed.com
Rachel
These are so cute! I love the idea of doing individual bundts rather than one big one! And of course chai is a very, very welcome flavor for fall. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Sabrina
what a wonderful tweak to the standard bundt cake, only used to drinking it, will have to dig out the bundt cake pan for this recipe, thank you!
Amala lane
Hi,
I made the single bundt sized cake for a little tea party with a neighbor who has been cat sitting – she is a kitty whisperer I swear! We are relatively new to the area – Ithaca, New York – and she’s turned out to be such a good friend. So I wanted to show her our appreciation by baking something especially when we both bonded over our obsession with, ‘The Great British Baking Show.’ It’s ridiculous.
Anyway, such a nice recipe. The taste is complex and exactly like a cup of chai with just enough of a kick/heat to make it memorable.
I did something different – I added an orange marmalade glaze with thin slices of crystalized orange all around the top. Really enjoyed it. I had been thinking of trying to make a cake like that Constant Comment tea – has an orange flavor with black tea – and found your recipe. So I combined the two concepts.
Thanks again!
Amala
(used to live in Taiwan. Happy I stumbled into your site where we have a bit of Asian culture in common.)
Jane
These look delicious! What kind of bundt pans did you use – cast iron or non-stick?
tworedbowls
Hi Jane! Thank you so much! I used this non-stick quartet Bundt pan from King Arthur Flour.