Every so often I get a question about whether or not my layer cakes will work as bundt cakes and I never really knew the answer until I started recipe testing for the holiday season. First, I made this peppermint hot cocoa bundt cake using my one-bowl chocolate cake recipe and it turned out perfect. I couldn’t get the idea of a chai bundt cake out of my head, so the next recipe I tried bundt-style was my spiced vanilla chai cake. Another success! In fact, I loved it so much that I had to post the full recipe, spiced chai glaze and all, right here on my blog to live in eternal internet glory.
One Reader, Eric, Says: “I followed the recipe exactly as written and I had to say this is now one of my favorite cakes. It’s moist and packed with flavor. Family and friends loved it!” ★★★★★
This spiced chai bundt cake is so perfect for the holidays and could not be easier to make and decorate. The cake is soft, ultra-moist, and has the perfect chai flavor between the infusion of chai tea into the milk portion of the recipe and lots of chai spices added to the dry ingredients. It’s one of my favorite layer cake recipes and I was so happy to see how well it baked in this 12-cup bundt pan.
How to Remove a Bundt Cake from the Pan
One thing that you see a lot on baking shows (and maybe have experienced in real life) is the stress of removing a bundt cake from a pan. The more intricate the pan design, the more stressed the situation. I used this bundt cake pan and followed these simple steps to make removing the cake simple:
- Spray the bundt cake pan thoroughly with a baking spray that contains flour. Baker’s Joy is what I used and yielded perfect results every time.
- After the cake is baked, let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes. This gives the cake a chance to cool slightly and the pan will be much easier to handle (although still slightly hot so be careful!)
- Place a cooling rack or large plate on top of the open end of the bundt cake pan and flip the pan over so that the cake is now face down on the cooling rack or plate.
- Tap all over the pan to help release the cake inside, then gently slide the pan upwards to release the cake onto the wire rack or plate.
Those steps worked perfectly for me every single time, and hopefully they take the stress out of removing your bundt cake from your pan too.
How to Decorate a Spiced Chai Bundt Cake
After my chai bundt cake cooled, I topped it with a spiced glaze that was super easy to make with simple ingredients. I basically spiked some classic vanilla glaze with the same chai spices I used in the cake: cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, and cloves. It’s so tasty, easy to work with, and totally foolproof. Just add a little more milk if it’s too thick or thin it out with more powdered sugar until you get the perfect consistency for your bundt cake drip.
Dripping the cake was so much fun. I added the glaze into a measuring cup with a spout, then poured it all over the tallest parts of the bundt cake until the glaze dripped down the sides. It looks so cute and rustic and you truly can’t go wrong with your drips. In fact, this style of cake looks great with a variety of drip heights, even some that pool at the bottom.
When the glaze was still wet to the touch, I garnished the spiced chai bundt cake with some sugared cranberries and they made the cake look so cute and festive! I have instructions on how to make sugared cranberries in this blog post.
Whether you add festive flair or not, this spiced chai bundt cake is tasty all year-round. It’s sure to be a hit at your next holiday party or a casual Sunday brunch. I hope you love it as much as I do!
Spiced Chai Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Chai Spice Mix
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
Chai Bundt Cake
- 1 1/4 Cups (300ml) whole milk
- 1 chai tea bag
- 2 3/4 Cups (290g) sifted cake flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 4 tsp chai spice mix (recipe above)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 3/4 Cups (350g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 Cup (120g) sour cream, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
Spiced Chai Glaze
- 2 Cups (240g) powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp chai spice mix (recipe above)
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2-3 Tbsp whole milk plus more if needed
Garnish (Optional)
- sugared cranberries
- Biscoff cookie crumbs
Instructions
Make the Chai Spice Mix
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, and cloves and set aside.
Make the Chai Bundt Cake
- Place the chai tea bag into a mason jar. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the whole milk, stirring constantly, until it begins to boil. Pour the boiling milk over the chai tea bag in the mason jar and let it steep for 20 minutes before removing the tea bag. Allow the mixture to cool completely to room temperature before moving on.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9.5-inch (12 Cup) bundt pan by spraying the sides with baking spray (Baker's Joy is my favorite). Alternatively you can grease and flour the pan.
- Add the sifted cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, 4 teaspoons of the chai spice mix, and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), beat the butter on high for 2 minutes until it's creamy. Add in the sugar and continue to beat on medium-high for another 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and sour cream and mix for 1 minute on high, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more.
- With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the (room temperature!) chai milk mixture slowly and mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps (without over-mixing). The batter will be slightly thick.
- Pour batter into prepared cake pan (no more than 2/3 full) and bake for 30-35 minutes. It's done when the cake springs back to the touch and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the bundt cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling. Make sure it's entirely room temperature before applying the glaze.
Make the Spiced Chai Glaze and Assemble
- Prepare the glaze when the bundt cake has reached room temperature. Whisk together the powdered sugar, chai spice mix, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Add the milk, one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture falls in ribbons off of the whisk but also holds its shape for a few seconds before melting back into the bowl.
- Pour the glaze over the room temperature bundt cake until it drips down the sides decoratively. Garnish with Biscoff cookie crumbs, sugared cranberries, or other festive touches. The glaze should set after 30-40 minutes.
Notes
- The bundt cake can be made ahead and stored at room temperature, wrapped in a layer of plastic wrap and covered with a clean kitchen towel, for 1-2 days. Alternatively you can freeze the bundt cake, wrapped first with a layer of plastic wrap and then with a layer of aluminum foil, for up to 2 months.
- The glaze should be made right before dripping the cake for best results.
- Store the assembled cake under a bell jar or covered in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 5 days. I do not recommend refrigerating the bundt cake, as the refrigerator will dry out the cake more easily.
Did you make this spiced chai bundt cake? I want to know how it went. Let me know what you think in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram if you post a pic! I love to see what you create.
Whoa, really? I’ll look into that! Thanks for the heads up
Oh. Em. Gee. 100% user error: I didn’t take into account that you bake at (presumably) sea level! My adjustments for baking at ~5,000 feet: added 2 Tbs flour, scant measurement on the sugar (could have cut less), halved both the baking soda and powder. Increased oven temp 25 degrees and cooked maybe 5-10 minutes longer (but checked at 30 and 35). Still used a 10-cup (9.5″) Bundt pan, but no overspill this time! The glaze was thick (thinner than pipe-able/thicker than drippy) with 3 Tbs of milk but I used it as is, may try the “more as needed” next time. And there will be a next time! I’m going to try a half-recipe in a 6-cup Bundt to see if the cardamom comes through more by leaving out the cinnamon, but it’s a cozy spice flavor as-is.
I followed the recipe exactly as written and I had to say this is now one of my favorite cakes. It’s moist and packed with flavor. Family and friends loved it.
I made this cake about 4 times now.
The other three attempts I converted it into 3 layers 6 inch cake and used the Biscoff buttercream recipe from the spiced pumpkin page to ice it. Then used Biscoff drip. Friends and family went crazy for it and some started calling it crack cake lol
I love your cake recipes.