I’m a tea lover all year round, but once the weather gets colder and things start to get cozy, chai is a staple in my tea cabinet. This spiced vanilla chai cake is that dreamy feeling of a warm chai latte in cake form – layers of soft and moist chai tea-infused cake and vanilla buttercream speckled with homemade chai spice mix. The remarkable yet perfectly balanced chai flavor makes this the ideal cake for any fall or winter gathering.
One reader, Marisa, says: “I made this cake and it was AMAZING!! I’ve been baking cakes for most of my life and this was one of the best I’ve ever made. It was so light and fluffy, with the perfect amount of spice.” ★★★★★
Why You’ll Love this Vanilla Chai Cake
Here are a few reasons why this spiced vanilla chai cake has become such a blog reader favorite over the years:
- Super soft & moist. This recipe uses a variation of my favorite vanilla cake recipe as a base, which is beautifully soft and moist from the addition of cake flour (keeps it light and fluffy) and sour cream (makes it super moist).
- Beautiful spiced chai flavor. Between steeping chai tea for the cake batter + adding tons of chai spices, I pull all the stops to create the perfect chai flavor in this recipe. It’s so cozy!
- Fun to make. The additional steps of steeping the chai tea and making homemade chai spice mix makes this recipe feel a little more complex, but in a fun way!
Perfectly Spiced Vanilla Chai Cake
There are two ways that I add chai flavor to this spiced vanilla chai cake: infusing the milk portion of the recipe with chai tea and adding a homemade spice blend to the dry ingredients and buttercream. Both of these methods add tons of spicy chai flavor, and combined with a good dose of vanilla extract, the result is perfection.
- Steeping the tea. This cake recipe begins with bringing the whole milk to a simmer in a small saucepan, then pouring it over a chai tea bag and steeping it for at least 15 minutes. After removing the tea bag, you’ll have a chai-infused milk mixture that will be added to the cake batter once it’s room temperature.
- Homemade chai spice mix. To flavor the cake and buttercream, you’ll blend together cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, and cloves. This gets added to the dry ingredients for the cake batter, and whisked into the powdered sugar that you’ll add to the buttercream.
Dreamy Vanilla Chai Buttercream
To really up the flavor, this delicious chai cake gets filled and frosted with silky smooth, beautifully speckled vanilla chai buttercream. It’s essentially my favorite vanilla buttercream recipe with homemade chai spice mix added, and oh my. The combination is Fall flavor heaven! This cake will technically pair well with all sorts of buttercreams (cream cheese, chocolate, vanilla, or anything that pairs well with chai tea), but if you want the full-on chai cake experience, this is it.
How to Decorate a Chai Layer Cake
Once you have your cake layers baked, cooled, and leveled + the buttercream made, here’s how to decorate this chai cake as pictured:
Step 1: Fill and stack. Place a swipe of buttercream on top of a cardboard cake circle and place the first chai cake layer on top. Add a layer of chai buttercream and smooth it down as the filling, then repeat the process of filling and stacking the cake until you have one layer left. Place that last layer upside down.
I like to crumb coat the cake at this point and place it in the refrigerator to firm up before moving on.
Step 2: Frost the cake. I created a smooth buttercream finish with the chai buttercream.
Step 3: Add Biscoff cookie crumbs. This part is completely optional, but I crushed up some Biscoff cookies and pressed the crumbs onto the bottom third of the cake.
Step 4: Add finishing touches. I divided the rest of the chai buttercream between two piping bags, one fitted with Wilton Tip 1M and the other fitted with Wilton Tip 4B. Then, I piped rosettes with Tip 1M in a crescent shape on top of the cake and filled in the gaps with stars that I piped with Tip 4B. I topped this crescent border with more Biscoff cookie crumbs and cinnamon sticks.
However you decorate, this cake is sure to be a hit wherever it goes! Feel free to get creative with how it looks.
Similar Cake Recipes You’ll Love
Here are some other cozy cake recipes from my blog to add to your baking list:
- Spiced Chai Cupcakes
- Spiced Chai Bundt Cake
- Chai Pumpkin Cake
- London Fog Cake
- Golden Milk Latte Cake
I hope you love this spiced vanilla chai cake as much as I do! Let me know if you make it in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me if you post a photo. I love to see what you create with my recipes!
Spiced Vanilla Chai Cake
Ingredients
Chai Spice Mix
- 4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
Vanilla Chai Cake
- 1 1/4 Cups (300ml) whole milk
- 1 chai tea bag
- 2 3/4 Cups (290g) sifted cake flour* DIY recipe in notes
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 4 tsp chai spice mix (recipe above)
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 Cup (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 2/3 Cups (333g) granulated white sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 Cup (120g) sour cream, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
Vanilla Chai Buttercream
- 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp chai spice mix (recipe above)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
- 1/4 tsp salt
Garnish
- 5 Biscoff cookies, ground into 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 Vanilla Chai 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 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 (170ºC). Prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with a cooking spray (Baker's Joy is my favorite) and fitting a wax or parchment paper circle to the bottom of the pan. Alternatively, you can grease and lightly flour the pans.
- Sift the cake flour and then measure by spooning and leveling it in your measuring cup. Add the 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!), cream the butter for on high for two minutes until it's light and fluffy. Add in sugar and continue to mix on medium-high for another two minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, then add vanilla and sour cream and mix for one 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, but pourable.
- Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans (no more than 2/3 of the way full) and bake for 30-35 minutes. They're done when they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for five minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling. Make sure they're entirely room temperature before applying any frosting.
Make The Vanilla Chai Buttercream
- With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium-high until it’s creamy and light (almost white) in color. About 7 minutes.
- Whisk 1 Tbsp of the Chai Spice Mix into the measured powdered sugar. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar mixture a few cups at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
- Add vanilla, milk, and salt and mix on medium-low for another two minutes until fully incorporated.
Assembly
- Once the Vanilla Chai Cakes have cooled completely, fill and frost the layers with Vanilla Chai Buttercream. To create the design pictured, add crushed Biscoff cookies to the sides of the cake by placing them into the palm of your hand and gently pressing them onto the buttercream finish. Then, fit one piping bag with Wilton Tip 4B and another piping bag with Wilton Tip 1M before filling each with Vanilla Chai Buttercream. Pipe rosettes and stars onto the top of the cake in a crescent moon shape, add some cinnamon sticks, and sprinkle more crushed Biscoff cookies on top.
Notes
- The chai milk mixture can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature before adding it to the cake batter.
- The cake layers can be made ahead and stored, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to two days. Alternatively, you can store the wrapped cake layers in the freezer for up to 2 months before thawing and frosting.
- The Vanilla Chai Buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip in your stand mixer to bring back to smooth buttercream consistency.
I’ve made the cupcakes and used the cupcake recipe and I did the cake as a 9×13 and used the cake recipe. The cake is more dense than the cupcakes. Is it supposed to be? I’m thinking probably so that it can be layered. If not then I may have overmixed. Thank you for your tasty recipes!!
Hi Dawn! I’m so happy you loved both the cake and cupcake versions of this recipe! Both versions should have the same texture/density. It could be over-mixing or something else like the ingredients being colder than room temp, so it’s hard to say. Hopefully the cake comes out just as soft as the cupcakes next time!
I made the cupcake recipe and they were fantastic!
Instead of a layer cake, could I do a 9×13? Any idea what height it would be?
So happy you love this recipe as cupcakes, Dawn! This recipe bakes well in a 9×13 pan as-is. Bake it at 325ºF for 30-35 minutes. Enjoy!
Fantastic! Should I use a 9×13 that’s 2 inch high or 2.75 inch high?
This recipe looks amazing and I am planning to bake it as a 3-layer celebration cake decorated with fondant icing. I am worried the buttercream filling would be too sweet together with the fondant icing, would you recommend adjusting the recipe?
Yay, Hawthorn! I’m excited for you to make this cake. If you want to lower the sweetness of the buttercream you can reduce the powdered sugar amount by 1/2 Cup and then add a little less liquid than the recipe calls for to keep the consistency ideal. Hope that helps!
Heyy!
I do have chai Spice mix on its own it already has the looser ingredients. Would you say count everything together and do that as the mix i have. Or stil doing it with the loos spices?
Greeets mandy
Hi Mandy! Yes, you can use your chai spice mix and just measure out an equal amount for the cake and buttercream recipes. Enjoy!
Hello, could I use vegetable oil instead of butter in the cake batter? Every cake I’ve made with butter, seems too dry. Thank you so much!
Hi Kelly! I haven’t tried this with oil instead of butter, but I have subbed some of the butter with oil (1/4 Cup oil, 3/4 Cup softened butter). Add the oil in with the sugar during the creaming process. Hope that helps!
I’d like to make these as cupcakes. Any idea how many it would make and what the bake times might be?
Hi Perryn! Yes, you can make this recipe as cupcakes. This recipe should make about 30-35 cupcakes. Bake at 350F for 14-18 minutes.
Hi! This recipe looks so delicious! I was hoping to make them in mini cake form 🙂 I was thinking of reducing the bake time and checking after 15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean? Also was thinking of adding a little bourbon to the cake batter, do you think it would work okay?
Hi Mallika! This recipe will bake well in 4-inch cake pans at 350ºF for 18-24 minutes. As is, the recipe will make about 9 4-inch layers, so if you want to make a smaller batch I’d recommend halving the recipe or reducing it by 2/3. And as far as bourbon goes, I haven’t tried that myself but I think it will work! I’d look at other cake recipes that use bourbon to see how much to try adding. Hope that helps!
What the heck did I do wrong for the frosting? It was wayyy too sweet. For my taste as well as anyone else who test tasted it. I added the rest of the chai mix and then had to add a ton (that’s an eyeball ton) of dark cocoa to cut the sweetness. Recipe was checked by others. I have a sweet tooth so something being too sweet is odd for me. It turned out ok with the cocoa but it’s a different cake now.
Hi Jan, the frosting is an American buttercream, which is typically the sweetest of any buttercream type. I don’t find it too sweet, but next time if you’d like to reduce the powdered sugar by 1/2 Cup or so, that could help. You could also add more salt to balance the sweetness.
I love chai and this cake deliciously embodied it. My 10yo son asked for a chai cake and he was completely satisfied by this recipe. My husband also said that “this cake get even better as it ages”. I’ll be making this recipe for a long time!
Made this cake for my beautiful godmother’s birthday and I stuck to the recipe ingredients I just made a Swiss meringue buttercream instead and also added a pecan pie filling to cake layers instead of all buttercream it was amazing
Yum! That sounds amazing, Stacey! So happy this recipe was a hit!
I’m trying to adapt this recipe for my friend’s wedsing cake. Any recommendations for how many times to multiply the recipe or what cake tins to use for 60 people?
Thanks!
Hi Helen! That’s so fun that you’re making this cake flavor for your friend’s wedding! To serve 60 people, I would recommend making a tiered cake like a 2 or 3-layer 6 inch cake on top of a 3-layer 9 inch cake. I have a chart that can help you plan what sizes your tiers could be: https://sugarandsparrow.com/cake-serving-guide/. As far as scaling the recipe, you’ll probably need about 2.5x the recipe. I would make one batch for one of the tiers, then make 1.5x the recipe for the larger tier. Hope that helps!
Hi, I made this cake for Thanksgiving 2023. It was very delicious! Now I’m being asked to make this for a friend’s wedding, they want a tiered semi-naked cake. Do you think this type of cake is suitable for tiers? I am doing 3 tiers of 6 inch, 8 inch and 10 inch 3-layer cakes. I plan to use this recipe for one of the tiers (not all), but not sure which tier it would be better for. Will be sturdy enough as a bottom tier? at hey also want a lemon cake with raspberry filling and a vanilla cake with strawberry mousse filling. Also, since this is made with cream cheese frosting, is that type of frosting okay to use for wedding cakes?
Sorry for so many questions. Thanks in advance!
Hi Verna! Yes, you can absolutely use this recipe for a tiered cake, even the bottom tier. Just be sure to properly dowel it so that the upper tiers don’t put a lot of weight on it (as you would do for any bottom tier). You can use cream cheese frosting for wedding cakes and I would recommend this recipe: https://sugarandsparrow.com/cream-cheese-buttercream-recipe/. There are some helpful articles in my FAQ section to calculate how much cake and buttercream to use for these cake sizes: https://sugarandsparrow.com/category/faq/
This was really good. We have bees so we have honey we use in everything we can. With that being said I substituted 1 1/4c milk with 1 cup milk and I only used 3/4c sugar and a cup of honey. I also made muffins instead. Came out perfect. Honey goes well with Chai. Thanks for the recipe.
Excellent chai cake! My family of little taste testers have approved this as the official chai cake recipe! I made this using two 9 inch pans, and the cake itself had an amazing taste but was definitely not as large as I’d like it be for my purposes. I would love to make this recipe for a 3 tiered naked wedding cake for my brother’s wedding. What would you recommend ratio wise for making this recipe into 3 in tall cake pans (6 in, 8 in, and 10 in). I want nice thick cake layers that look better on naked cakes. For instance, when I made this in my 2 in tall 9 in cake pans, the layers were awfully thin. I did not achieve the height I wanted when sticking to the recipe and using the recommended cake pan size. I would have been happy doubling the recipe and using half per pan. I made some slight adjustments to the recipe from my previous baking expereince with this flavor profile. I swapped the granulated sugar for light brown sugar, and added 1/4 tsp nutmeg to the spice mix. Neither of those things should affect the height of the cake. Would you be willing to collaborate with me on recipe specs to get the correct proportions to make this into a thick layered 3 tiered wedding cake using 3 in tall cake pans in the 6 in, 8 in, and 10 pan sizes?
Hi Sarah! I’m so happy you loved this recipe! The cake pans I use are 2 inches tall, so to create 3 inch tall layers you’ll need to make 1.5x the recipe for 3 6-inch layers (or 2 8-inch layers) and about 2.5x the recipe for 2 10-inch cake pans. I don’t know how many layers you want to make total, but what you can do is measure how much batter you need per 3-inch tall cake pan, add it all up, and divide by 6 Cups (which is how much batter this recipe makes) to get the amount for scaling the recipe. I hope that helps!
Hi there- I just wanted to say that I made this cake yesterday, and it has turned out perfectly! I was a little scared as I had not make it before and it took some time, but I’m so thrilled I tried it! Everyone loved it and it is perfect for people who don’t like overly sweet things. Really beautiful, deep, spiced flavour and the icing is lovely. Thank you so much! Will have a look through your other recipes now 🙂 Happy new year!
Yay, Lydia! I’m so happy to hear it was a hit! Happy new year to you too 🙂
This looks so good! What a great combination of flavors!
I used this cake sponge recipe, but made a brown butter cream cheese frosting to go with it instead of the regular cream cheese frosting. I also baked it in two 8 inch round pans at the same temperature for approximately 30 mins. The sponge turned out great. It was moist, flavorful, and had a nice texture! I will definitely use this recipe again. Thank you!!
Hi! Planning on making this for Thanksgiving…can I make the cake and chill the layers one day and then frost the next?
Hi Monisha! You can absolutely make the cake layers one day ahead. Instructions for storage are in the notes section of this recipe. I also made a blog post about making all the elements of a cake ahead just in case that would come in handy: https://sugarandsparrow.com/making-cakes-ahead/
I made this cake for my birthday (husband isn’t a huge fan of chocolate and I wanted to try something new). The only thing I changed was adding cream cheese to the icing. This cake is so good it is practically criminal. I actually made 1.5 times the recipe and used 3- 9in cake pans to make a 3 tiered cake and they came out perfect. Honestly, I’m planning to make this cake for Christmas and may make it on Thanksgiving but may add pumpkin to the cake batter. I bet if I made it but replaced the sugar with applesauce or apple butter (for stronger apple flavor) the cake would be otherworldly! Oh yeah, totally playing with this.
Hi Jeanie! I’m so so happy this cake was such a hit and that you’re planning on making it for other occasions! Your idea of adding pumpkin to the batter is actually GENIUS. A pumpkin chai cake would be sublime. I wonder if starting with this pumpkin cake recipe but adding the chai spice mix + the chai milk would be easier? Just a thought: https://sugarandsparrow.com/pumpkin-layer-cake-recipe/ now I want to make a pumpkin chai cake!
Hi, I’m kind of new to baking for 2 1/4 tsp baking powder is that 2 teaspoons and then 1/4 tsp and does that go the same way for the salt?
Hi Dhara! Yes, exactly. 2 1/4 tsp = 2 teaspoons + 1/4 teaspoon. Hope that helps and I’m cheering you on in your baking!
Hi! My family and I love a good strong cup of chai. I noticed this recipe only had 1 tea bag for the whole cake, so I wanted to check and see what size this tea bag is. If it is standard, have you ever tried making a stronger concentrate?
Hi Anna! It’s a standard sized tea bag BUT there’s a lot of chai spice in both the cake and the buttercream recipes, so the chai flavor ends up being quite strong throughout. Hope that helps!
Hi there! I’m based in the UK and can’t wait to try this recipe! I just wondered what size/weight your eggs are? The difference between medium and large eggs here make a big difference in how a cake turns out.
Thanks!:)
Hi Gee! I always use large eggs in my recipes but I do know that US eggs are smaller than UK eggs. From what I’ve read, a large US egg is the equivalent of a medium UK egg, so I’d use either 3 medium UK eggs or 3 large US eggs. Hope that helps!
Hi how can I make this into a 4in cake?
Hi Priankah! You can make 1/2 of the recipe to have a little more than enough for a 3 layer 4 inch cake. This will mean dividing every ingredient by 2. Here’s more info on how to scale cake recipes: https://sugarandsparrow.com/how-to-scale-cake-recipes/ once you’ve got the proper ingredient amounts, be sure to fill the pans no more than 2/3 full and bake at 350F/177C for 20-25 minutes. Hope that helps!
Thrilling! I halved your recipe and it turned out perfect! Talk about an amazing Tuesday night dessert! The fragrance of the cake filled our home, then being able to enjoy the cake after chilling it for a few hours, wow! Thank you so much for enriching lives by sharing your craft. It is treats like these that make life a celebration indeed.
Yay, Claire! I’m so happy the entire experience of making this recipe was enjoyable! Thanks so much for letting me know, it means so much to me 🙂
Hi, what can I substitute Speculoos Cookies for? I don’t think we have them in Canada
Hi there! You can sub those for Biscoff cookies or any caramel/cinnamon flavored cookie!
Made this cake yesterday. Im making the buttercream today and assembling it… What is the best way to store the cake overnight?
Hi Rebecca! You can either store it at room temp overnight or in the refrigerator. I like to store mine in the refrigerator to keep the decorating looking perfect, then take it out 1-2 hours prior to serving so it can come back to room temp. Enjoy!
Hello! I am so looking forward to baking this cake! I was wondering if I could substitute brown sugar for white sugar in this recipe? Would that alter the way the cake comes out? I’ve always preferred spice cakes with brown sugar as I find it to be more flavorful, but I don’t want to mess the cake up by changing ingredients. Thank you!
Hi Susannah! You could sub the white sugar for brown sugar or do half and half but it may alter the texture of the cake slightly. Hope that helps!
Soooo gooooood!!! I’ll definitely be remaking this one! Thank you for all your helpful videos and lovely recipes & tutorials!
Yay, Ellie! I’m so happy you loved this recipe!
Hello! I just came across your beautiful cake and would like to make it for my husband’s 40th birthday! I was wondering if I need to adjust the bake time if I use 9″pans instead of the 6″ pans. Thanks so much!
Hi Marisa! I’m so excited for you to make this cake! If you’re baking two 9-inch layers, the baking time will still be 30-35 minutes. Enjoy!
Thank you so much for your helpful reply. I made this cake and it was AMAZING!! I’ve been baking cakes for most of my life and this was one of the best I’ve ever made. It was so light and fluffy, with the perfect amount of spice. I did make a swiss meringue because of personal preference, but added your chai spice mix to it. My husband was totally thrilled with this cake! Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe! I will definitely be trying some of your others.
Yay, Marisa! I’m so happy you loved this recipe and it worked well with smbc! Thanks so much for following up and letting me know 🙂
I love your recipes! Just made the back cake with black cocoa powder!
I’m wondering if 290 grams is the right amount of flour here? I just made this cake ans while my kitchen smells heavenly the cake seems off- even soggy? The batter wasn’t thick like you mentioned. It was probably user error but just wanted to check because I feel crazy haha. Thanks!
Hi Jeanette! So happy you loved the black velvet cake recipe! And yes, 290g of sifted cake flour is the correct amount in this recipe. I wonder what happened!
I don’t like using American buttercream – do you think the flavors would well with Swiss meringue buttercream? Or does this cake need a really sweet icing? Thanks!
Hi Ruth! I don’t think this icing is too sweet like traditional American buttercreams since I always reduce the sugar content for my buttercream recipes, but if you’d rather use a swiss meringue you can. Just add the chai spice mix to your favorite vanilla smbc and you should be good!
Hi Whitney! Have you ever tried adding the chai spice to cream cheese icing for this cake? I always use your vanilla buttercream recipe, and it’s great, but I also love cream cheese icing!
Hi Lucia! I haven’t but that sounds like it would be AMAZING!
I used cream cheese icing with the spice mix instead of vanilla buttercream and it’s delicious! This cake is great!
Beautiful looking cake I want to make for my sisters birthday, just wanting to know if the flour is plain flour?
Thanks!
Hi Eleanor! The flour I use is cake flour that I buy from my local grocery store. It has a lower protein content than plain flour which produces a softer crumb. If you can’t find cake flour, you can make a homemade version using plain (all purpose) flour: https://sugarandsparrow.com/homemade-cake-flour
Made this cake for my boyfriend’s birthday yesterday. He absolutely loved it! This recipe makes a lot of frosting and it’s fairly sweet- he isn’t a frosting person so I found that just placing frosting in the middle and top and keeping the sides naked was just the perfect amount! (That’s if you don’t like sweet things or are not a frosting person either) Directions easy to follow and most definitely be making it again.
Yay, Asalia! I’m so happy this recipe was a hit!
I’ve made this cake twice already and get rave reviews! Thank you for a delicious recipe! My niece requests this cake for her birthday.
Yay, Rita! That makes me so so happy! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Hi, how do you store this cake for an outdoor wedding? I will prepare day prior to my son’s wedding – can I keep overnight sealed on counter or do I have to refrigerate?
How special that you get to make your son’s wedding cake! I always refrigerate my cakes until they’re ready to display (a few hours before serving). You don’t technically have to refrigerate the cake but I find that refrigerating keeps all the decorating details looking perfect.
Hi Whitney,
love the look of this recipe but just have two questions:
1. what is the purpose of adding sour cream to the cake? Am i okay to leave it out?
2. If i wanted to make 2 tiers how I do divide the ingredients? (divide by 3 and then x2?)
Hi there! Thanks so much! To answer your questions: 1) the sour cream makes this cake extra moist. I wouldn’t recommend leaving it out. If you need a good substitute for it, you can use an equal amount of plain yogurt. 2) That’s exactly how you’d make just two tiers. Good math skills! Let me know if you have any more questions and I hope you enjoy this recipe!
It was delicious!!!!!! My grand daughter turned 13 and chose this cake for me to make. We made it together and we’ll be making it again.
Yay, DeeDee! I’m so happy to hear that this cake is a hit and you’ll be making it again! Thanks for taking the time to let me know 🙂
Hello, I was just wondering how long you can keep the finished cake in the fridge before it goes bad? Thank you in advance
Hi Victoria! The finished cake (uncut) can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days or so. Enjoy!
Hi Whitney,
I just love making your cakes! I think this is the 4th recipe of yours I try. And I have to say this one is my favorite!! I’m obsessed with Chai anything. And this cake fully delivers.
I do use either Italian or Swiss meringue buttercream instead just because of preference, but I always keep the same flavor profile as your buttercream.
That’s amazing, Alexandra! I’m so happy you love this recipe as much as I do!
Hi! Is there any substitute for egg in this recipe?
Hi Pankhuri! I haven’t tried substituting the eggs in this recipe, so I’m not sure what would be the best sub. Let me know if you try substituting the eggs though, I’d love to know if you made it work!
My cakes ran over the pans. Has anyone else had this problem!
Hello. What brand did you use for the chai tea bags? I plan on making it for my daughters 10th birthday, she loves all things chai. And am excited to try this recipe, it looks delicious! Thank you so much.
Hi Nausicaa! I used Trader Joe’s brand chai, but you could use any brand! Enjoy – this sounds like the perfect cake for your daughter’s birthday!
I don’t have sour cream available where I live (Uganda) would plain yogurt be a good substitute?
Hi Marissa! Yes – plain yogurt would be the best sub. Enjoy!
Hi Whitney!!
I’m in the process of making this cake for my friends birthday!! i’m super excited for the results.
As i was mixing the last of the wet ingredients (sour cream and vanilla) i noticed once i finished mixing, it almost looked.. curdled?? Do you know what could have caused this? I am almost certain everything i used for that, like the butter and sour cream, were room temperature, so i’m not sure what’s up!! i’ll continue with it and see how it goes!!
Thanks so much!!
Hi Jordan! It is totally normal for the mixture to look curdled at that point in the recipe. When you add the flour mixture and liquid at the end, it should come together as a uniform batter and no longer look curdled. Hope it ended up well!
Hey! I was just wondering about the overall sweetness of this cake? It just looks like quite a large volume of sugar to butter/flour compared to most recipes I’ve worked with! The spice blend sounds great!
Hi Cat! In my opinion, this cake isn’t too sweet and I’ve never ever had complaints about it being too sweet from reviewers. It’s one of my very favorite recipes and I hope you get the chance to try it!
Wow! Made this for our anniversary and it was incredible! Amazing flavor.
I’m so happy to hear that this recipe was a hit! Congratulations on your anniversary!
Hi Whitney, this cake is gorgeous and so delicious. I made it for my husband’s birthday (he loved it). I used Monkfruit sweetener and oikos greek yogurt in place of the sugar and sour cream. It came our more dense than light and fluffy, but the flavour is still fantastic! I could not find your cookies and ended up trying Biscoff biscuits by Lotus. They are so good.
Do you happen to have a calorie breakdown for this cake?
Thank you for a beautiful cake that s definitely going to be added to the recipe bin.
Hi Sarah! So happy this cake turned out well with those substitutions and it was a hit for your husband’s birthday! I don’t have a calorie breakdown but it looks like you can copy/paste recipes into this website to calculate calories: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Hi! Would you describe this came as light and fluffy? It is it more of a dense cake?
Hi Erin! I’d call it light and fluffy, yet moist. That’s the goal with most of my cakes and the reason why I use cake flour vs. all-purpose and add extra moisture with sour cream 🙂
i really like the decorations because its simple but really decadent i just love it.
Thank you so much, Iggy!
Thank you for your recipe.
I tried and the flavour was really good (probably very sweet for my taste).
However, the cake was very dense in the centre; what do you think could be the problem?
Thanks,
Hi Cecilia! Sorry your cake ended up dense in the middle. It could be a few things, and since I didn’t observe your method or ingredient temps (etc) I can’t say for sure what but the most common culprits are overmixing the batter and using ingredients that are not room temp (too cold or too warm). If the cake sunk in the middle at all, here is a list of the most common reasons: https://sugarandsparrow.com/why-cakes-sink/ hope that helps!
I was looking for a recipe to make for a birthday cake and this sounds delicious. However, I prefer cream cheese frosting to buttercream as they can be too sweet sometimes. Would I still be able to mix in the Chai Spice Mix to your cream cheese buttercream frosting recipe? Or does the Chai Spice Mix cut down the sweetness of regular buttercream? Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Sarah! The chai spice does cut the sweetness of the buttercream, as does the salt added. You can certainly add it to cream cheese buttercream though, that sounds delicious!
Hi! How long would I bake the cakes in 8inch pans? Love the recipe !!
Hi Elle! It takes about 30-35 min for 8 inch pans, and this recipe yields enough for two 8-inch layers.
Hi Whitney, recipe looks great! My 6inch pans are slightly deeper so the batter fits well into 2 of my 6inch pans. Would I need to adjust cooking time? I’ve had it in for 39 minutes so far and its still not 100% cooked in centre so needs a little while longer (I have used an oven thermometer so know my oven is right temp).
Hi Anushka! I’ve never tried baking this cake in pans that deep, so I’m not sure what the full baking time will be. I would just keep checking it every so often to see how long it needs and consider how long it usually takes to bake cakes in your deeper pans. Let me know how it goes!
Amazing. Thank you so much. How much lattee powder would you put in? Making it in 2 days time!
Hi Emma! I would just add enough to make the amount you would normally add to make a latte (follow the box directions) and scale it for the amount of liquid in this recipe (1 1/4 cups). Hope that helps and excited for you to make this cake!
Can I make this recipe gluten free by replacing the cake flour with a gluten free all purpose? Have you ever made this gluten free before?
Hi Sophia! I have never tried making this recipe gluten free, but you are certainly welcome to test it with this recipe! If you do decide to try making it gluten free, it would be a 1:1 substitution for the cake flour. Let me know how it goes if you try it!
Hey! I have chai latte powder? Would this work instead of tea bag??
Hi Emma! You can totally whip up an equal amount of chai tea using the latte powder with whole milk. That should work just fine 🙂
Hi! This recipe looks great and wanting to try it. Can I substitute almond flour for the cake flour? And coconut sugar for the white sugar?
Or will that mess up the flavor profile?
Hi Maddy! I’m excited for you to try this recipe! Since I’ve never tried it with almond flour or coconut sugar before, I cannot say for sure how it will turn out. I can only recommend the recipe as-is, but if you want to experiment with substitutes feel free!
The cake is in the oven now, and smells divine. The frosting is wonderful, already made it. Thanks for the great recipe.
Yay, Jenn! Enjoy!
Have you tried making cookies from this recipe? If so what temp and how many would it make?
Hi Ashley! I have never heard of making cookies from a cake recipe before, but after looking around online it seems to be a thing! Since I’ve never tried it before I’m not sure how it works or what oven temp it requires, but feel free to experiment with this recipe and let me know how it goes.
Hi,
Can the cake be baked in one 6 inch pan instead of three seperate ones?
Hi Sara! Yes, you can certainly bake just one layer. Since this recipe yields three 6-inch layers, you can divide each ingredient by 3 to make just enough batter for one layer (aka only make 1/3 of the recipe). Hope that helps!
This recipe is so good, I tried it from a friend and it’s like a Chai heaven!
Yay, Alaa! So happy the recipe was a hit!
Hi. I cannot WAIT to try this!!! I was hoping to try it today, but I have a huge question. The instructions say to add in egg one at a time and mix thoroughly in between each, and the. To mix for a full minute after that. I just want to make sure that is correct? I’m use to instructions always saying be careful Not to overmix the egg. Your the expert though. I want to make this Today and I’m so anxious, lol. Thank you for the recipe
Hi Amanda! I can see how that phrasing might lead to over-mixing. I usually just add an egg and mix until the yolk breaks up and begins incorporating before adding the next one. I’ll make that more clear in the instructions! Hope you love this recipe!
Oh wow thank you for your quick response! I’m actually making this recipe RIGHT NOW. I can’t WAIT to eat it
I will be using this recipe for a cake. I would like to know if I can use buttermilk instead? I am not sure if it’ll boil properly? Thank you.
Hi Martha! I’ve never tried this with buttermilk, but you are welcome to try it!
Curious if you tried this and how it turned out. I cam for the same question.
I am unable to use sour cream, could you use the full-fat coconut cream (just the solids)?
Hi Amanda! I’m not sure about using the coconut cream solids in place of sour cream since I’ve never tried it, but you are welcome to give it a go! I do know that full fat greek yogurt makes a great sour cream substitute, or you could omit the sour cream completely and use full fat coconut milk in place of the whole milk in this recipe. Both options will make this cake extra moist.
Hi! I was wondering if I could use this recipe to make cupcakes? And if so roughly how many it would make? Thank you!
Hi Aisha! You totally can. Just be sure to fill the tins no more than 2/3 of the way full and bake at 250 for 15-18 minutes. This recipe will make quite a few cupcakes, around 36-40!
I can’t wait to try this cake recipe out! I’ll be making it for my sister’s birthday this week!
Just wondering if you could clarify “whole milk”… is that Full Fat Milk (whipping cream) or is that Homogenized Cream (3.25%)?
Hi Brandi! Whole Milk refers to Vitamin D milk, basically the kind of milk you would drink by the glass that has the most fat. Here is an article that explains what it is so you can find the equivalent for this recipe: https://milklife.com/articles/nutrition/types-of-dairy-milk
Hi, how would you adjust the recipe for a sheet cake? All of our baking equipment is in storage for a couple weeks and it’s my wife’s birthday this weekend. Working with what I’ve got!
Excited for you to make this for your wife’s birthday, Chris! To make this recipe as a sheet cake, be sure to fill the pan no more than 1/2 full and bake at 350 for an additional 5 minutes than this recipe calls for (or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean). Here’s more info on how to convert my layer cake recipes into sheet cakes: https://sugarandsparrow.com/sheet-cake-recipes/
I made this over the weekend for my birthday (and because I couldn’t wait for the fall). I am so happy with how it turned out. Everyone loved it! It’s definitely going to become a staple within my friend/family groups! 🙂
Yay, Mel! I am so happy to hear that the recipe was a hit and hope you had the happiest birthday weekend!
Hello, do you think I could use Chai Concentrate? I picked it up without looking, it has 23 g added sugar per 3/4 cup concentrate. Thank you
Hi Nilevi! I actually made a chai cake recipe with chai concentrate here: https://sugarandsparrow.com/coconut-chai-cake-recipe/ you can use that recipe with yours!
I have a friend who’s diabetic., Is there something else than splenda that i can substitute the sugar? Because i noticed the last time i used splenda in cup cake it make the cake dense.
Hi Josianne! I wish I knew of some great sugar alternatives, but I have never baked anything sugar-free/reduced sugar before. I would do a little research on sugar substitutes to see what people are recommending. If you do end up making this recipe with a sugar substitute let me know how it goes – now I’m curious!
Unsweetened Applesauce is the best alternative in baking cakes as a sugar alternative in my experience. When you use Applesauce over sugar, you need to reduce the liquid in the recipe. What I do is omit half the eggs (or 1 egg) then reduce the other liquids to account for the Applesauce. If you don’t reduce the fluids, it can make the batter too runny. If that happens, add flour 2 tablespoons at a time to thicken it up. My dad’s side is the family were all diabetics, and splenda wasn’t around when I got into baking, so I learned that most fruit purees can be used instead of sugar. I’ve had best experiences with Applesauce. (In case anyone else needs to know, lol)
Hi! can I use an instant chai instead of the tea bag for the milk? also, can I omit allspice? thanks!
Hi Ana! You can totally use instant chai instead of the tea bag and also omit the allspice. Different chai flavors include different spice profiles, so feel free to do what you love best for the spices!
What are some good egg alternatives for this particular recipe? Would love to try it!
Hi Bhagjit! I’ve never tried substituting the eggs in this recipe, so I’m not sure how replacements will affect the chemistry of this cake. Feel free to do some research to see how you can convert a cake recipe with eggs to an eggless recipe and let me know if you try it with any substitutes!
Unsweetened apple sauce would work as the egg replacement in this recipe, but you’d want to also cut back on the sugar. Look up proper replacement measurements. You could probably also use banana, but they would potentially impart a slight flavor, though it’s imagine it would be delicious.
How could I alter the recipe to make this into cupcakes instead of a cake? Thank you!
Hi Megan! This recipe makes perfect cupcakes as-is. Just be sure to fill the tins no more than 2/3 full and bake at 350 for 17-19 min and you’ll be set!
Her recipes are very easy to use for cupcakes!! If you want just 12-15 cupcakes, just halve the recipe (divide each ingredient by 2). And follow her instructions to fill each cup only 2/3 full and bake on 350°F for 17-19 mins. Best recipes ever! And I even take it a step further and make mine gluten free. Rave reviews!
Best cake, so moist and so good
Yay, Helena! So happy you love this recipe as much as I do!
What size cake is this? And how many servings do you get?
Hi Avery! This is a triple layer 6 inch cake, it serves about 15 people.
If I wanna make just one layer do I just divide all of the measurements by 3?
Yes, that’s exactly right!
Hi, what alternative flour could I use for this recipe? I’m in the uk and can’t find cake flour, would self-raising work?
Hi Darcey! Self-raising flour will mess with the chemistry of the cake since it already has rising agents in it. Instead, the best recommendation is to make your own cake flour using All Purpose Flour https://sugarandsparrow.com/homemade-cake-flour-recipe/ but you can also just sub straight All Purpose Flour. The cake might end up a little more dense that way but a better alternative than any other flours.
Can I use a pre made chai seasoning by Watkins?
You can totally use a pre-made chai seasoning with this recipe. Hope you love it!
Made this cake for a work colleague for her birthday and it was given rave reviews. Very, very good! Will be adding to my “birthday cake” rotation!
Yay, Suzanne! So happy to hear this cake was a hit!
Would I need to alter the recipe for a 8in, three layer cake?
Hi Mary! I would make 1.5x this recipe to accommodate three 8-inch layers.
Hey, I love all your healthy recipes. Your all recipes look awesome.
It’s Healthy and tasty. Vanilla Chai Cake recipe is looking mouth-watering.
I love vanilla cakes. I am going to try this recipe for sure.
I will let you know the feedback.
Thanks for sharing!!!
Yay, Farzana! So excited for you to try some of my cake recipes!