This brown sugar chai cake consists of two moist cake layers filled with warm & cozy spices that are wrapped up in a sweet, yet tangy cream cheese frosting. It's a simple festive cake that's sure to impress and feed a crowd!
Looking for a unique, decadent dessert to wow the guests at your Thanksgiving dinner this year? Look no further! This brown sugar chai cake is soft, rich, sweet, and pretty irresistible, made with super moist cake layers filled with brown sugar and chai spices, and topped with a smooth, flavorful cream cheese frosting. It's the perfect blend of sweet and spiced, and it's going to be a huge hit at your holiday feast!
For more cozy fall cake recipes, try Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, Fudgy Chocolate Espresso Bundt Cake, Mini Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting, and Apple Cider Donut Bundt Cake.
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Why you'll love this brown sugar chai cake
- Soft & Moist Texture: These cake layers bake up so soft & moist, making it hard to not eat more than one piece!
- Warm Chai Spices: This cake is made with a mixture of the best autumn spices (cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, nutmeg, ground cloves, and ginger) to create the ultimate cozy dessert!
- Sweet Cream Cheese Frosting: Everything is better with cream cheese frosting, and my recipe results in an extra sturdy frosting, so your cake tastes amazing and looks beautiful!
Ingredient Notes
- Brown Sugar: Since this is a brown sugar cake, this is the only sugar you need! I used dark brown sugar for a deeper molasses flavor, but you could also use light brown sugar.
- Neutral Oil: I recommend using a neutral oil, such as light tasting extra virgin olive oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil.
- Cream Cheese: Use cold block cream cheese for the frosting.
- Whole Milk: Use a high quality whole milk for best flavor.
- Chai Spices: Use a store-bought blend of chai spices, or make your own using ground cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, and cloves.
- Unsalted Butter: Use high quality European-style butter for best overall flavor.
- Flour: Use high quality unbleached all-purpose flour best results.
- Eggs: Bring your eggs to room temperature quickly by placing them in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes.
- Vanilla: Add a high quality vanilla extract for optimal flavor.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this brown sugar chai cake recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.
STEP 1: Mix dry ingredients and butter. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and chai spice mix. Cut up the butter into small cubes and add to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until it resembles wet sand.
STEP 2: Add wet ingredients. Add the oil, milk, large eggs, and vanilla, and mix on low to medium speed or whisk until just combined.
STEP 3: Pour and prep. Divide the cake batter between the prepared pans, being sure to scrape all the batter from the bottom of the bowl. Wrap the cake strips around the outside of the pans.
STEP 4: Bake and freeze. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Immediately turn the cake layers out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, wrap the cakes in plastic wrap and freeze until ready to decorate. (Frozen cake layers will be much easier to frost!)
STEP 5: Make the frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese on high speed until smooth. Slowly add the sifted powdered sugar and mix on low speed until fully combined. Once all of the powdered sugar is added, continue beating on low speed until no more lumps or pockets of air remain and the frosting is smooth.
STEP 6: Decorate. Secure the first cake layer on the cake stand with a small amount of frosting on the bottom. Using an offset spatula, spread on an even layer of frosting, then place the second cake layer on top and just barely frost the sides of the cake. Finish decorating the cake as desired (I used star anise and cinnamon sticks). Sprinkle a small amount of cinnamon on top, and serve!
Expert Baking Tips
- Use cake strips to create flat cake layers. Soak these wilton cake strips in ice water before starting the cake batter. Just before baking, wrap the cake strips around the pan. The cold temperature on the outside of the cake will prevent the edges from baking faster than the center, resulting in an evenly baked flat cake.
- Freeze the cake layers before decorating. Since this is such a moist cake, I highly recommend freezing the cake layers for at least two hours before decorating. This also helps the frosting firm up as it comes in contact with the cold cake layers.
- Use cold cream cheese & room temperature butter. In order to create a sturdy, pipeable cream cheese frosting, pay close attention to the temperature of the ingredients. Cold cream cheese will ensure it's thick enough, while room temperature butter will ensure all of the ingredients cream together properly.
- Sift the powdered sugar. I know it can be a pain, but trust me, sifting your powdered sugar before adding it to the frosting is so worth it! If you don't sift it, you'll need to mix the frosting on low speed for a long time to smooth it out. This also runs the risk of agitating the milk solids, creating a grainy frosting.
Recipe FAQs
The key is to use COLD block-style cream cheese. The cold temperature and consistency of this type of cream cheese will ensure your frosting turns out thick & sturdy. I also recommend using full-fat cream cheese for best flavor.
Cakes may dome in the middle when they bake because the outside bakes faster than the center, so the center has more time to rise. This is not ideal for layer cakes, because it is a pain to have to trim away the top of the cake. The best way to ensure your cake layers bake up flat rather than doming is to use cake strips. Soak the cake strips in cold water before wrapping around the outside of the cake pans. This will ensure that the outside of the cake does not bake faster than the center.
This cake lasts about 3 days in airtight container stored at room temperature or in the fridge. Cake slices can also be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Baking in Grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
Other Thanksgiving recipes to try
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📖 Recipe
Brown Sugar Chai Cake
Ingredients
For the brown sugar chai cake:
- 390 g (3 ¼ cups) all-purpose flour
- 320 g (1 ½ cups) dark brown sugar
- 15 g (1 tbsp + ¾ tsp) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 140 g (10 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temp
- 100 g (½ cup) neutral oil
- 283 g (1 ¼ cups) whole milk, room temp
- 2 eggs, room temp
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 227 g (16 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temp
- 12 oz (1 ½ blocks) cream cheese, cold
- 340 g (3 cups) powdered sugar, sifted
Instructions
For the brown sugar chai cake:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and line two 9 inch cake pans with parchment paper.
- Soak cake strips in ice water.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices.
- Cut up the butter into small cubes and add to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until it resembles wet sand.
- Add the oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla, and mix until just combined.
- Divide the cake batter between the prepared pans. Wrap the cake strips around the outside of the pans.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Immediately turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cool, wrap the cakes in plastic wrap and freeze until ready to decorate. (Frozen cake layers will be much easier to frost!)
For the cream cheese frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese on high speed until smooth. Slowly add the sifted powdered sugar and mix on low speed until fully combined. Once all of the powdered sugar is added, continue beating on low speed until no more lumps or pockets of air remain and the frosting is smooth.
For assembly:
- Secure the first cake layer on the cake stand with a small amount of frosting on the bottom. Using an offset spatula, spread on an even layer of frosting, then place the second cake layer on top.
- Finish decorating the cake as desired. Sprinkle a small amount of cinnamon on top, and serve!
Notes
- Use cake strips to create flat cake layers. Soak these wilton cake strips in ice water before starting the cake batter. Just before baking, wrap the cake strips around the pan. The cold temperature on the outside of the cake will prevent the edges from baking faster than the center, resulting in an evenly baked flat cake.
- Freeze the cake layers before decorating. Since this is such a moist cake, I highly recommend freezing the cake layers for at least two hours before decorating. This also helps the frosting firm up as it comes in contact with the cold cake layers.
- Use cold cream cheese & room temperature butter. In order to create a sturdy, pipeable cream cheese frosting, pay close attention to the temperature of the ingredients. Cold cream cheese will ensure it's thick enough, while room temperature butter will ensure all of the ingredients cream together properly.
- Sift the powdered sugar. I know it can be a pain, but trust me, sifting your powdered sugar before adding it to the frosting is so worth it! If you don't sift it, you'll need to mix the frosting on low speed for a long time to smooth it out. This also runs the risk of agitating the milk solids, creating a grainy frosting.
Holly says
Could I use this recipe and make muffins instead? Obviously I would need to adjust the time.
Sloane says
You can absolutely use this recipe to make cupcakes, but if you're looking for a muffin recipe I would use my blueberry muffin batter (without the blueberries) and add some chai spices.