Chai Tranquility Cupcake

I love Chai Lattes or just chai tea with lemon so I wanted to definitely add this to my menu. I used a simple buttermilk cupcake recipe and added some additional elements to it to transform it into my chai tranquility cupcake.  I added chai spices of course - I made a mix of cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, clover, and cinnamon and added it to the batter. I also substituted half the sugar with brown sugar and increased the buttermilk by a couple of tablespoons.  The batter was light and fluffy and made me want to curl up a the fire place and lick the entire bowl. I poured the batter into the cups and drizzled some honey over the tops of them.  They baked up wonderfully and the honey left a pretty sheen on the surface of them.

While the cakes were cooling, I prepared the filing and the frosting.  I tried a whipped cream with honey filling.  I beat the whip cream to stiff peaks and then folded some drizzles of honey.  I piped this into the cooled cupcakes.  I used an American buttercream using unsalted butter and powdered sugar. I also added the same chai spices as I did for the cake.

Overall I was very happy with this recipe. The cake was a very tender crumb but I do want to add more fat to the batter to increase the moisture so I have to think about what to add.  Also, I'm going to change the filling from whipped cream to a honey mousse because the whipped cream kind of liquefied when I added the honey and I wasn't pleased with the look, however it received rave reviews at work the next day.  Also, I want to increase the spices in the cake a bit because I felt the flavors where a little too light. Overall a great cupcake with a little room for improvement.

 Follow up 3/27/11- I remade this recipe and increased the ratio of brown sugar to white sugar, subbed half the butter with vegetable oil, and increased the chai spices a bit. I also created a honey mousse filling instead of the honey cream before. The end result was pure perfection for me and I am happy to call this a success!