
Chai cupcakes
- Published: 28 Jan 25
- Updated: 11 Feb 25
Starting with a chai-infused milk, these cupcakes have a beautifully tender crumb and are richly spiced with cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and black tea.

Love a bite-sized bake? Check out more delicious cupcake recipes.
Before you start
Make ahead These will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days, and the flavour will develop over time so they’re actually best to eat the day after you’ve made them.
Ingredients
- 180g self-raising flour
- 180g golden caster sugar
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 180ml sunflower oil
- 2 medium free-range eggs
For the chai milk
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 cloves
- 4 cardamom pods
- 4 peppercorns
- 2 tea bags or 2 tbsp loose-leaf black tea
- 250ml whole milk
For the chai custard buttercream
- 150g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 230g icing sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
Method
- Lightly crush the spices in a pestle and mortar. Put all the ingredients for the chai milk in a saucepan and put over a medium-low heat. Cook gently for 5 mins, stirring regularly, until the milk is a rich beige colour and smells spiced. Remove from the heat, cover with a lid and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Strain through a sieve into a jug to remove the spices.
- Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4 and line a 12-hole cupcake with paper cases. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. In a jug, whisk the oil and eggs until combined, then mix into the dry ingredients, followed by 200ml milk.
- Divide the batter among the cupcake cases and bake for 22-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with only a few damp crumbs. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
- Once the cakes have cooled, put the soft butter in a bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until light and fluffy. Sift over the icing sugar and beat to combine well. Add any remaining infused milk 1 tsp at a time, until the buttercream is a soft dropping consistency then stir in the spices. Spread or pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes.
- Recipe from February 2025 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 443kcals
- Fat
- 27g (9.1g saturated)
- Protein
- 3.4g
- Carbohydrates
- 46g (35g sugars)
- Fibre
- 0.6g
- Salt
- 0.3g
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