spice it up - chai tea cake

When I met my husband in 1999 he was the one who first introduced me to chai tea. On one of our very first dates we discovered this sweet little modern australian cafe in Glebe called 'The Edible Trader', which unfortunately is no longer there, but they had the most wonderful food and they made excellent chai tea, the traditional way.
So, soon after trying it and of course making our own at home, I had to make it into a cake! My first attempt for our very first house warming party (little did we know we would move 7 times in 11 years) was kind of a disaster. Something was not quite right, the cake came out as flat as a pancake. So for the night I called it my chai tea slice. Back to the drawing board I finally came up with this recipe and it has never let me down since. As you can see from the photo I made them into muffins but you can do either really, it's up to you. If you collect old copies of foodie magazines like I do, you may find this recipe in a 2003 issue of Australian Table, in the reader's recipe section!

ingredients

7grams of ginger, skin off
10 cardamom pods
10 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 cup soy milk
1 tea bag of your choice (I use a plain black tea)
2 teaspoons honey
60g Nuttelex
200g brown sugar
2 eggs
170g Self raising flour
100g hazelnuts, roasted, skins off and chopped (keeping some hazelnuts whole for topping each muffin or a few for the top of the cake)

when roasting your own nuts, put the oven on a lowish heat, place them on a tray lined with baking paper and leave them in for 5 mins or so. You can test one by taking it out of the oven carefully, using your fingers to rub off the skin. If it comes off easily they are done.

how to make your cake

pre heat your oven to 180C. Get your cake tin or muffin tray ready with baking paper, cases and/or oil spray.

Place ginger, cardamom, cloves and the cinnamon stick in a saucepan with 3/4 cup of water on high heat, bring to the boil and boil for 2 - 4 mins. Reduce heat to medium, add soy milk and the tea bag and simmer for 2 minutes. remove from heat, add honey and stir well to combine. Strain the liquid into a jug or bowl and set aside to cool. You will only use 3/4 cup of this chai liquid. Also at this point you could just enjoy it as a chai tea!

Place nuttelex and sugar into a bowl and beat with an electric mixer for 3 mins untl pale and thick (it will happen!) Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Fold through flour and hazelnuts, alternating with the chai liquid until well combined. Pour into prepared tin. Cook the cake for 55 minutes or until browned and a skewer comes out clean. Cook the muffins for about 20 - 30 minutes, checking them as you go. When you take out your muffins/cake pop your whole hazelnuts on top while the cake(s) are hot, this should keep them in place! Serve with a little thickened cream if you like but this cake is really yum on it's own.

For a double dose, enjoy with a cup of chai tea!