I have just stumbled upon this song (Dream Cave by Cloud Control) which made my smirk a little, reminding me of a chat I recently had with a friend. I unexpectedly had three matcha drinks in a day (yay for the blessed London) and I said, I swear sometimes my life consist in fifty percent of matcha, and in fifty percent of chai tea. In my dream cave that would be a constant state of affairs, I realized upon listening to the song for about thirtieth time, and stirring some honey into my tea.
Many people I know labeled my as the most random person they know, and who am I not to agree? My thoughts fly down strange paths (maybe my neuronal connection map would be quite extraordinary) and I officially made a thing out of sharing a random fact of a day with whoever is in proximity. Every day, very random. All of that has to be somehow anchored, though: otherwise I'd be in a great mess. I think repetition is my anchor: I listen to the same songs thousands of times over years, love visiting places I've been to, I re-read my favourite books until I can quote the characters, and I love having the same foods over and over. Sushi rice. Avocados. Liquorice tea. Homemade pasta. Udon. Prosciutto. Peaches. Matcha. Chai tea. It all comes to an infinite loop of goodness, and I am content.
Hence a comfort chai tea cake. The spelt flour & brown sugar give it richness and nuttiness, then it gets topped with abundance of milky chocolate, sour pomegranate, and crunchy cookies, looking like a heavenly indulgence it is... I shall repeat it on an occasion more special than wait I haven't made a tier cake in two years, but it was a very great occasion nevertheless.
spelt chai tea cake with chai tea buttercream
spelt chai tea cake
(makes one 18cm and one 10cm)
175g butter, room temperature
100g light brown sugar
75g caster sugar
100g spelt flour
75g wheat flour
1 heaping tbsp baking powder
3 eggs
75ml strong brewed chai (I used 2 bags for 75ml water)
1 vanilla pod
cream the butter with sugars
add eggs, one at time, until the batter is smooth
add the flouri, baking powder, scraped vanilla seeds, and chai tea, mix in until incorporated
line the pans with baking paper
bake in 180C for 30min (smaller cake) and 45min (bigger cake)
chai tea american buttercream
200g softened butter
200g icing sugar
50ml strong chai (one teabag)
beat the butter until cream and pale, add sugar and chai, mix until smooth
leave in room temperature
assembly
cakes
buttercream
milk chocolate
milk crumbles / crumbles cocoa shortbread
amaretti
pomegranate
cut the cakes in two layers
spread a few tablespoons of buttercream between cake layers, put together
place the small cake on top of the big one, “sticking” is using buttercream as “glue”
spread the buttercream around the cake in a thin layer – it shouldn’t be thick and perfect (too much icing makes the cake far too sweet), rather rustic and simple
melt the chocolate in double bath, when cooled down to warm drizzle over the cake
sprinkle with crumbled cookies and pomegranate, use the remaining chocolate to stick the decoration to the cake
chill in fridge for at least 3 hours before serving
Baking has always been my favorite activity. I dont like cooking but baking is really interesting. I have baked many cakes and i love eating them too. This is next in pipieline!
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