spelt chai tea cake with chai tea buttercream

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