Harvest season is in full swing. Farmer’s market counters overflow with pumpkins and squash, orchards are bursting with apples and pears, and all I want to drink is warmly spiced cider, mulled wine, and chai. (And, yes, the occasional pumpkin spice latte…I’m not immune to its charms.)
Two years ago I created my Chai Spice Snickerdoodles, and with it my own chai spice mix. From there, I added that same spice mix to apple pie, and have used the leftover mix in my coffee as well. Spoiler alert: it’s delicious. Then the following spring, a friend asked for chai-flavored pound cake for her birthday, so I added that chai spice mix to my favorite pound cake recipe. The result was these Chai Spice Pound Cake Cupcakes.
Pound Cake as Cupcakes? Yes Please.
Prior to making these, I had never had pound cake in cupcake form. I’m not sure why I hadn’t thought of making it as cupcakes before…it works brilliantly!
Pound cake definitely has a different texture than a typical cupcake. It’s not as light and fluffy as you’d expect a cupcake to be — it’s denser, more toothsome, inside, and somewhat chewy outside. That’s not to say that it’s heavy — when properly mixed, it gets a lot of lift from the eggs. It’s just not as pillowy as cupcakes typically are. But that’s by design: pound cake is SUPPOSED to be dense. It’s part of its charm. 😉
Start With a Cold Oven and Bake Your Pound Cake Low and Slow
Because we want a dense pound cake that’s baked well throughout without an overly browned outer crust, these cupcakes are baked at a low temperature for a longer period of time. And we start with a cold oven.
That’s right: a COLD OVEN. It’s counterintuitive to a baker to not preheat the oven, but in this case starting the bake with a cold oven results in that perfectly dense interior we want without a tough, overbaked outer crust.
There are certainly dozens (maybe hundreds) of pound cake recipes out there that call for a typical preheated 350-degree oven. But I’ve used this cold oven method since discovering the 1961 New York Times Cookbook pound cake recipe this one is based on, and I’ll never go back. It works perfectly every time.
Brown Butter Bourbon Buttercream
And now for the frosting. While you wouldn’t normally pair pound cake with a buttercream (typically you’d leave it plain or top it with a light glaze), somehow in this mini form it works. Honestly, it more than works — it slays.
This is, at its base, a simple buttercream recipe that’s enhanced with brown butter, chai spices, and bourbon. The brown butter gives the frosting the perfect flavor base for the chai spice mix, and the bourbon ties everything together. The result is a warmly spiced, slightly boozy frosting that is reminiscent of mulled cider.
Ready to get baking? Start by mixing up your chai spice mix (see the recipe notes) while your other ingredients come to room temperature. Then go to town.
Give these Chai Spice Pound Cake Cupcakes a try — you just might find a new favorite fall treat!
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Chai Spice Pound Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
Chai Spice Pound Cake Cupcakes
- 1 c butter, softened
- 1 1/2 tsp Chai Spice Mix*
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 2/3 c sugar
- 5 eggs
- 1 3/4 c flour
Brown Butter Buttercream
- 3/4 c butter, softened
- 4 1/2 c powdered sugar
- 1 T vanilla extract
- 3/4 tsp Chai Spice Mix*
- 2 T bourbon
- 3-4 T milk
Instructions
Chai Spice Pound Cake Cupcakes
- Measure out all ingredients and allow to come to room temperature.
- Line your muffin tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Add butter to the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a large bowl and a hand mixer). Add Chai Spice Mix and salt, and beat for 4 minutes at medium speed, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice.
- Continuing to beat on low speed, gradually add the sugar and blend until fluffy, beating for another 2 minutes. Scrape bowl.
- Continue beating and add 4 of the eggs one at a time, beating for a total of about 1 minute. Scrape bowl.
- Add all of the flour and beat 2 more minutes. Scrape bowl.
- Add the 5th egg, beating just until incorporated, about 15 seconds.
- Measure the batter out evenly into your prepared muffin tins.
- Place in a COLD oven, then set the temperature to 275°F. Bake for about 50-60 min or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Brown Butter Buttercream
- Brown the butter (see my post on Brown Butter for details), then pour into a bowl and allow to cool until it's a paste texture (or, a soft butter texture) – about an hour or so. Note: To speed up the cooling process, you can pop the butter into the fridge.
- Once your butter is browned and cooled to a soft butter texture, put it in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl using a hand mixer), along with 1 c of the powdered sugar, the vanilla and the chai spice mix (if using). Beat until well combined, light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add remaining sugar 1 c at a time, alternating with the bourbon and milk, beating until light and fluffy.
- Spoon frosting into a pastry bag fitted with your desired tip, and pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Dust top of cupcakes with additional Chai Spice Mix if desired, and serve.
- Store leftover cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and bring to room temperature before serving.
Notes
- 3 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1/4-1/2 tsp black pepper