Pumpkin Chai Holiday Cupcakes
Take pumpkin and spice to a whole new level with this pumpkin chai cupcake recipe! They’re a perfect addition to your holiday dessert menu!
Good morning my friends! How was your weekend? Did you enjoy the holiday?
We sure did. In fact, it’s been a little hard getting back into the swing. After 9 (!) days off, my kids went back to school yesterday but I was having trouble getting back into my normal routine. This post should have gone up yesterday afternoon, but hopefully you’ll forgive me when you see how cute these cupcakes are 😉
These are just a little different than your average pumpkin cupcake, because they have extra oomph from real brewed chai tea. So good! Have you ever had it? It’s made from all the most delicious spices: cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, cloves, ginger, and black pepper. Pumpkin just loves it.
Those are my little fondant pumpkins and I had so much fun making them I just had to snap a pic of their cuteness. I buy my fondant at the craft store (it’s by Wilton) and I just worked some orange gel paste food coloring into it, rolled it into balls, pressed the back of a knife into it for the grooves, and stuck in a whole clove for the stem.
It made a cute garnish for the cupcakes, whose full recipe & step-by-step tutorial you can find over on the KitchenAid blog! Click here for the recipe. I hope you’ll give it a try; it’s definitely a winner and so perfect for the holidays!
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Pumpkin Chai Holiday Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup (236.59 ml) boiling water
- 2 chai tea bags
- 2 1/2 cups (312.5 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups (330 g) dark brown sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 12 tablespoons (177.44 g) unsalted butter,, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups (367.5 g) pure pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup (118.29 g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 egg whites
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (227 g) softened unsalted butter,, cut into pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
- Fondant pumpkins
- Chocolate vermicelli or sprinkles
Instructions
For pumpkin chai cupcakes
- Place the water in a KitchenAid® Pro Line® Series Electric Kettle, and bring to a boil. Pour the boiling water over the tea bags, and allow them to steep for at least 10 minutes, or as long as overnight.
- Lightly mist a KitchenAid® Professional-Grade Nonstick Muffin Pan with non-stick spray, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in the bowl of the KitchenAid® Stand Mixer, and mix on low speed to combine.
- Add in the butter, and stir on low speed until the mixture resembles damp sand.
- Stir in the eggs one at a time, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula after each addition.
- Add the brewed tea, pumpkin puree, Greek yogurt, and vanilla, and mix until incorporated. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula, and mix for about 90 seconds more, to aerate the batter and develop the cake’s structure.
- Fill the KitchenAid® Muffin Pan no more than 2/3 full and bake for 15 minutes, or until a bamboo skewer inserted in the thickest part of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely, then frost and decorate.
For chai buttercream
- Place the egg whites and sugar in the bowl of the KitchenAid® Stand Mixer. Place over a pot of simmering water. Cook, whisking occasionally, until the mixture no longer feels gritty when rubbed between the thumb and forefinger.
- Remove the egg white mixture from the heat, and whip on medium-high speed (using the whip attachment) until there is no hint of warmth remaining, and the meringue holds stiff peaks.
- Add the butter, a tablespoon at a time, while continuing to whip on medium-high speed.
- Stir in the five-spice powder, ginger, and black pepper until completely incorporated.
- (If the buttercream seems runny, place the bowl in the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes, then whip again until fluffy and stiff.)
For assembly
- Pipe the buttercream on the cupcakes in a rosette. Sprinkle with chocolate vermicelli, and garnish with a fondant pumpkin.
Hi, how can I replace the Chinese five-spice powder? thank you!
Hi Alma! I did a quick google search and came up with this: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/ingredients/detail/chinese-five-spice-powder. Hope you find it helpful! Thanks so much for reading 🙂
Pumpkin chai in a cupcake?? So amazing!! And the fondant pumpkins are so cute!!
Thank you Z!
Love those fondant pumpkins!!! So cute!
Thanks so much Laura! 😀