I think my signature decorating style for mini-cakes is fast becoming when I just use a couple of different tips to pipe the tops with different sized, different-styled dots of frosting. I like the combo of plain round with star tip, in particular. I suppose these aren’t pastry shop-ready, given I tend to create dots rather randomly, so no two of them are the same. But still, I do like it better than just using a knife to make a smooth layer on the top, or even in the middle, for that matter.

The idea for this mini-cake came from finding a King Arthur Baking recipe for gingerbread cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Only I’ve been in the mood again for chai-spiced something, so thought why not just use my chai spice mix instead, and lighten it up a bit with Lyle’s golden syrup instead of dark molasses and make it into mini-cakes. So that’s essentially what I did with these.

Used my Norpro mini-cheesecake tin for mini cakes, as I frequently do. It’s another easy cake recipe, and comes together with simply a whisk, which certainly makes for easier cleanup!

It’s a fairly loose batter, so it bakes full fills and evenly bakes in these small tin wells, as you can kind of see from the consistency of the cakes in the picture above.

They do get a little hump on top when they bake. In this case, I wanted to turn the cakes over so I could have the straight, clean lines of the cake for a more consistent look to the finished cakes. So I sliced just a bit of the hump from the top, enough so they sit straight and even when you turn them over.

Slice them once in half to make the two layers, and then I used the round piping tip to make dots on the bottom layer before adding the top.

My frosting was almost a little too loose – I added a little more milk than I would next time – so I didn’t press down when I put on the top because I like the look of seeing the piping in the middle. And of course on the top as well – it’s nice when you see the definition from the star piping tip. Popping these into the fridge to just firm up the frosting is something I have been known to do!

This one bakes rather quickly in this tin – 16 minutes max was all I needed to have the toothpick come out clean.

And it’s a tight crumb, but nice moist cake as well with the golden syrup in it. Pairs absolutely beautifully with the cinnamon cream cheese frosting from the original recipe, and a little dusting of cinnamon (or more chai spice) on top of the frosting at the end makes for a nice finishing touch.

For me, this ratio of cake to frosting is about right, not too much or too little of either. It’s just such a lovely bite of spice and cream and the hint of sour from the cream cheese – goes perfectly with a great cup of black tea.

Chai Spiced Mini Cakes

  • Servings: 24 2-inch mini-cakes
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

    Cake

  • 1 3/4 c. (210 g.) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 4 tsp. chai spices (I use my own mix; alternately, use 2 tsp. cinnamon, 2 tsp. ginger, 1/4 tsp. cloves, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg)
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 8 Tbsp. (113 g.) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 c. (106 g.) light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 c. (170g.) golden syrup (I used Lyle’s brand; or use molasses though that would change the flavor to more like gingerbread)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 c. (113 g.) water

    • Frosting

  • 6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter, room temp
  • 8-oz. package (227 g.) cream cheese, softened
  • 4 c. (454 g.) powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon, + a little extra for dusting on at the end
  • 1 to 2 Tbsp. milk, enough to make the frosting spreadable (it doesn’t take much, start with less)

Directions

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare your mini-cake tin with baking spray, and put small parchment paper circles in the bottom of each well of the tin.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, chai spices, and salt and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, golden syrup, and egg.

Add 1/4 c. of the water to the melted butter mixture, then half the dry mixture, and stir with your whisk. Add the remaining water and dry mixture, whisking until thoroughly combined.

Spoon an even amount of batter into the prepared tin (I used a rough heaping tablespoon of batter; each 2-inch well was about half full before baking). Bake the mini-cakes for 15-16 minutes (a toothpick should come out clean). Remove from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool for 30 minutes.

To make the frosting: Beat together the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy (several minutes). Add the sugar and cinnamon and beat them in well. Add milk, if you need to, a little at a time, until frosting is spreadable.

To assemble the mini-cakes: When you have the mini-cakes removed from the tin, cut a little off the rounded tops as needed, so you can turn the mini-cakes over and serve them with the bottom side on the top. Cut each mini-cake in half so you can add frosting to the middle as well as the top.

Using two different piping tips (I used one larger round one, one smaller star tip), put them in a piping bag, and fill each with frosting. Put more frosting in the one with the larger round, and use that one to pipe nice even rounds of frosting on top of the bottom layer (I pipe one in the middle, then ~6 all around the outside, as close to the same size as I can get them). Set the top half gently on top of the frosted bottom (you don’t need to press them down, you want to see the frosted rounds in the middle).

Pipe a random combination of round and star-shaped dots on top, some larger, some smaller, as you wish. Dust a little bit of cinnamon across the top once frosted, and serve. Will keep for a day or two.

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