Masala-Chai Carrot Cake ~ TheCakeSliceBakers

"Take the broken pieces of your life, bake a master cake out of it.

Don't stand still like a lake; keep flowing like a stream!" Israelmore Ayivor

Chai Spiced Cinnamon Rolls ~ #BreadBakers

These cinnamon rolls are a win-win situation for everyone.  The dough is prepared the night

before, so no getting up at the crack of dawn, just pull them out of the refrigerator in the morning

and in a little over an hour you can have piping hot cinnamon rolls ready to serve. #thiccbuns

Dirty Chai Bundt Cake - #BundtBakers

Life is like a cup of tea. It's all in how you make it.

Butternut Squash Chai Bundt Cake ~ #BundtBakers

Autumn is my favorite color.  The red, the gold, the orange a combine to
put on one of the greatest shows on earth.

Fresh Ginger Apple Chai Cake

Last week I made an amazing Classic Green Mint Chutney from Spices & Seasons, and this week I wanted to try something sweet from the book.  A couple of recipes caught my eye, but there was one I just could not resist - a Fresh Ginger Apple Chai Cake.

Chai Spice Girls ~ Creative Cookie Exchange

It is funny how a single photo can bring back a flood of memories. Last weekend I was helping my daughter go through some old photos. She is a senior and is in the process of preparing her dedicated page in the school year book. I picked up one photo where she (and her sisters) had dressed up as the Spice Girls for Halloween, and she was Baby Spice. In the photo she is only three years old, and it is hard to believe that she will be eighteen soon. I still remember getting them ready to Trick or Treat like it was yesterday. It meant a lot to me to be able to sort through photos and explain to her when it was taken and why it was special to me, and I even came across a few photos that I had forgotten I had of me as a baby.  I think it is safe to say that we both had a lot of fun on our trip down memory lane, even if she did think some of her photos were a little embarrassing.

Chai Latte Biscotti

I am a little chai obsessed and a little biscotti obsessed so this was a match made in heaven for me. The recipe comes from an Australian Women's Weekly cookbook called Sweet Things, which I received for Mother's Day from one of my daughters.  She knows me well, and after looking through the book I gave up putting sticky notes on the recipes I wanted to try since it was obvious that I wanted to try them all!  Look for more treats from this book as I bake my way through it.

Biscotti is the perfect accompaniment to a good cup of tea or coffee.  My preference is for a slightly thicker biscotti so that I can dunk it - yes, I am a dunker - so after the first bake I cut mine slightly thicker than the recipe suggests.  I need a little structural integrity to my biscotti because the dunking does weaken them, and there is nothing worse than a sinking cookie in your beverage.  Also, be careful not to over bake them because they will turn into lethal weapons for your teeth.

The spice mix in these cookies is really nice, but the next time I bake them I will probably up the quantities a little bit.  The original recipe did not call for star anise or peppercorn, but I love the flavor of a spicy chai.  Also, in an effort to start cleaning out my pantry, I used salted shelled pistachios because I have a big bag of them that I purchased from Sam's Club.  It didn't seem to make the recipe too salty, so if that is what you have I say go for it.

Chai Latte Biscotti
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 English Breakfast tea bag
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup self-rising flour
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground star anise
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground black peppercorn
• ½ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ½ cup roasted, unsalted pistachios

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350℉.
2. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment.
3. To the bowl of a food processor; add the contents of the teabag, flours and spices and process until fine.
4. Whisk brown sugar, egg and honey in a medium bowl until well combined.
5. Stir in the flour mixture and nuts.
6. Using you hands make sure everything comes together and then place on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.
7. Shape the dough into a log, about 10 inches long and place on prepared sheet.
8. Bake for about 30 minutes, and then cool completely on sheet.
9. Reduce oven temperature to 300℉.
10. Using a serrated knife, cut the log diagonally into 1/4-inch slices, and place slices in a single layer back on the sheet.
11. Bake for 15 minutes and then turn them over.
12. Return sheet to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes, or until biscotti are dry and crisp.
13. Cool on a wire rack.

Recipe slightly adapted from Sweet Things by the Australian Women's Weekly.

To Try Tuesday - Chai Snickerdoodles

I am a big fan of Chai.  There is just something about the Chai spice mixture - cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, peppercorn, and cloves - that tingles on your tongue. As it has gained in popularity here you are seeing it as a flavoring component to more and more desserts such as Chai Creme Brulee, Chai Cheesecake, or even Chai Pancakes.

When I saw this recipe for Chai Snickerdoodles on Sophia's Sweets I knew I just had to try it.  They have been sitting in my To-Try since March of this year and I am very glad that I finally got around to making them.

I have to admit that a lot of them time I am not very good about mise en place.  I tend to grab things as I need them which can sometimes lead to my downfall.  This time I decided that I would get everything measured and ready to go before I started making the cookies.  Turns out that this is a really good idea and one that I will really have to embrace in the future as it really does make life easier.

I think that I may have let my butter get a little too soft (or possibly the sticks were a little bigger than usual) and it didn't cream as well as it should have with the sugar mixture.  After adding all of the ingredients I felt that the dough was a little soft so I added some extra flour.  This seemed to fix the problem.

The original recipe calls for baking the cookies in little balls, leaving space for them to spread.  Mine pretty much stayed in the ball shape, and I am not sure if this was because I added extra flour or if this is just the shape of the cookies.  I baked one batch like this to see how they turned out.  For the next batches I rolled them in the sugar mixture, put them on the baking tray, and then gently used my fingers to press down and make a slighter flatter cookie.  I preferred them this way as it gave them a little extra crunch on the outside.  If you like a softer cookie then leave them in the ball shape.

The flavor of the cookies was great.  Just enough spice to keep you coming back for more and they were not overpowering at all.  I think that this would be a great dough to keep in your freezer for when the urge to bake hits you.

Chai Snickerdoodles

(recipe adapted from Sophia's Baking)

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup butter, soft
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar and spices; remove 1/2 cup of this mixture and place in a medium-sized, shallow dish or bowl (like a soup plate). Add butter to bowl and cream with sugar mixture until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and vanilla extract.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda. Add to sugar mixture and stir until fully incorporated.
4. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll in reserved sugar-spice mixture. Place on baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between balls to allow for spreading.  Gently flatten with fingers.
5. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, until edges are firm to the touch, but not quite browned. Cool for 3-5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen.
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