Chai Spiced Pound Cake | Refined Sugar-Free

My early Christmas gift for you is this chai spiced pound cake recipe. The best part you ask – no refined sugar!

The struggle to eat desserts by keeping them healthy continues. I am an almost fitness freak as well as a foodie (split personality symptoms?!). While working out I am quick to promise myself to not indulge in too much food the next time. But when I am in the kitchen, trying to whip up something delicious, I forget that promise almost as quickly. I am yet to figure out which part of my split personality outweighs the other.

For now, it is the health-conscious me planning to indulge in a slice of this refined sugar-free Chai Spiced Pound Cake for breakfast tomorrow. I researched a couple of recipes online to create this one. After taking a little bit from all my research, I ended up creating my own flavor with aromatic spices and Twinings Darjeeling Tea. All the spices are not necessary, but they do make the cake very flavourful.

You can eat this pound cake as is or top it with some cream cheese frosting. A perfect dessert for your Christmas table too! Scroll down to read the full recipe for you to try.

Yum

Chai Spiced Pound Cakes

Ingredients

For the cake:
Flour- 241gm
Light Brown Sugar-213gm
Unsalted Butter, softened-22gm
Honey-85gm
Cardamom powder-2 teaspoons
Cinnamon powder-1 tablespoon
Clove powder- ¼ teaspoon
Black pepper powder- ¼ teaspoon
Nutmeg powder- ½ teaspoon
Ginger powder-2 teaspoons
Saffron-2 strands
Eggs(at room temperature) -2 large, whites and yolks separated
Baking powder- 1 teaspoon
Baking soda- ¼ teaspoon
Salt- ¼ teaspoon
Full fat yogurt- 200 gm
Black tea at room temperature (I used Twinings Darjeeling Tea bags)-4 tablespoons
Orange zest-2 tablespoons
Vanilla extract-2 teaspoons
For the frosting:
Cream cheese (at room temperature)- 220gm
Unsalted butter (at room temperature, softened)- 75gm
Castor sugar (or regular sugar ground fine)- 50 gm or to taste (I kept the sugar really low)
Milk- 6-8 tablespoons
Orange zest-1 teaspoon
Vanilla-1 teaspoon
Chopped pistachios- 2 tablespoons

Instructions

For the cake:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease an 8 inch Bundt pan (or you can use a regular cake pan if you do not have a bundt at hand) and set aside
Seep two tea bags of the desired tea in a teacup of hot water for 10 minutes. Squeeze the tea bags well before discarding and let the tea come to room temperature; set aside
Add saffron into the yogurt and set aside
In a deep bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt to achieve uniform distribution of ingredients. Then add the spices to this and mix well
In another bowl whisk the egg white until soft peaks form and set aside (see here a visual guide to soft peaks- https://www.thekitchn.com/a-visual-guide-soft-peaks-firm-115557)
In a separate bowl beat the butter on medium-high for a minute until soft, and then add brown sugar and honey till smooth and a homogenous color is achieved. This takes around 2-3 minutes on medium speed
Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating for a minute or two and scraping the sides between additions followed by orange zest and vanilla
Then in three alternate additions add the dry ingredients from Step 4 and yogurt, starting with the dry ingredients. Mix for 30 seconds on medium high between two additions. Scrape the sides between two additions. When a smooth batter is achieved, add 4 tablespoons of tea and give it one final mix
Fold in the egg whites into the above batter slowly being very careful not to over mix (see here the correct technique of folding in egg whites- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbFbJ9NXID0 )
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 50-60 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean
Remove the cake from the oven, and cool in the pan for 15 minutes then turn it out onto a rack until completely cool before frosting
For the frosting:
In a deep wide bowl blend the cream cheese and butter until smooth
Add sugar and blend for another minute
Add orange zest and vanilla and blend for 30 secs
Finally add milk, a tablespoon at a time till a pouring consistency of frosting is achieved
Pour the frosting over the cake after it has cooled down completely, garnish with chopped pistachios. The cake is ready to be served and enjoyed with a hot cuppa 🙂