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Sometimes carrot cake gets a bit boring. Enter masala chai, and your carrot cake takes on a gentle spice and a hint of bitter from the black tea. #carrotcake #cupcakes #creamcheesefrosting #chai

Masala Chai Carrot Cupcakes

These masala chai carrot cupcakes have feature the traditional carrot cupcakes, but flavored with a hint of black tea and spices for an even more flavorful carrot cake.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American, Indian
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 24 cupcakes
Calories 378 kcal

Ingredients

Masala Chai Carrot Cupcakes

  • ¼ cup boiling water
  • 4 tablespoons darjeeling/assam tea Indian black tea
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 pound carrots peeled and shredded
  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • ½ cup packed light brown sugar
  • 4 large eggs room temperature
  • 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
  • 1 cup raisins

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 12 oz full fat cream cheese room temperature
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
  • 4 tablespoons full fat sour cream room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pistachio extract or vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Masala Chai Carrot Cupcakes

  1. Pour the boiling water over the tea and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain the tea, and discard the tea leaves.
  2. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs and tea until combined. Add the oil and whisk until the mixture is completely emulsified.
  4. Fold in the carrots until combined, then fold in the flour until no visible specks of flour can be seen. Quickly fold in the raisins.
  5. Transfer the batter to 24 lined cupcake wells and bake at 350F for about 20-25 minutes. The cupcakes should be golden brown and a toothpick will come out with a few crumbs when inserted into the center of a cupcake. Cool for a few minutes in the pan, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
  6. Frost the cooled cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

  1. Cream the cream cheese, butter, sour cream, extract and salt until light and fluffy. Add the sugar, then beat until combined.

Recipe Notes

Adapted slightly from A Brown Table.

You can make the cupcake batter in a food processor. Click through to the link above and follow the instructions there.