Chai Tiramisu Cake (Chaimisu!)
Chai tiramisu cake has a delicious, moist, chai-infused cake with layers of cardamom cream dusted with a cocoa-chai topping. It is an absolutely fabulous fusion dessert perfect for Diwali or any special occasion! (soy-free with gluten-free or nut-free option)
Servings: 8
Ingredients
Cake Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Cake Wet Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla powder (add with dry ingredients)
- 1 cup non-dairy milk
For the Chai
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons chai spice blend or more, to taste
- 4 teaspoons loose leaf tea or 4 black tea bags
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 cups non-dairy milk such as oat milk, that is thick and withstands boiling without changing flavor
For the Cardamom Cream Layer
- 1 cup raw cashews soaked in hot water for 10 minutes then drained
- 15 ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- ¾ cup non-dairy yogurt almond, cashew, or cashew-coconut yogurt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ cup sugar
For Topping
- 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon or cardamom or chai spice
Instructions
Make the cake.
- Grease or line an 8x10” baking dish (or use a 9x9” or similar-sized). Preheat the oven to 350°F (177° C).
- Add all the dry ingredients in a bowl, and mix well. If you’re using vanilla powder, add that in as well. Then, add the wet ingredients. Mix until the dry ingredients are incorporated. If the batter is too thick, add more non-dairy milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you get a flowy batter.
- Transfer the batter into your baking dish, even it out with a spatula, and bake. Check at the 25 minutes with a toothpick in the center. If the toothpick comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven. Otherwise, bake it for 5 to 10 minutes more, until the toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Metal baking dishes bake faster, while stoneware takes longer. Cool the cake on the counter for 10 minutes, then cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel, and transfer to the fridge to cool, so it will release easily from the baking pan.
Meanwhile, make the chai and the cardamom cream.
- Add water, ginger, chai spice, tea, and sugar to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then gradually pour in the non-dairy milk. Bring to a boil again, reduce the heat to low, then bring to a boil again. Switch off the heat, strain, and set the chai aside cool.
- Blend cashews, coconut milk, yogurt, cornstarch, vanilla, cardamom, and sugar until smooth. Blend for a minute, then let the blender sit for 3 to 4 minutes, then blend again for half a minute. Repeat until you have a really smooth, creamy mixture with no pieces of cashew at all.
- Transfer the cashew mixture to a skillet. Rinse the blender with 1/4 cup water and add that to the pan, and cook over medium heat, stirring until it bubbles a little bit. Then, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring, until it thickens. It may get lumpy at first, then smooth out. Once evenly thick and smooth, turn off the heat and let the mixture cool. The mixture will be pretty thick and you can use it to layer on the cake once it reaches room temperature. To fasten the process, refrigerate the cream to cool or to thicken more.
Assemble the chai tiramisu.
- Slice the cooled cake into two layers using a sharp, serrated knife. If the cake breaks a little bit, that’s ok, since we are just going to soak it in chai and slather it in cream in just a second.
- Place one slice cut-side-up in your baking pan. Poke holes into the cake, if you want for extra soaking, then soak it with half of the chai. Spread half the chilled cream evenly over the top. Then, add the second slice of cake on top cut-side-up, poke holes again, and soak with the remaining chai and spread the remaining cream on top.
- For the topping, mix the cocoa powder with chai spice, cardamom, or cinnamon, sift over the cake. You can sift it on everywhere or use stencils to make shapes on top with the cocoa mixture. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before slicing and serving. You can serve immediately, but the flavors meld as it sits.
Video
Notes
We are slicing the cake into two layers, so you want it to bake tall. Make sure you choose a baking dish that is 8x10”, 9x9” or similar-sized.
The extra boiling step helps the chai flavors better infuse the milk, so don’t skip it! Choose a non-dairy milk that withstands boiling. Some nut milks will get a metallic flavor with intense boiling, so they won’t work well in this recipe. Oat milk works well.
Chai tiramisu keeps in the fridge for 4 days or can be frozen. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
For variation, you can top with just cinnamon or cocoa. You can also adjust the flavor of the cake by adjusting the flavor of the tea. Choose a brand of chai spice that you really love, since that flavor comes through a lot in the finished cake. I like to make this with my family’s chai masala blend, which is cardamom-heavy and works perfectly here.
To make gluten-free: Use ¾ cup almond flour, ¾ cup oat flour, ¼ cup potato starch. Mix that together, then use all of it in place of the all-purpose flour. Replace the 1 cup of milk with ¾ cup non-dairy milk and ¼ cup club soda. If batter is thin, add more oat flour.
To make nut-free: Use 1 cup coconut cream instead of the cashews, plus the can of full-fat coconut milk, and a nut-free yogurt. Coconut cream is the thick part that separates out in a can of full-fat coconut milk. Also make sure your non-dairy milk and yogurt are nut-free.
Cannot be made gluten-free and nut-free at the same time.
For soy-free, choose a soy-free non-dairy milk and yogurt.
Nutrition
Calories: 337kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Sodium: 119mg | Potassium: 234mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 21IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 227mg | Iron: 3mg