October is upon us and that means it’s time to bring on the fall treats. While everyone is over there ordering their Pumpkin Spice Lattes we’re all about the Chai Lattes. We’re one of the very few Seattleites that don’t drink coffee, so tea has always been our go to, especially chai. We couldn’t wait to incorporate one of our favorite fall flavors into a cake, so we decided to put a twist on the popular PSL and do a Pumpkin Chai Latte Cake. The cake consist of a Pumpkin Chai cake with a Chai Spice Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
For the décor we used two popular techniques, carved buttercream and spatula painted buttercream, to create a fall inspired tree. We have been wanting to try the carved buttercream technique for a while and decided to use the carved technique to create the trunk and branches of the tree and the spatula painted technique to create the leaves.
This was our first time carving buttercream so we of course learned some dos and don’ts. The main don’t we learned was to not make the outside layer of buttercream too thick. We were using our cake discs when frosting the cake which created a thicker layer of buttercream than you want. When it came time to carve the tree into the cake we had to carve pretty deep. It still looked good, but we would have preferred a more shallow tree. Plus, we wouldn’t have needed to use as much buttercream. The dos, take your time when carving and do a little at a time. You can always carve more off but can’t really put the frosting back on, at least without making it look messy.
How to do a Carved Buttercream Cake
The first step in creating a carved cake is making a base frosting layer. This will be in the color that will pop through when you carve the top layer. For us this was the brown layer that created the tree trunk and branches. This layer doesn’t need to be very thick but thick enough that if you accidently carve through this layer the cake wont show. Be sure to keep some extra frosting of that color on hand incase that does happen. Once the base layer is done, chill in the frig for 30-60 minutes or in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Do not rush this process. It is very important to chill the cake between steps to get the best results.
After the base layer has chilled it’s time to frost the top layer. Like we mentioned above, this layer doesn’t need to be very thick but it all depends on the look that you are going for. Frost and smooth the icing to your desired look and chill again for another 30-60 minutes. The more chilled the icing is the easier it will be to achieve crisp clean edges when carving. While the cake is chilling, this is a good time to color any frosting you are using on the décor.
To carve the buttercream we used this Carving set. Before you start carving we recommend lightly tracing your design on the cake. Carefully start carving small portions, doing a little at a time until you reach the base color. Be sure to wipe the icing off the scrapper each time you use it. Keep carving in sections until you complete your selected design.
How to do Spatula Painted Buttercream
Spatula painted buttercream is a really easy technique to create a dramatic artsy look. First select your color palette and mix up even amounts of each color. Since we were doing a fall tree we went with yellow, orange, red and dark red. You’ll want to start with a chilled cake that is firm to the touch. This way, when you paint on the buttercream it will not affect the buttercream underneath. Take a small offset spatula, if you don’t have one you can also use the back side of a small spoon, and scoop a small amount of frosting on the end. Lightly press the frosting against the cake and smear up. You can also practice this on a piece of parchment paper beforehand but the nice thing about this technique is that is doesn’t have to be perfect. One color at a time, go around the cake creating your spatula strokes and making sure to keep all the strokes going in the same direction. You’ll want the pattern to be random as you add each color. Continue applying the strokes, alternating colors periodically, until it’s all filled in. You can either cover the entire cake or a select portion. We added some individual strokes towards the bottom to look like falling leaves.
Pumpkin Chai Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp ginger
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 can pumpkin puree 15 oz
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 350 degrees and grease three six inch cake pans.
- In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, ginger and cinnamon.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the melted butter, oil, sugars, pumpkin puree, eggs, vanilla and beat on low until combined.
- With the mixer on low slowly add the dry ingredients until combined and there are no more lumps.
- Divide the batter between the cake pans and cook for 35-45 minutes.
Chai Spice Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 eggs whites about 6 large eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 cups unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine the nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, ginger and cinnamon and set aside.
- Place the egg whites and sugar in a heat proof bowl. We prefer to use the metal bowl of our stand mixer.
- Fill a pot smaller than your bowl with a couple inches of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling turn down to a simmer and set the bowl on the pot to create a double boiler. Continuously stir the egg whites and sugar until the sugar has fully dissolved or the temperature reaches 160 degrees on a candy thermometer.
- Transfer the bowl to a stand mixer fitter with the whisk attachment and mix on high until the mixture holds stiff peaks, about 8-10 minutes.
- While the meringue is mixing cut the butter into 1 inch cubes.
- When the meringue forms stiff peaks continue mixing on high and add the butter one cube at a time. Once all the butter has been added mix in all the vanilla and the spice mixture 1/2 teaspoon at a time until you have reached your desired flavor. You will not use all of the spice mixture, we used about 1-1/2 teaspoons. After the vanilla and spices have been added continue mixing on hight for 5 minutes to create your silky smooth buttercream.
