With chunks of pear, brewed Chai tea and spices; this Pear and Chai Loaf Cake is jam packed full of flavour. It’s the perfect way to enjoy your Chai tea!
I actually cannot believe how long it’s taken me to bake with Chai tea. I must have been thinking about it for 2 years at least, but when it comes to brainstorming recipes for the blog, it always seems to slip my mind!
Not anymore! I created this heart and flavoursome Pear and Chai Loaf Cake and it is definitely a keeper!
I brewed up 4 Chai tea bags and then made sure to add plenty of chai spices into the cake too, so that you get a double whammy of chai flavour. Then, I decided that the perfect accompaniment to the chai would be pears.
Even though I’m not the world’s biggest pear fan, I fell in love with them in this loaf. I even ate one on its own the next day and maybe I’m coming round to pears…!
I peeled and cored two pears and then cut them into small chunks before adding them to the cake. For the top, I sliced long ways down the pear and placed the slices in the top, but that’s totally optional; I just did it for decorative purposes.
I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing this cake is. I could not stop eating it. It’s spicy, sweet, soft… everything you want from a cake. I enjoyed mine with an afternoon coffee after a long morning and it really hit the spot!
I think it may be the cardamom, but chai spice just warms my soul. It’s the perfect balance of spicy and sweet. I feel like my tongue tingles slightly after a sip of chai tea and I really wanted to make sure that this cake gave you that same sensation. I think I succeeded, but I’ll let you be the judge when you make this Pear and Chai Loaf Cake!
Pear and Chai Loaf Cake
Ingredients
- For the loaf:
- 4 chai tea bags
- 2/3 cup (160ml) boiling water
- 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup (100g) light brown sugar
- ½ cup (100g) caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 medium pears, peeled, cored and cut into small chunks. (You can also down the length of the pear to make two slices of pear for the top if you want), or 2 large
- 2 1/2 cups (350g) plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- For the optional glaze:
- 1/3 cup (40g) icing/powdered sugar, sifted
- ½-1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160C/325F and grease and line a 2lb loaf pan. I spray my pan with Wilton Bake Easy and then place a strip of grease proof paper along the centre of the pan lengthways.
- Place Chai tea bags and water into a jug and leave to brew for 5-7 minutes. Once brewed, squeeze excess moisture from the tea bags and discard.
- Place butter and sugars into a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Around 2 minutes on medium-high speed.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla, scraping down the sides as necessary and mix until well combined and smooth, around 1 minute on med-high speed.
- Place the chunks of pear, flour, baking powder, salt and spices into a medium sized bowl and stir gently to coat the pear chunks in flour.
- Tip the flour mixture into your egg mixture and mix on low until the mixture comes together and there are no lumps of flour.
- Spoon the batter into your prepared loaf pan and smooth into an even layer using a spatula/back of a wooden spoon.
- If you sliced two long pieces of pear place them into the top of the cake batter tip to tip. If, not skip this step.
- Place in the oven for 75-85 minutes until risen, golden and an inserted skewer into the centre comes out clean. Mine took 80 minute.
- Leave to cool in the pan completely, then transfer to a wire rack with some kitchen paper below it.
- Make the glaze: Place icing sugar into a small bowl and then add ½tbsp of water, mix until smooth and you have a pourable glaze. If it’s too stiff, add a tiny bit more water.
- Drizzle the glaze over the Pear and Chai Loaf and then leave for 20 minutes to set.
- Slice into 10-12 pieces and enjoy!
- Pear and Chai Loaf Cake will keep in an airtight container, at room temperature for 5 days.
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