Chai Spice Gingerbread Mini Cakes
Chai spiced gingerbread mini cakes are my variation on classic British gingerbread. But this time with warming chai spices & baked as mini cakes - acorn, pumpkins or snowflake. Let me show you how:
Chai Spice Gingerbread Mini Cakes
Mini Acorn, Pumpkin & Snowflake cakes
***Click to jump to section***
What Are Chai Gingerbread Mini Cakes?
These chai spiced gingerbread cakes are mini gingerbread cakes, filled & glazed with chai spices. Make mini acorn cakes, Halloween jack-o-lantern pumpkins, or for Christmas, try some snowflake cakelets.
The gingerbread mini cakes are similar, & based on my gingerbread loaf cake and mini gingerbread bundt cakes, but in just a slightly different form.
**Note, all 3 types of cake were made in smaller cake pans, which fit larger open-front air fryers.
Why Make Chai Gingerbread Mini Cakes?
- easy
- quick
- tasty
- minimal decoration
- step-by-step instructions
- easy to transport
- easy to share out
- great for food gifting
- perfect for Halloween, Autumn/Fall & Christmas
Ingredients & Substitutes
Here are the ingredients for the chai spice gingerbread mini cakes:
(*note ingredient amounts are listed in the Recipe Card*)
- Butter, unsalted
- Light Brown Sugar
- Golden Syrup*
- Black Treacle*
- Ground Ginger
- Mixed Spice*
- Ground Anise
- Cardamom Pods*
- Bicarb/Baking Soda
- Yoghurt
- Egg
- Flour*
- Baking Powder*
*see notes below
For The Spiced Glaze:
- Icing (Powdered) Sugar
- Mixed Spice
- Ground Anise
- Ground Ginger
- Milk
Butter
Unsalted butter is recommended for sweet & savoury baking for best results. Salted butter has a greater water content than unsalted butter, and the amount of salt can vary from brand to brand.
Sugar
I use light brown sugar, but dark brown will also work, or even unrefined coconut sugar.
Egg
UK recipes usually use medium or large eggs, and so we are too. The US equivalent is roughly large to extra large size. Make sure also that the eggs are at room temperature before using them.
Yoghurt
Instead of the usual milk in my gingerbread recipes, I use Greek-style yoghurt, but any thick-set plain/natural yoghurt will work too, or substitute with milk.
Spices
Would not be gingerbread without ginger, but chai spices are also very prominent in these cakes. Now my blend of spices for a chai flavour, are more in line with what is easily available in the UK supermarkets. There are many recipes online, and I found combining some spices with the likes of our Mixed Spice (similar to pumpkin spice), gave us some of the usual chai spices, without having to source them separately.
For example, chai spice is usually made up of – anise, ginger, cardamom, clove, nutmeg, All Spice & black pepper.
UK Mixed Spice has (at least Morrisons blend does), consist of coriander, cassia (Chinese Cinnamon), dill seed, ginger, clove & nutmeg. All Spice contains pimento, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper.
Since some of these spices are not as easy to find in most stores, I have made up this hack for your own Chai spice blend, using – UK Mixed Spice, anise, cardamom pods & ginger. You can add a pinch of black pepper if you like it extra hot.
Adding the Mixed Spice, anise and ginger to the glaze, also not only gives a warmer shade & speckles, but tied all the flavours together. It is optional, but highly recommended to get the overall Chai gingerbread taste.
Flour
I have made this recipe using both Plain (All Purpose) flour and UK Self-raising flour (not US Self-rising). Use either flour you have, but remember to also use the baking powder if using Plain/A.P. flour, in addition to the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda). All amounts are listed in the recipe Card below.
Golden Syrup & Black Treacle
Old-fashioned British gingerbread cakes use Golden Syrup & Black Treacle. Here are some common questions about these ingredients:
‘Is Black Treacle the same as Dark Corn Syrup (Karo)?’
Black Treacle is not the same as Dark Corn Syrup (Dark Karo). Closest US equivalent to Black Treacle is Black Strap Molasses – with the caveat that there is no guarantee it will have the same effect.
Several US internet sites sell British products, such as Black Treacle & Golden Syrup. (Below I have compiled a list of where to buy & this is based on information provided by US & Canadian readers).
“Is Golden Syrup the same as Corn Syrup (Karo)?’
Golden Syrup is not the same as Corn Syrup or Karo Light Corn Syrup. Different colour, consistency, taste, & how it is made.
Where To Buy Golden Syrup & Black Treacle
Black Treacle & Golden Syrup can be purchased in store, in the US & Canada from the following companies: World Market, some Walmarts in Canada, Sobys, ‘Stop & Shop’, Wegmans, Frys (Smiths), Woodmans, Nugget Store, The Scottish Bakery, The British Store, Talin Market, Albertsons & in Dorgnacs.
Online, Black Treacle & Golden Syrup can be ordered from: Amazon, 647-Florist.com, British Food Depot.com, UK Gourmet.us, World Market.com, Cost Plus World Market & Marina Market.
(Information current at October 2019).
**Please note, the Golden Syrup doesn’t need to be the Tate & Lyle brand.
WHY THESE INGREDIENTS ARE BEST
‘Why can’t I just use dark corn syrup & molasses?’
You can use these alternatives if you have to, but please be mindful that the original recipe (and same applies to any recipe), was not developed/tested with those ingredients. The smallest of changes can make noticeable differences in baking.
The Evidence Of How It Is Different
One reader conducted a test with the original gingerbread recipe ingredients, as well as with the US ingredients and shared her results below:
Comparison Of US Vs UK Ingredients For Caro’s Gingerbread Cake
“I used Karo Dark Corn Syrup in place of Golden Syrup & Molasses in place of Black Treacle in the US version.
Golden Syrup taste is just incomparable to anything I’ve ever had in the US products. It’s very similar to butterscotch, but not as heavy. Corn Syrup just does not compare at all.
Black treacle tastes very like Sorghum or Blackstrap Molasses that my Grandfather used to love. I couldn’t get any, but I believe it would be a good substitute.
On oven exit, the UK cake seemed fluffier than the US one. US is much lighter in colour, and lacks the strong flavor of the UK ingredients. It’s still very good, but I would recommend purchasing UK ingredients if at all possible. The taste is just that much better.
As always with Caro’s recipes, I highly recommend“
Jennifer Jones, Facebook October 2020.
**So not only was the taste different, but the colour and more surprisingly the texture was different too.**
Equipment
A full list of equipment is included in the Recipe Card, but here are 3 different types of cake tins I tried out.
Mini Acorn Cakes
I used a mini acorn metal cake tin by B&M for just £2.50. This is a UK bargain store (that I love), & these were available last year too, as well as in pumpkins & toadstools versions.
Each tray is smaller than a 12-cup cupcake, (at a length of 26cm, 10.5”, width 17.5cm, 7” ) and can make 6 acorns at a time. They actually came out really easily so I did purchase a 2nd tray. (See photo 1 in the collage).
Each acorn is 6cm, (2.25”) at its widest point, 7.5cm (3”) long & about 2.5cm (1”) deep. I have seen Nordic Ware do a larger Acorn Cakelet pan, with 20 acorns, about the same size, but pan size 15.25” ( 38.75cm) x 11.75” (30cm) x 1.25” (3cm). Much more expensive obviously & better detailed I would imagine.
I do have a Nordic Ware snowflake cakelets pan that was gifted to me, and tried some in that too. (See photo collage above). Slightly wider than the acorn tray I used, this makes 6 wider & deeper cakes, (about 8cm, 3” wide & 3cm, just over 1” deep).
The 3rd I tried was silicone mini jack-o-lantern cakes. This was from Home Bargains last year and about £3.50. Similar tray size to the previous two, but the cakes were in-between the size of the acorns and the snowflakes, at about 6.5cm (2.5”) by 7cm (2.75”) & 2.5cm (1”) deep. The silicone does take much longer to bake than the metal cake pans. I used my larger air fryer to bake these, but still needed more time than for the larger snowflake cakes. So something to bear in mind when looking at the prices of tins.
Cooking Pot – the wet ingredients for this recipe are melted on the stove-top, so a medium sized pot is needed for this.
Recipe Yield
This recipe will make various amounts of mini cakes, depending on which kind you want to make (and assuming slight differences in tins/pan sizes). Below I have listed the approximate amount for each kind:
- Mini Acorns*: 19,
- Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkins*: 11, or
- Snowflake Cakelets*: 9
* Different Cakes/Quantities – the recipe makes approximately 57 tbsp of batter. 1 acorn cake requires 3 tbsp, 1 snowflake 6 tbsp & 1 pumpkin 5 tbsp of batter. To make a total of 12 snowflakes, multiply ingredients by 1.2, for 12 pumpkins multiply by 1.1.
Decoration
For the acorn cakes you can dip in the spiced glaze and leave as is, coat with coconut (unsweetened shredded coconut, roughly chopped), sprinkles, chopped nuts or coloured fine sugar sprinkles.
For the pumpkins I found it easiest to simply add bright orange tiny ball shaped sprinkles. Almost a luminous neon orange colour, these stood out well and fitted nicely in the facial features. Just wet in place. You could use a tiny piping bag with some orange glaze as an alternative.
For the snowflake cakelets, you could dust with icing/powdered sugar or leave as they are to show the detailing.
For the acorns it is really easy to dip the top or spread on the underside. A thinner glaze might work completely covering the pumpkin and snowflakes, but I felt it would ruin the fine detailing of the cake pattern. So spreading on the underside is an option.
Other Gingerbread Cakes
Love gingerbread cake & want more? Then take a look at my gingerbread loaf cake, gingerbread traybake or the mini gingerbread bundt cake recipes. (See photos below).
Step-By-Step Instructions
1. Cube your butter & add to a small to medium cooking pot, with the Golden Syrup, Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda), Black Treacle, ground anise, ginger & Mixed Spice.
2. Next add the light brown sugar and heat on a low-medium heat, until the butter is melted & the sugar is dissolved. Then remove from the heat.
**Top Tip – buy the squeezy bottle of Golden Syrup and you can use much easier, weighing direct into the bowl/pot. But for using a spoon, grease the spoon first in some cooking oil (like frylight) and the syrup, treacle or honey, will fall off easily.
3. Transfer the hot mixture to a different bowl or jug & leave to cool a little before using, (at least 10 minutes).
4. Take this time to prepare the cardamom. Cardamom seeds are not so hard to find, but ground cardamom seems to only be available online in the UK. So as I had cardamom pods, I used those. Start by using a small knife to remove the shell from the pod.
5. Then use a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder/small blender to grind the cardamom. I ground about 5 pods to make enough for this recipe, (otherwise use a scant 1/2 tsp of ground cardamom).
6. Add the ground cardamom to the cooled mixture and mix through.
7. Pre-heat the oven to:180°c/160°c Fan Oven/350°f/Gas Mark 4. (If using a larger air fryer, only pre-heat if your model requires this).
8. Now add the eggs to a medium mixing bowl (or your stand-mixer), & whisk before adding in the yoghurt & combining.
9. Add the cooling mixture to the egg/yoghurt mixture & mix through.
10. Place a sieve over the mixing bowl, add the flour & baking powder & mix together while in the sieve. Then lift the sieve up and sieve the flour into the bowl. The higher up you hold the sieve, the more air you can incorporate into the batter.
11. Mix by hand or with a mixer, only until combined and no more dry patches are left (will be a thin batter, but a few lumps are fine).
12. Prepare the cake tin/cake pan by greasing well with cake release spray, butter & flour, or as I used in the photos/video, some homemade lining paste (cake goop)
In Photo 4 you can see I have coloured 1 tbsp of the lining paste with a 1/4 tsp of cocoa powder just to make the paste a pale beige colour since our cake is a little darker.
13. Bake in the centre of the oven (or larger air fryer), till fully cooked through. They should have risen, be set & coloured well, & a wooden cocktail stick inserted in the centre should come out clean of crumbs. (My acorns took just 8 minutes in an air fryer with no pre-heating. The snowflakes 14 minutes, with foil to cover after 10 minutes). The silicone pumpkins, I covered with foil after 10 minutes, but those took 20 minutes to cook fully).
14. Leave to cool in the tin, on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Then flip the tin over so that the tin is upside down. Don’t remove the tin just yet, but laying the cakes this way up, helps flatten them a little to sit better.
15. Leave to cool another 5 minutes & remove the tin. Leave to cool completely before decorating.
Decorating
1. These mini chai spiced gingerbread cakes can be served as they are or with a dusting of icing/powdered sugar. However, a lot of the spice flavour comes from the glaze too.
2. Prepare the glaze by sieving the icing/powdered sugar in a small bowl, before adding in the spices (mixed spice, anise & ginger) & whisking together.
3. Gradually add in milk (or water), until you have a thick paste. Then add tiny amounts (1/8 tsp) of milk till you have a thick but pourable consistency. See Photo 6. A thicker glaze is best on gingerbread cake,
4. Dip the top of the acorn cake in the glaze, or the way I found easier, was to use a small spoon and coat the acorn. Use the spoon to scrape any excess and to make sure the back of the acorn is coated too.
5. Place down on some baking/parchment paper and then sprinkle on top coconut, sprinkles, chopped nuts or coloured fine sugar sprinkles. Leave to set.
6, For the pumpkins, you can add some bright orange tiny sprinkles in the facial details. And for the snowflakes, you can dip in a thinner glaze if you like (see video), or keep the fine detailing and simply spread on the underside of the cakelets.
Serving & Storing
1. Serve the mini chai spice cakes as they are or with your favourite Autumn/Fall hot drink.
2. Store in a metal cake or cookie tin for up to 7 days. Unglazed cakes can also be stored in a tin before decorating.
3. You can freeze gingerbread mini cakes, but best without the glaze. Freeze in baking/parchment paper & then either some cling film/plastic wrap or foil, before placing in a labelled bag or airtight container.
4.Place at the back of the freezer and the cake(s) will be fine for up to 3 months1
5. Defrost in the fridge overnight and leave out of the fridge to come to room temperature before serving.
6. Alternatively you could warm slightly, wrapped in paper & foil in the oven or air fryer, @180°c/160°c Fan Oven/350°f , for about 5 – 10 minutes till warmed through .
More Gingerbread Recipes
Love gingerbread cake? Try the easy gingerbread loaf cake or mini gingerbread bundt cakes.
More Easy Mini Cakes
Fancy easy mini cakes you can share & transport easily? Try Brownies or mini carrot bundt cakes. Or how about some cakes squares or cupcakes? More cakes can be found on the cake recipes page or click a photo below
Recipe Card
Chai Spiced Gingerbread Mini Cakes
Equipment
- Scales or measuring cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Small measuring jug
- Small Cooking Pot
- Medium mixing bowl
- Hand Whisk
- Baking/parchment paper
- Homemade lining paste/cake goop (make your own homemade lining paste/cake goop or use cake release spray or butter )
- Acorn, Pumpkin or Snowflake Tin (see notes)
- Sieve
- Medium bowl x 2
- Metal Spoon
- Cooling rack
- OVEN: 180°c/160°c Fan Oven/350°f/Gas Mark 4
Ingredients
- 87 grams Unsalted Butter (3 oz, ⅓ cup – no need to soften)
- 115 grams Golden Syrup (4 oz, ⅓ cup+ 2 tsp, or 5 tbsp)* see notes & before recipe for tips
- 58 grams Black Treacle (2 oz, ⅙ cup or 3 tbsp, see notes)
- 87 grams Light Brown Sugar (3 oz or scant ½ cup*)
- 1 tsp Mixed Spice (or Pumpkin Spice*)
- 1 tsp Anise (ground anise)
- ½ tsp Ground Ginger
- 5-6 Cardamom Pods (or scant tsp ground cardamom)
- 70 ml Yoghurt (2½ oz, ⅓ cup, or milk)
- 2 Medium-Large Eggs (Large or Extra Large size US)
- ¼ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda)
- 173 grams Plain Flour (6 oz, 1⅓ Cups All Purpose Flour)
- 2½ tsp Baking Powder (don't add if using UK Self-raising Flour)
For Orange Icing/Glaze (optional)
- 62 grams Icing/Powdered Sugar (2 oz or ½ cup, sieved)
- ½ tsp Mixed Spice (Pumpkin Spice*)
- Pinch Anise
- ½ tsp Ginger (scant ½ tsp)
- Milk (or water, approximate)
Instructions
Prepare The Wet Ingredients:
- Cube the butter, add to a small-medium cooking pot, & add the Golden Syrup, Black Treacle, ground anise, ginger, Mixed Spice, Bicarbonate Of Soda (Baking Soda).
- Mix together before heating on a low-medium heat till the butter has melted & the sugar dissolved. Remove from the heat & transfer to another bowl to cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the cardamom by using a small knife to remove the skin from the pods. Then use a mortar & pestle, small blender or spice grinder to grind the cardamom pods. (Alternatively use a scant ½ tsp ground cardamom). Then add to the cooling mixture & mix through.
Mixing Wet & Dry Ingredients:
- Pre-heat the oven to:180°c/160°c Fan Oven/350°f/Gas Mark 4. (**If using a larger air fryer/combi oven, only pre-heat if your particular air fryer requires this)
- Add the eggs to a mixing bowl or stand-mixer, whisk to break up, before adding in the yoghurt & beating to combine (Alternatively use milk).
- After at least 10 minutes of cooling, add the wet mixture to the egg/yoghurt mixture & mix together.
- Sieve in the flour & baking powder (omit the baking powder if using UK Self-raising flour). Stir by hand to begin & then use a hand-mixer or stand-mixer to mix only till combined and all dry patches are gone.
Baking The Mini Cakes:
- Grease the cake pans/tins well. I used homemade lining paste (cake goop) – 1 tbsp of the paste to ¼ tsp cocoa powder to make a beige paste). Alternatively use cake release spray, or butter & flour.
- Add the batter – I needed 3 tbsp for one acorn, 6 tbsp for one snowflake and 5 tbsp for 1 pumpkin. Smooth to level the batter as best as you can, tap on the counter/worktop a few times, before popping in the centre of the oven to bake. (See notes below for how many the batter can make of each type of cake).
- Bake until golden, risen & set, and a wooden cocktail stick, inserted in the centre comes out clean of crumbs. The acorns took just 8 minutes for me in a larger air fryer, with no pre-heating. 14 minutes for the snowflakes (with foil on top after 10 minutes), and the same with the pumpkin in the silicone tray, that took longer at 20 minutes.
- Leave to cool over a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Then flip over onto the rack, so that they are now upside-down (helping them flatten on the bottom. Leave the baking tray/pan on top for another 5 minutes before removing. Leave to cool completely before decorating
Prepare The Icing/Glaze:
- Making a spiced glaze is highly recommended. Begin by sieving the icing/powdered sugar together with the Mixed Spice, anise & ginger.
- Gradually add milk till a thick paste is formed. Then add very small amounts (⅛ tsp at a time), until a thick but pourable consistency is achieved.
Decorating The Mini Cakes:
- For the pumpkins you can first add glaze to the underside of the cake and leave to set before adding tiny orange ball shaped bright orange sprinkles into the grooves of the pumpkin's facial features. (See Photo).
- Dip the top of the cooled acorn cake in the glaze or use a small spoon to coat. Top the snowflakes with glaze, or only add to the underside, like with the pumpkins.
- After coating in glaze, decorate the acorns with some coconut, chopped nuts, sprinkles, coloured fine sugar, or even ginger sugar from a jar of crystalized ginger. Then leave to set on paper. You can also add coconut to the snowflakes or glitter.
Serving, Storing & Freezing:
- Serve the mini cakes with your favourite Autumn/Fall hot drink.
- Best stored in metal cookie or cake tin for up to 7 days. Cakes with no glaze can also be stored before decorating. **Note Gingerbread cake will improve with taste after the first day or 2.
- Freeze gingerbread mini cakes without the glaze. Wrap in baking/parchment paper & then cling film/plastic wrap or foil on top before placing in a labelled bag or airtight container. Place at the back of the freezer and these will be good for up to 3 months1.
- Defrost overnight in the fridge & leave out to come to room temperature before serving. Alternatively, warm a little, wrapped in paper & foil in the oven or air fryer, @180°c/160°c Fan Oven/350°f , for about 5 – 10 minutes.
Video
Notes
Any milk is fine & dark brown sugar or coconut sugar would also work. Artificial sweeteners are not recommended. When using Plain (All Purpose) flour in replace of UK Self-raising, make sure to add the baking powder, as well as the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda).
Glazing Day After –You can wait to glaze the cake, a day later, if stored in the tin. Leave out at room temperature to cool completely, before closing in a tin. Don’t put in the fridge, as condensation will occur & wet the cake.
Recipe Yield – batter can make either 19 acorns, or 9 snowflakes, or 11 pumpkins.
Different Cakes/Quantities – Recipe makes approximately 57 tbsp batter, and 1 acorn requires 3 tbsp, 1 snowflake 6 tbsp & 1 pumpkin 5 tbsp of batter. To make 12 snowflakes, multiply the ingredients by 1.2 and for 12 pumpkins increase by multiplying by 1.1.
Variations On The Recipe –See my original Gingerbread loaf cake, mini gingerbread bundt cakes, gingerbread traybake/squares, or latest – Butterscotch Pumpkin Gingerbread Bundt cake.
For more information of process photos, please see before this recipe card.
More cakes on my Cake Recipes Page, or try my Christmas Recipes Page
Get some ideas & recipes for Food Gifting your homemade treats.
Fan of GBBO (Great British Baking Show)? Learn more about differences in UK & US baking ingredients, or view, save & print my common baking ingredients conversion table. Includes gram, ounce & cup measurements. (Note all are hand measured by myself during recipe development & testing).
Occasionally I accept new members to Facebook group ‘Great British Bake Off Fans’. Or join my Facebook group ‘Easy Online Baking Lessons’ to accompany this lesson website.
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***I am not a qualified nutritionist, and all nutritional values are approximate & based on a serving of 1 acorn cake, from a yield of 19 acorn cakes & assumes all of the above ingredients (including fat free Greek-style yoghurt) are used. Bigger or smaller cakes and these values will change. All values calculated via website MyFitnessPal.com.
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References:
- Freezing gingerbread information from DeliaOnline.com/freezing/gingerbread ↩︎
Another great recipe. Every step explained with good pictures which makes it so much easier. Love the different flavours and ideas. Be nice as a gift too. Thank you.
Loved your mini gingerbread bundt cake recipe so had to make these. And I was not disappointed! Love that glaze! 5*
Loved your mini gingerbread bundt cake recipe so had to make these. And I was not disappointed! Love that glaze! 5*