Masala Chai Cake with Ginger Fudge Frosting

Masala Chai Cake with Ginger FudgeFrosting

from The Birthday Cake Bookby Fiona CairnsFor the tea

350 ml whole milk, plus more if needed

8 cardamom pods, crushed

3 peppercorns

1/2 cinnamon stick

2 or 3 slices fresh root ginger, chopped

2 strong everyday tea bags

For the cake

170 g unsalted butter, diced, plus more for the tin

20 green cardamom pods

230 g golden syrup

230 g dark muscovado sugar

280 g self-raising flour

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

For the frosting

150 g unsalted butter

150 g icing sugar

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1-2 tbsp ginger syrup, from a jar of stem ginger

2 pieces of very finely chopped stem ginger (optional)

Red chillies, to decorate (optional)

Place the milk in a pan. Add the cardamom pods, peppercorns, cinnamon and ginger. Bring to a boil; and simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes. Once the milk has reduced by almost half, add the tea bags and stew for another minute or so; it does need to be quite strong for the flavour to come through the cake. Leave to cool. Strain and add more milk, if necessary, to make the total up to 200 ml.

Preheat the oven to 170C (fan forced). Butter a square 20 cm cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.

To deseedthe cardamom pods, split each pod with the point of a sharp knife, empty the tiny seeds into a mortar and grind to a powder with the pestle. If there are any pieces of husk, sift the powder to remove them.

In a pan, melt the golden syrup, butter and sugar. Cool a little. In a large bowl, sift the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and salt. Stir in the cooled syrup mixture, the eggs and, lastly, gradually pour in the 200 ml of chai. Stir gently until well mixed and pour into the prepared tin. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a skewer emerges clean. Rest in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Leave until absolutely cold. Remove the papers.

For the frosting, cream together the butter and icing sugar for up to five minutes until light and fluffy. Very slowly add the lemon juice and ginger syrup. Add the stem ginger, if you like. Spread the frosting all over the tip of the cake, and carefully transfer to a serving plate or cake stand. Top with a few red chillies, if you want.