Fair Trade Cardamom Chai Cupcakes with Lemon Icing

adapted from a Baking Bites recipe

Fair Trade Chai Cupcakes pictured with a
pot of Fair Trade tea.

These cupcakes use brewed Fair Trade chai tea, with some added ground cardamom, to make a deliciously spiced cupcake that is then set off by a lemon icing glaze. The cupcakes pictured above were made using Clipper's Organic Indian Chai Teabags (available here online from the Oxfam store, or from our own shop in Bayswater).

Makes 16 cupcakes

Ingredients

2 cups plain flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

0.5 tsp salt

0.5 tsp ground cardamom

113g butter, room temperature

1.25 cups caster sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

0.5 cup strongly brewed Fair Trade chai tea, room temperature

0.5 cup milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line 16 muffin cups with paper liners or grease well with margarine or butter.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and ground cardamom.
3. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla extract. 
4. Blend in one third of the flour mixture. Add in the tea, followed by another third of the flour mixture. Add in the milk, followed by the remaining flour. Mix until all ingredients are just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Measure evenly into muffin pans.
5. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Turn cupcakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

To make the icing, mix 1 cup of icing sugar, with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and the zest of one lemon. Add either liquid or icing sugar to create the desired consistency. The cupcakes pictured are decorated with a slice of crystallised ginger.

Look out for another recipe using Fair Trade products next week - it will be chocolate!