Treat your mom to a creamy rooibos and chai cake

The Herald

10-05-2025

Leisure Make this Mother's Day special with our decadent dessert 10 May 2025
A recipe to some love on Mother's Day.
Image: Supplied
From flowers to vouchers, it's never easy to find the perfect gift to celebrate your mother or parental figure who has played that role.
Try this easy-to-follow cake recipe to make tea time a soothing delight with rooibos and chai. ROOIBOS CHAI TEA CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
Ingredients
Cake
1 cup Rooibos Chai infused milk
¼ cup sour cream
2 ¼ cup flour
¼ cup cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cloves
1 cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened, cubed
4 large eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla
Chai syrup
¼ cup water
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tsp Rooibos Chai
Cream cheese frosting
1 cup cream cheese, softened
¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla
Method To make the Rooibos Chai infused milk, heat the milk and 2 tsp of Rooibos Chai tea on the stove. Once almost at a simmer, remove from the heat and steep for 10 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and set aside to cool. To make the Rooibos Chai simple syrup, bring the sugar, water and tisane to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, strain through a fine mesh strainer and set aside to cool. Preheat oven to 180°C and line 15cm cake tins with parchment paper. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a bowl and hand mixer) sift together the flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. With the mixer running, add in the cubed butter one piece at a time until combined. It will look a little like wet sand. Add in eggs one at a time, making sure each egg is combined before adding another. Stir in the vanilla and sour cream. Slowly pour in the Rooibos Chai infused milk until it's all combined and smooth. Divide batter between the 3 parchment-lined pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool cakes for 10 minutes in the tins/pans, then remove from pans and cool completely. Once cooled, cut off the top of the cake layers to make sure they are smooth for when you assemble the cake. To make the cream cheese frosting, beat the cream cheese and softened butter together until light and fluffy. Add in icing sugar one cup at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Whip the frosting until light and fluffy. Set aside until ready to put cake together. To assemble the cake, start with the first layer on your cake stand/plate. Liberally brush the cake with the Rooibos chai syrup. Spread about ½ cup of the frosting on the cake layer. You want the icing to go all the way to the end. If you use more than ½ a cup, that's OK. Make sure you have enough icing left to cover the outside of the cake. If you put too much icing in the layers, it can also make it harder to stack the other layers on the top. Once icing is spread, add the next layer of cake and repeat. When the final layer of cake is on top, you can start spreading icing on the sides of the cake. You can choose to spread icing very lightly on the outside of the cake, to give it a 'naked' cake look. You can also decorate the top with a sprinkle of cinnamon, some star anise and cinnamon sticks. The cake will last for up to three days.
Make sure to cover the exposed cake with plastic wrap to prevent it drying out.
Recipe courtesy of Preserve Co and the Rooibos Easter recipe collection.