Amazing Chai Honey Cupcakes

I've developed a newfound appreciation for honey. I was always okay with it, and particularly enjoyed those straws filled with honey sold at farmers markets and apple orchards. But then I tried Starbucks' new honey latte. I initially thought it sounded gross, but to maintain my almost obsessively comprehensive knowledge of Starbucks' beverage offerings, I thought I should at least try it. Wholly unexpectedly, its dulcet honeyed tones have converted me back to drinking sweetened lattes - and I was on a strict routine of black coffee in the morning and double tall nonfat lattes in the afternoon. But the peaks of frothy whipped cream criss-crossed with honey have made me look at the pairing of sugar and espresso in a whole new way.

So when Dana suggested we make these Chai and Honey cupcakes, I agreed immediately. Their whipped cream and honey cap is nothing is not evocative of my now-beloved honey latte. But the cake beneath it – moist yet fluffy – replaces the bite of espresso with spicy chai tea. The recipe comes from Shelly Kaldunski's cupcakes, the joyous answer to my long search for a cupcake cookbook that is neither too simple nor full of yellow cupcakes decorated with panda bears and balloons (I found it at Williams-Sonoma, if you're on a similar quest.)


Chai & Honey Cupcakes

3 chai-spice tea bags
2/3 cup boiling water
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup honey
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg, at room temperature

Make the chai tea far enough ahead of time that it will cool by the time you need it. You might need to add a little extra water if some boils away. We put the tea in the fridge until it was nearly room temperature.

Preheat your oven to 350º and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

In medium-size bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, combine the honey, melted butter, buttermilk and egg. Add the flour mixture and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until just combined. Add the cooled tea and beat until just combined. The batter will be very thin, almost like soup.

Divide the batter evenly among the cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 18 minutes. The cupcakes should be nice and brown.

Honey Whipped Cream

1cup cold heavy cream
2 tbsp honey

Using an electric mixer on low speed, beat the cream and honey together until slightly thickened, 1-2 minutes. Gradually increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the cream holds soft peaks, 2-3 minutes.

Top the fully cooled cupcakes with nice big dollops of whipped cream. Drizzle with honey just before serving (it will be gradually absorbed by the whipped cream otherwise.) Take a bite and bask in the deliciousness.