Easy and Delicious Cinnamon Chai Coffee Cake
This semi-homemade chai bundt cake, complete with delicious flavors of fall, is a moist and dense coffee cake recipe that you’ll want to make again and again! You simply doctor up a box of yellow cake mix with some pudding (the secret to super moist, dense, and flavorful cake!) and other spices of autumn to create this easy and delicious cinnamon chai coffee cake! Perfect for cozy dinner parties, fall potlucks, or as a sweet treat to have after a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal. It just tastes like the holidays!
I’ve discovered the absolute best base recipe for the most delicious bundt cakes on the face of the planet, and I just can’t stop trying out various takes on it – it makes for the best coffee cake ever! Almost all of the cakes I made nowadays I make with pudding – it makes a HUGE difference. I am so thrilled to share this version with you!
It all started with an outrageously yummy cinnamon coffee cake that my aunt made for us a few years back (everything that Aunt Cheryl makes is divine). Ever since then, I’ve been making that same coffee cake, as well as trying out different variations of that base recipe. Last fall, I tried out a pumpkin version – YUM. This fall, since I know so many of us love chai-flavored desserts so much, I decided to see if you could make a chai version of this bundt cake.
Result: you totally can and it’s so good.
Let me walk you through some of the basic steps for how to make this fall-flavored bundt cake. It’s such an easy coffee cake recipe (one reason I love this base recipe…it is so dependable: it’s always easy, and it’s always tasty!), so I’m excited for you to hop off of here, get out your baking gear, and get to work fixing up a delicious dessert others are going to love!
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Here are the kitchen tools you’ll need to bake this cake:
- Stand mixer (or hand mixer) with whisk attachment – favorite kitchen tool ever!
- 1-c glass liquid measuring cup (if you don’t have a glass one, you can use a plastic one and then transfer ingredients into a coffee mug – you need it to warm up water to make tea)
- Measuring spoons
- Small bowl (like a cereal or soup bowl)
- Bundt cake pan
- Spatula
Let’s get baking! 🙂
Step 1: Make cake batter
This is so easy since you’re using boxed cake mix and boxed pudding mix as part of the base. You’ll combine cake mix, pudding, oil, and eggs, as well as the star of the show: chai tea! The original recipe for this calls for water, so when I was on a mission to make another chai dessert, I realized…”I wonder if I could brew chai tea in the water to add that extra flavor?!”
Friend, you now know the answer to that question! So, you’ll warm up a cup of water – either in a glass liquid measuring cup or in a coffee mug – and then brew a bag of chai tea in the water for a few minutes before stirring into the cake.
Step 2: Pour half the batter into the bundt cake pan + add spiced brown sugar mix
Here’s where it really starts getting good. Once you’ve completely mixed the cake batter, you’ll pour half of it into your bundt cake pan. Then you’ll make this cinnamon, brown sugar, and cloves mixture and pour half of it onto half of the bundt cake batter.
Step 2: Pour the second half of batter on top + remaining brown sugar mix
You’ll repeat those same steps again – pour on the second half of the batter and then the remaining spiced brown sugar mix. This is gonna be goooooood!
This is gonna be goooooood!
Step 4: Bake Cake
The baking process for this is slightly unconventional, but because the other cakes I’ve made with this recipe have turned out so well, I just run with it! You’ll first bake the cake for 20 minutes at 350, and then reduce the heat to 325 and bake an additional 35-40 minutes.
Once the cake is fully baked, you’ll remove it from the oven and set the cake pan on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes to start cooling.
Also, a note from taste buds: you’re going to LOVE this cake, especially with that delectable brown sugar mix all caramelized in the middle and on the bottom of the cake!
Step 5: Make Chai Glaze
I’d say this glaze is as easy as pie, but are we allowed to cross those dessert lines when talking about cakes?
Consider them crossed.
This glaze is as easy as pie! You’ll pour a couple of tablespoons of whole milk into a glass bowl, warm it up a bit – maybe for about 20-30 seconds or so – and then allow a chai tea bag to steep in it for a few minutes. Then, remove the bag, press out remaining liquid from the bag into the bowl, and whisk in a dash of vanilla and a cup of powdered sugar. I know, the ratio of liquid to sugar seems completely unbalanced, but the powdered sugar dissolves really quickly into the milk.
Once you’ve finished the glaze, empty the cake from the bundt cake pan onto a plate or platter (cake will still be really warm – that’s a good thing!), use a toothpick to quickly poke some holes all around the top and sides of the cake, and then pour on the glaze. This glaze WILL be runny, and you really won’t see it except for the drizzle that makes its way onto the plate.
However, regardless of whether or not you can see the drizzle, you’ll definitely be able to taste it! The pictures of this cake don’t do it justice – it is SO yummy!
Step 6: Don’t let your dog eat the cake
Meet Gipper. He’s my self-volunteered taste-tester for things. This 60 lb stinker shows zero remorse – as I capture his post-cake grin in this picture – for what he just did: he ate half of my cake when I walked out of the room and left the cake on the counter for a hot minute.
We’ve had Gip for 7 years now, and he gets a little sneakier every year with figuring out how to help himself to food. He may or may not have gotten extra sneaky after we had kids and figured out how to capitalize on our distractions of chasing our munchkins around.
Step 7: Enjoy this yummy bundt cake with family and friends!
Make this bundt cake for any fall potluck, cozy dinner party, or to bring as an easy (and totally delicious!!) non-pumpkin dessert for your Thanksgiving get-together! If you’ve got multiple reasons to gather this fall (and I hope you do!), be sure to check out some other delicious fall dessert recipes– you’ll find another chai dessert on there that is out of this world!!
Love this recipe and want to save it for later?! Be sure to pin it to your favorite Pinterest board!
Easy and Delicious Cinnamon Chai Coffee Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKE
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 2 3.4 oz boxes instant vanilla pudding
- 1 c vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 1 c water
- 1 bag chai tea
- 1 c packed brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- Dash of ground cloves
- INGREDIENTS FOR THE GLAZE
- 2 tbsp whole milk
- 1 bag chai tea
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 c powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Using a stand mixer, blend yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, and oil. Add eggs one at a time, mixing briefly between additions.
- In a glass measuring cup or coffee mug, warm 1 c of water in microwave for about 30 seconds (until it's hot enough that it's producing steam). Add chai tea bag to water and allow to steep for about 3 minutes.
- Pour tea into cake batter and continue to mix until fully blended.
- In a separate bowl, mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and ground cloves. Set aside.
- Pour half of the cake batter into a greased bundt cake pan. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture evenly across the batter.
- Pour remaining half of cake batter over brown sugar mixture, and then sprinkle the remaining half of the sugar mixture on the cake batter. So, you'll end up having 2 layers of cake batter and two layers of brown sugar mixture - one sugar mix in the middle and one on the bottom of the cake.
- Place bundt cake pan in oven and bake for 20 minutes at 350. After 20 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 325 and continue baking an additional 35-40 minutes.
- Remove cake from oven and set cake pan on a rack to begin cooling.
- While the cake is beginning to cool, you can quickly whip up the glaze. Start by pouring milk into a microwave-safe bowl and heat in microwave for about 10-20 seconds - until the milk is warm. Place chai tea bag in milk and allow it to steep for about 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, remove tea bag from milk, press tea bag to drain liquid from the bag into the bowl, and then whisk in vanilla and powdered sugar into the bowl.
- Once the glaze is fully mixed (it will be very liquid-y - that's normal!), remove the cake from the bundt cake pan and set on a platter or plate. It'll still be quite warm - that's a good thing! Quickly poke holes with a toothpick throughout the top and sides of the cake - you won't see the holes, but they'll help the glaze seep into the cake.
- Drizzle glaze evenly across the cake. You won't see the glaze except for the part that runs off onto the plate. However, I promise you'll taste it, and it'll be delicious!
- Sprinkle cake with a tiny bit of powdered sugar just before serving - helps to give it a little pop of color and garnish!
- Serve with coffee or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy with people around your table!