My good friend Stacey’s drink of choice at the coffee shop is a soy chai. I wanted to make a cake for her birthday, so a spice cake with chai frosting seemed appropriate. Although the recipe is written for a 3 layer cake, I made a two layer cake using 2 cake and made cupcakes with the rest of the batter. The cake turned out wonderful. It was light and satisfying with just the right amount of spice. I wanted to make this delicious frosting, but ran out of time and didn’t have the ingredients on hand. It truly is an amazing frosting and the chai flavor is quite lovely. We ordered a few of these cupcakes at the Flying Apron Bakery in Seattle for Vivian’s 1st birthday and we have never tasted such delicious frosting! Wow! I was thrilled to finally get the recipe from their baking book. Yeah!
Cardamom Spice Cake adapted from Flying Apron’s Gluten-Free and Vegan Baking Book
4 cups brown rice flour
2 cups garbanzo bean flour, sifted
4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons cardamom
1 1/3 cups extra virgin olive oil or canola oil
3 cups water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups agave syrup, maple syrup, or concentrated pear juice
Directions:
Heat oven to 350º F. Prepare three 9 inch cake pans by lining with parchment paper, set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the brown rice flour, garbanzo bean flour, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, cardamom. Use another large mixing bowl and combine the olive oil, water, apple cider vinegar, vanilla, and agave syrup. Whisk the flour mixture into the oil mixture until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake about 30 minutes, or until the cake springs back when you push on it with your finger. Allow cakes to completely cool before assembling. Prepare the frosting and then use your cake assembly skills.
Chai “Buttercream” Frosting
2 cups palm oil
6 2/3 cups powdered organic whole cane sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup hot, strongly steeped chai tea
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In the bowl of a standing mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the palm oil and powdered sugar until soft. With the mixer on medium speed, add the salt, cardamom, cloves, chai tea, and vanilla. Beat, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally, until smooth and fluffy. For desired consistency, turn the mixer on high speed for 2-3 minutes.
Use right away. Or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. When you are ready to use the frosting, warm it slightly in a double boiler and whip again until it is fluffy.
Eat a Plant 
Yay!! Thanks for posting! 🙂
I made this from the recipe book too but I found my batter was super runny, not even a thin batter consistency, just liquid. It took 30+ min for cupcakes. I wonder what consistency your batter was. I am certain I carefully measured things.
I have found that the cake recipes from the book tend to be thin also, but they seems to bake pretty well, surprisingly. I usually bake them a bit longer and they turn out well. Baking GF and vegan can be a bit tricky, I must say… Perhaps try it again 😉