17 | November | 2025 | Bewitching Kitchen

A celebration of Fall in cupcake format… Decorated with tiny tuile cookies, in the shape of maple leaves.

VANILLA-CHAI CUPCAKES
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

makes 10 cupcakes

120g all-purpose flour
150g granulated sugar
50g butter, unsalted and at room temperature
1 large egg
140mL milk
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla paste or extract
1 tsp chai powder (or make a spice mix of your liking

Heat the oven to 350F and line a cupcake pan with paper baking cups.

Put the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and butter cut in small pieces in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low until the butter is in very small pieces, almost like sand.

Whisk the egg with the milk, vanilla and chai powder, and add slowly to the mixer running in low-speed. Once it is almost smooth, increase the speed to high for a couple of minutes, scraping the bottom of the bowl once.

Stop the mixer and make sure the batter is fully smooth, mixing by hand with a spatula. Add batter to lined pan, filling half-way full only. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.
Leave cool completely before decorating.

For the tuile cookies:
20g egg whites
20g melted butter
20g granulated sugar
20g all-purpose flour

Mix all ingredients and whisk well. Make sure butter is liquid but not too warm. Spread over your template, lift the template gently. Bake at 375F for 5 to 7 minutes, until fully cooked. Air-brush if you like, draw the details with a fine tip pen.

For the buttercream, use this recipe, starting with 226g of butter. Separate in two batches, dye one light brown, leave the other plain. Spoon tow lines of icing over a plastic wrap, make a little sausage and insert in a piping bag fitted with 1M tip. Ice the cookies when fully cool, add sprinkles and the tuile decorations.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: These cupcakes are wonderful for Fall, particularly if you make the maple leaf decorations. You can also use fondant or modeling chocolate with a silicone mold, but I was anxious to try my hands at the template I had sitting in my drawer for a while. I have not found it where I bought, it is out of stock, but you can see it here.

The Chai powder is a great ingredient, I’ve been using it in cookies, macarons, and now on cupcakes. Available in the place that sells it all (click here), and that I keep trying to fight against but don’t have enough will power, apparently.