If you haven't tried infusing your baking with tea then you're in for a treat! Adding tea to both baked and no-bake desserts is one of my favorite ways to create delicious and interesting flavor combinations.
This cake was inspired by the gorgeous flavors of Indian masala chai including black tea, fragrant cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, and more. When combined with the other ingredients it tastes like an edible version of a chai latte!
Warming spices and cozy chai make this feel like the winter version of pumpkin bread!
Note: If you love chai spices, try my vegan chai cake and chai cheesecake recipes as well!
🧾 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make this fluffy chai bread recipe from scratch:
Ingredient Notes
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Loose Chai: I use a black tea blend with Assam tea, cardamom, cloves, black pepper, and cinnamon. Use good quality chai for the best flavor.
- Vegan Buttermilk: Soy milk is mixed with apple cider vinegar to create a buttermilk alternative that will tenderize the cake and give it a fluffy consistency. You can use almond milk or oat milk if you prefer.
- Pure Maple Syrup: Deepens the flavor and compliments the spices in the cake.
- Vegan Yogurt or Apple Puree: Either will work here, for yogurt go for a thick Greek-style yogurt, coconut yogurt, or even vegan sour cream. This acts as an egg replacer and helps this vegan tea loaf stay moist after baking - and for several days afterward!
- Brown Sugar: Soft brown sugar or coconut sugar works here, my favorite is light muscovado sugar.
- Olive Oil: The oil adds moisture and helps the loaf cake feel fluffy and springy. Other neutral oils like sunflower or canola oil also work.
- Warm Spices: Make your own chai spice mix with ground cardamom, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, allspice, and ground cinnamon.
- Orange Zest: Freshly grated zest adds a zingy freshness to this loaf which pairs well with the spices in the sweet bread.
- You'll also need powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar) for the vanilla glaze.
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🔪 Instructions
Here are step-by-step images showing how to make this easy chai quick bread recipe. (Please refer to the detailed printable recipe card at the end of this page for full measurements and written instructions).
To get a nice chai flavor in the bread, the tea is steeped into a strong chai concentrate. This involves using minimal water and quite a bit of chai! This is then mixed with the vegan buttermilk mixture and steeped again to really draw out the flavors in that beautiful tea before baking.
Step 1: Steep the chai in freshly boiled water for 10-15 minutes. You can use a small teapot or bowl covered with a plate.
Step 2: Pour the vegan buttermilk into the tea, cover, and let it steep for another 5 minutes.
Step 3: Add the brown sugar, maple syrup, yogurt or applesauce, olive oil, vanilla extract, and orange zest to a large bowl and whisk.
Step 4: Strain the milky tea into the wet ingredients and mix again to combine. Make sure you squeeze out all the moisture from the tea!
Step 5: Add the sifted dry ingredients (all purpose flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and sea salt). Gently whisk them into a batter. Be careful not to over-mix, only stir until there are no visible pockets of flour.
Step 6: Transfer the cake batter to a lightly greased loaf pan lined with parchment. Add a thin strip of vegan butter to the top of the loaf to encourage it to crack in the middle - you can also dip a knife in oil and run it down the center.
Step 7: Bake the cake in a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, until golden brown. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 8: Mix the icing ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the entire loaf. Decorate with star anise and fresh orange segments.
💭 Recipe Tips
If you can't find loose chai, cut open chai tea bags and use the tea inside. The strength of the tea will depend on the quality and brand, so you can add more or less depending on how pronounced you want the chai flavor to be.
Remove any lumps from your sugar, as these will cause dark spots in your baked loaf. Unrefined sugar like coconut sugar and light muscovado sugar can tend to clump together due to the water content. Use your fingers to crumble them back to a powder consistency.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack. Do not let it cool inside the pan for longer as this can make the bottom soggy!
💬 FAQs
If you're planning on eating this cake within a couple of days, there's no need to refrigerate it. Wrap it in plastic wrap or place it in a sealed container and store it on the counter. Store it in the fridge for up to a week to extend the shelf life. It stays nice and tender in the fridge thanks to the oil, apple puree/yogurt, and maple syrup.
Absolutely! You can freeze this loaf cake for 1-2 months. First, cut the cake into individual slices and place them in a sealed container separated by sheets of parchment paper, or store them in a freezer bag.
If you're unsure whether the loaf is done, check it with a toothpick test! Insert a toothpick or skewer into the center, it should come out clean with a few crumbs on it but no wet batter.
🍞 More Vegan Quick Bread
Update (Dec 2024): I have updated my original recipe to have an easier gram-to-cup conversion, with some slight ingredient ratio and method adjustments to create a taller loaf with a moister crumb!
📖 Recipe
Chai Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 25 g (4 tablespoons) loose chai *see notes 1+2
- 120 ml (½ cup) water freshly boiled
- 160 ml (⅔ cup) soy milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 270 g (2 ¼ cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 120 g (½ cup) light brown sugar *see notes 3+4
- 120 ml (½ cup) maple syrup
- 120 g (½ cup) vegan Greek-style yogurt or unsweetened applesauce *see note 5
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) olive oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 tablespoon orange zest freshly grated
Tangy Vanilla Glaze (optional)
- 180 g (1 ½ cups) powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar/icing sugar) *see notes
- 1 tablespoon vegan Greek-style yogurt or orange juice
- 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk or orange juice (2-3 tablespoons for thinner frosting)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
- star anise optional, for garnish
- fresh orange slices optional, for garnish
Instructions
- Make the tea: Steep the chai in freshly boiled water for 10-15 minutes. You can use a small teapot or bowl covered with a plate.
- Make buttermilk: In a jug, mix the soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Pour the mixture into the tea and let it steep for another 5 minutes.
- Strain the tea: Squeeze the tea through a fine-mesh sieve to extract the concentrated chai mixture. You should have 220ml of concentrated milky tea after straining - don't worry if it appears curdled.
- Combine dry ingredients: Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and salt, and whisk to combine.
- Combine the wet ingredients: In a large separate bowl, whisk the brown sugar, maple syrup, yogurt or applesauce, olive oil, vanilla extract, and orange zest. Whisk in the buttermilk and tea mixture.
- Make the batter: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 2 parts, gently whisking each time. Be careful not to over-mix, only stir until there are no visible pockets of flour.
- Bake: Add the cake batter to the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 mins. After 45 minutes, check the cake for doneness by inserting a knife or toothpick into it. If the toothpick has cake residue on it, bake for another 5-10 minutes as needed.Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack.
Notes
- Loose Chai: I use a black tea blend with Assam tea, cardamom, cloves, black pepper, and cinnamon. Use good quality chai for the best flavor.
- If you can't find loose chai, cut open tea bags and use the tea inside. Use more or less tea, for a milder or more intense flavor.
- Light Brown Sugar: I use light muscovado, sub for coconut sugar or soft brown sugar. Reduce to 100g for slightly less sweet (the texture will be a bit less moist).
- Remove any lumps of sugar before mixing. Use your fingers to crumble them back to a powder consistency.
- Vegan Greek-Style Yogurt: Sub for unsweetened applesauce, vegan sour cream, or thick coconut yogurt
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It was delicious and so easy to make!
Hi Anouk,
So glad you enjoyed it and that it was easy to make too 🙂
Loved, loved, loved this recipe!
Made mine with aquafaba as egg replacer and Agave (in Spain, Maple syrup is not so easy to find), and it turned out great!
Thanks!!
I loved the flavor of this cake! However, mine came out claggy even after additional time in the oven. I substituted applesauce for the Greek-style yogurt at a 1:1 ratio and I wonder if that may be the reason why? Would this be a problem of adding too much liquid, or not enough liquid? I'd love to make this recipe again once I can figure out why it went wrong!
Hi Neda,
Thanks so much for your feedback. What parts of the loaf were claggy, was in in certain spots or at the bottom? I don't think it would be the applesauce as I've made it with both of them. Hopefully we can figure it out!
A perfect pairing with my chai latte this morning. I adjusted the sweetness, using half of the brown sugar and maple syrup that the recipe calls for.
I'm so happy you enjoyed it, thanks for much for your feedback Lisa!
Can I use pumpkin purée instead of apple purée?
Hi Larissa,
I think it would could work but it would definitely affect the flavor
So good, your recipes never disappoint! This bread is something I have never tasted before, a friend of mine said it tasted very winter festive, not one piece was left at the end of the night
Hi Marcela,
So happy you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you so much for the lovely feedback 🙂
Why are there two different amounts for some ingredients? This cake is really good even without the topping!
Hi Donna,
Thank you so much for pointing this out! It should have been showing grams and conversions to cups. I've fixed it there now. So happy you enjoyed the recipe x
Can I use a homemade applesauce / apple puree
Hi Faiza,
Absolutely, so long as it's unsweetened and not too watery (resembles the consistency of storebought).
Hi I am really excited to try this recipe! Can you share about your toppings? Thanks
Hi Rosario,
Amazing, I hope you enjoy the recipe! For toppings I use the glaze (in the recipe card) and some star anise and orange segments.
Hi! I would love to make this recipe.... but how could I substitute the coconut sugar? It’s not something I buy regularly. Thank you so much!!
Hi Andrea
You can swap it for light brown sugar 🙂
Super thanks! And also should I use the same quantity as the coconut sugar?
Yes the same amount 🙂
Absolutely PERFECT. Mind blown how incredibly and utterly delicious and perfect this cake is. Thank you so so much
Hi Monique,
I'm so happy you loved the recipe! Thank you so much for your amazing feedback