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Brighten up these cold winter days with a yummy Lemon Chai Cake. Sweet lemony almond cake infused with the warming flavors of chai for a cozy winter twist. Finish this cake simply with a citrus honey lemon glaze that’s unique and delicious. Every last crumb is SO GOOD. Enjoy for brunch, as an afternoon snack with a latte, or for dessert. It’s simpler to make than you’d think, and so very pretty…with very little effort.
This post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.
I think by now we all know that when it comes to baking sweets, around here, we often prefer something chocolate. But, there are times throughout the winter where baking something bright and citrusy is all I want.
With Meyer lemons fresh in season, they make for the perfect cake, muffin, and so much more. Since I don’t experiment much with citrus sweets, it’s always extra fun when I do. And every time I bake something like this cake, I’m reminded just how fresh and delicious citrusy recipes really are.
Originally, I had another idea in mind for today. But as soon as I heard that Meyer lemons had arrived at our local store… well, this just seemed so much more exiting and delicious.
I quickly changed my plans and started testing out the recipe.
The details
Since we’re infusing the cake with chai, the first step is to steep a few tea bags in steaming milk. While the tea steeps, the rest of the cake comes together easily.
Blending soft butter together with fresh lemon zest is the key to adding incredible flavor. I used my staple butter that I keep stocked in my fridge at all times, Land O Lakes® Butter.
You guys know how much I enjoy my Land O Lakes® Butter. It’s the butter my dad used when I was growing up, and it’s the butter I still use today.
I love using high-quality Land O Lakes® salted butter. The rich buttery flavor and the hints of salt shine through in this simple winter cake.
For the lemons, if your grocery store has them…use Meyer lemons. They have a sweeter taste with hints of orange. They really are a delicious winter treat.
Next, mix in honey to sweeten. Then, add the eggs, vanilla, and flour, then beat in the chai infused milk.
On to the glaze
While the cake bakes, make the glaze using a little lemon juice, honey, and powdered sugar.
For color, I used the zest of a blood orange, but this is optional.
This lemon chai cake can be served slightly warm or at room temperature. If you’d like to prepare the cake a few days ahead of time, it stores really well. Just be sure to keep it covered and in a cool place. There’s also no need to refrigerate this cake, making it the perfect make ahead brunch, dessert, or afternoon snack to brighten up these short winter days.
Delicious any way you serve it!
Looking for other dessert recipes? Here are my favorites:
Lemon Strawberry Dutch Baby with Ricotta Cream
Tahini Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Lastly, if you make this Lemon Chai Cake, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Lemon Chai Cake
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 448 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup milk of choice
- 3-4 bags chai tea
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) Land O Lakes® Salted Butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 3/4 cup almond flour (or 1/2 cup all-purpose flour)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Glaze
- 3-4 tablespoons juice from a Meyer lemon, or use a regular lemon
- 1 blood orange (optional)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar, use more as needed
Instructions
- 1. Bring the milk to a low boil in a small saucepan until steaming. Remove from the heat. Add the tea bags, cover, and steep for 10 minutes. Remove the tea bags and discard.2. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a (9×5 inch) loaf pan.3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, honey, and lemon zest until combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined, then add the vanilla. Add the whole wheat flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat to combine. Add the steeped chai milk, beating until just combined.4. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the cake is browning too quickly, cover with foil.5. Meanwhile, make the glaze. Remove the zest from the lemon and orange with a vegetable peeler in wide strips. Then thinly slice the strips. In a medium bowl, mix together the honey and 3-4 tablespoons lemon juice. Drizzle 1/2 the glaze over the warm cake. 6. To the remaining glaze, add the powdered sugar, whisk until smooth. Stir in 1/2 the lemon and orange zest. Pour the glaze over the cake. You can garnish with the remaining zest, if desired. Let set 5 minutes, slice, and enjoy warm or at room temp.
Notes
Storing: this bread keeps well for 3-4 days at room temperature.
To Freeze: Bake as directed, cool each loaf completely, then tightly wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container for up to 4 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, or on the counter for a few hours.
This post was originally published on January 18, 2022
Is there a gluten free recipe
Hi Lisa,
You can use an equal amount of GF flour. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
when I saw this picture for this I thought it was spaghetti grilled cheese only to find out it isn’t. im quite disappointed…ill be waiting for the ultimate spaghetti grilled cheese recipe. THANK YOU
Hi Miranda,
This recipe is for a lemon cake, sorry I do no have a recipe for spaghetti grilled cheese. xTieghan
This is SO GOOD! I must be catching this recipe after some adjustments were posted because I didn’t have any issues with burning as it is currently written. It is the perfect blend of spice and citrus, best part of both worlds this time of year!
Hi Jenna,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am thrilled to hear it was enjoyed. Thanks for sharing your comment! xTieghan
Hello from Down the Hill (Golden)!
I just pulled this from the oven (it smells AMAZEBALLS) and plan to bring it to share with a couple of friends tomorrow.
I did want to share that I read the previous comments and ended up lowering the temperature to 350 using the oven convection setting for 45 minutes. The loaf did get pretty brown on top, but not burnt, by any stretch.
I also took some liberties with the glaze. I mixed the lemon juice & honey with a couple tablespoons of half & half, a tablespoon of some chai tea mix I had on hand and 3-4 tablespoons of powdered sugar to create a syrup of sorts. When the cake came out of the oven, I poked holes in the top of the cake with a wooden skewer and drizzled about 1/2 of the glaze mixture on top, using the back of a spoon to spread it evenly . The cake absorbed it beautifully. Once the cake is cooled completely, I will sprinkle the top with powdered sugar and garnish with more lemon zest. I’ll update you on how it was received!
Thank you for a fantastic recipe blog! I make many of your recipes & we’ve not been disappointed yet!
Hey Abby,
Wonderful!! I am so so glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed. Thanks a bunch for making it! Thanks for sharing your notes and what worked well for you. xT
Same as the other comments. 375, 40 mins was burned on top, even adding foil to cover the last 10 mins. It sunk in the middle which I assume is because I am at 6K ft altitude. I did cut back the baking powder. Chai flavor could be stronger for my liking. The glaze steps were confusing as were measurements. I dripped half the juice mix while the cake was hot. Assume that is how it worked. I used blood orange juice as the Meyer lemons are not available here yet. Love the strong citrus flavor! I used GF flour (Manini’s) and it turned out great.
Hey Michele,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, sorry to hear you had some trouble with it. xTieghan
The good news is it does taste yummy. I def recommend 4 bags of the chai, it’s really mild.
I also agree with other comments that 375 is too hot. All my edges were way too brown, borderline burnt. Turn down to 350! And also agree that the glaze steps are super confusing and should be broken up and at least double the powdered sugar.
Hey Sarah,
Happy Sunday! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Thanks for your feedback on the oven temp. xTieghan
This recipe was great! I think the Chai makes things a bit interesting too, although I think I toned it down this time. Next time, I think I might do 4 packets instead of the 3 bags I did this time. It’s a great recipe too because it doesn’t take too long to put together. I didn’t have a 9×4 pan, only a larger one, but I think staying on the smaller side is nicer because you get a nice heftier slice. The one I used was definitely too big, because the cake could only grow to an inch and a half at the tallest point. But the flavor was delightful and the icing was awesome, although I didn’t use any honey and just used more lemon juice for a super citrus kick. I’m looking forward to making this again later this week for my colleagues!
Hey Iman,
Happy Sunday! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
I think this recipe needs some adjustments, but I took into consideration people’s notes and made adjustments based on my experience as well. I came out fabulous with these minor adjustments. I subbed in sprouted spelt flour for pastry flour because they have similar protein contents and had it on hand but I assume most any wheat based or GF flour would work. I added 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to batter. Added a chai spice dried spice mix to the batter total of 1 1/2 tsp but could have done more for better chai flavor. Added 1 Tbs of heavy cream to the milk measurement (still to 1/2 cup not 1/2 plus 1 Tbs) to ensure moistness.
Finally, I sprayed a muffin tin well and made these into smallish muffins (so glaze at end doesn’t overflow out of cups into top of pan), started heat at 350 to prevent burning, and placed on lower middle rack in oven. Turned down heat to 325 after 15 minutes because they were plenty browned. At 20 minutes total they were perfectly cooked.
Poured the lemon/honey part of glaze into each muffin cup immediately to soak in and then stirred in the powdered sugar with remaining glaze and drizzled rest of it on.
The flavor is amazing and I’m super impressed that these are made with whole wheat and almond flour and still have such an excellent combo of flavor, moistness, and crumb. I will make again! Thank you for the recipe!!
Hey Angela,
Happy Sunday! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback and notes. xTieghan
I’m so sorry, Tieghan, I normally love your recipes, but this one was a thumbs down. As several other people mentioned in the comments, the top of this bread burned. I followed the instructions exactly, using almond milk. Baked at 375 (not convection) for 40 min. I even covered the top of the bread with parchment paper when there was 9 minutes left of baking because I noticed it was already burning. When I turned the cake out of the pan, the sides were burned, too.
Steps 5 & 6 in the glaze instructions are confusing. I’m assuming you mean to pour 1/2 the glaze over the warm cake while it’s still in the pan – which I did. But then in step 6 where you say to add the powdered sugar and pour that glaze over the cake, wait 5 min and then slice and eat warm – I have to assume that you mean to turn the cake out onto a cooling rack before pouring on the powdered sugar glaze.
Also, the 1/4 c powdered sugar definitely wasn’t enough. I had to add almost another 1/4 c to get the glaze to thicken.
Giving 3 stars though because this cake at least tasted good!
Hi Melanie,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. I will go back and look at steps 5 and 6. Have a great weekend! xTieghan
can I use just regular whole wheat flour?
Hi Brooke,
Yes, that should be just fine for you to use. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan. I used to live in Boulder, Colorado but now live on the coast in South Carolina. I made the adjustment for cooking times in higher elevations. It was done perfectly at 30 min here. It’s not your job to tell everyone at different elevations how long to bake but might just make a note of it so people can check for themselves. Thanks for this recipe though. It was delish!!!
Hey Erin,
Happy Friday!! Thanks a lot for giving this recipe a go, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Thanks so much for your kind message! xxTieghan
Super sad about this. Great flavor but took out after 40 minutes and it was burnt as a crisp. ?
Hi Brittany,
So sorry to hear this! What did you have your oven temp at? Since all ovens do vary slightly, it’s always helpful to keep an eye on your baking. xTieghan
This had great flavor. Someone mentioned above that the top burned and mine would have too, if I hadn’t watched it. I cooked it at 350 for 35 min and half way through covered it with parchment paper. I did us GF flour and almond flour to accommodate dietary restrictions. I think any longer it would have burned and been dry. I’d make again.
Hey there,
Awesome!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xTieghan
This looks amazing but was wondering if almond flour can be used as the flour for this cake? Or does it have to be a combination of two flours? Almond and coconut flour?
Hi Dorinda,
I would do a combo of flours for best results. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope this recipe turns out amazing for you! xTieghan
So about the whole wheat pastry flour…Clicked your link in the ingredients, and it looks like it’s $27 per bag (!?), so would AP flour be ok to sub? Or could you use all almond flour? Ty!
Actually I misread that ha! But my local store won’t have it, so still wondering if other flours can be subbed? Thank you!
You bet, all purpose flour will work.
Will all-purpose flour and almond flour work? I don’t have pastry flour but I have coconut flour if that would work in some combination? Can’t wait to try this! Sounds delish!
Hey Erin,
You could do all purpose flour and almond flour, that will work well for you. I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Hi there,
The $27 is for a pack of 4 bags of flour:) You can use all purpose flour in place of the whole wheat pastry flour. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan