Chai cake

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/350F and greaseproof 2 cake tins of equal size.
2. To make the cake, place the butter and sugars into a bowl and beat until pale and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes.
3. Add 1 egg and beat until well combined, approximately 1 minute and repeat with each egg until pale and fluffy.
4. Add the chai tea, milk, Greek yogurt and extract to your mixture and beat until well combined and smooth.
5. Place the flour, baking powder and ground spices into a separate bowl and stir to combine.
6. Toss into the dry mixture into your chai batter and beat on the lowest setting until no dry portions remain in the edges or base of your bowl.
7. Divide evenly into your 2 cake tins and smooth out.
8. Place into the oven and bake until golden and a skewer comes out clean, approximately 30 minutes.
9. Remove and allow to cool in the cake tin for 5 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack.
10. Allow to cool fully.

Malted Milk Swiss Meringue Buttercream

1. For the buttercream, place a small saucepan on low heat with enough water not to touch the base of a heatproof bowl.
2. Place the egg whites and sugar into the bowl and put over the simmering water.
3. Beat on low until your egg whites reach 73C/165F (if you don’t have a thermometer, the best test is to put a clean finger into the egg whites and you feel no sugar granules between your finger or can’t keep your finger in the mixture for more than 3 seconds).
4. Remove the egg whites from the heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
5. Beat on medium speed with a whisk attachment until stiff and the bowl is tepid to the touch.
6. Toss in all the cubed butter and whisk on the lowest setting to incorporate, approximately 3 minutes.
7. Increase the speed to medium and beat until your buttercream is smooth, approximately 10 minutes.
8. Place the hot milk, malted milk powder and salt into a small bowl and stir together until smooth.
9. Pour into your buttercream and change to a paddle attachment, beating for a further 10 minutes.
10. Place your first cake layer onto a plate and evenly spread a portion of the buttercream on top and smooth out to a 1/3 inch thickness.
11. Lay the second layer on top and press down lightly to ensure the layers are evenly stacked.
12. Place approximately 6 tablespoons of the buttercream on the cake and smooth out over the entire surface to form your crumb coating.
13. Smooth out and ensure you do not mix the crumb coating portion into the remaining buttercream.
14. Place the cake into the fridge to set for 30 minutes or set at a cool room temperature for 1 hour.
15. Finish with the remaining Swiss meringue buttercream, decorating how you prefer.
16. Serve up and slice.
17. Dig in!