Autumn chai latte

Hi food lovers,

This recipe was created by four hands. :o) An idea launched and imagined by Karin and brought to life and improved by Jenny. Yes, the Cakelicious team is growing and it's a pleasure to work as a team.

I love chai tea and squash. So I thought about the dessert I could make with these two ingredients :o)

I decided to make a chai tea latte cream with a maple syrup squash purée on top.

The recipe is for 6 large verrines (23cl) or 12 small ones (12cl):

Chai tea latte cream

2 chai tea bags

100gr hot water

2gr agar-agar

50gr brown sugar

500gr milk

2 tsp gingerbread spices

1 tsp vanilla flavouring

Squash compote

500gr squash purée (I used a 1.3kg red kuri squash which gave me 800gr of purée)

60gr maple syrup

1 tsp liquid cinnamon flavouring

1/2 tsp vanilla flavouring

60gr water

Chai tea latte cream

Let's start with the chai tea latte cream so it has time to steep.

Prepare all your ingredients. I always do this so I don't forget anything once I get started on the recipe. :o)

Steep 2 chai tea bags in 100g boiling water for 10 minutes.

Then weigh 2gr of agar-agar with a precision spoon scale and add the agar-agar to the 50gr of brown sugar.

For this recipe I decided to use agar-agar to introduce you to different textures. Agar-agar is incredibly powerful! But its texture is slightly firmer than gelatine. Personally I love it.

And we'll finally have a recipe for vegans. :o) Simply replace the milk with almond milk and everything is vegan.

In a saucepan, pour 500gr of milk, the sugar/agar-agar mixture, the steeped tea, 2 tsp of gingerbread spices and 1 tsp of vanilla flavouring.

Bring the mixture to a boil and let it cook for 1 to 2 minutes so the gelling agent in the agar-agar can activate. Set aside.

I wanted to give my verrines a tilted effect. So I placed the verrines on a cupcake tray so I could fill them with the chai latte cream "diagonally". The effect looks great once the cream has set. ;0).

Fill a jug with your chai latte cream. This way you can easily fill your verrines.

Divide the cream among the verrines, then place everything in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. It is best to prepare the cream the day before, so the agar-agar can set properly. Caution! The freezer is not an option (see our article on gelling agents ;0) ).

Squash compote

To make our compote, we first need to make a squash purée.

Here, I used a 1.3 kg red kuri squash which gave me 800gr of purée.

Peel the squash and remove the flesh.

Cut your squash into small pieces. Place the squash pieces in a large saucepan and fill it one-third of the way with water.

Boil the squash cubes until they are tender. About 20 minutes.

Make sure to use a large saucepan as I used a small one and ended up with squash splatters all over the kitchen!

Drain the squash (but reserve 100gr of squash water for later), then blend your squash with an immersion blender. You will get a nice thick texture like mashed potatoes.

I got approximately 800gr of purée. Since I only need 500gr for this recipe, I'll use the rest for a good squash soup or squash cupcakes ;0). Check out the other recipes on our blog, we have excellent squash-based recipes.

Alternatively, you can freeze the squash purée in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Pour 500gr of purée, 60gr of squash water (adjust according to consistency), 60gr of maple syrup, 1 tsp of liquid cinnamon flavouring and 1/2 tsp of vanilla flavouring into a saucepan.

Heat over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until you get a creamy consistency. Add a little more squash water if needed. It shouldn't be too runny since we will be piping this purée once it has cooled.

Set the squash purée aside at room temperature until ready to pipe.

Finishing and decoration

As you can see in the photo, the cream stays nicely tilted once it has set.

Prepare a 40 cm piping bag with a 14 mm star nozzle and fill it with squash purée.

Pipe a rosette onto the chai latte cream as in my photos No. 1 and No. 2.

For the finishing touch, I used small and large crispy chocolate pearls, snow sugar, and golden shimmer powder which I applied with a dry brush.

First add the crispy chocolate pearls, then dust a touch of snow sugar and finally a little gold powder. :o)

And there you have it :o) As you can see in the final photos, my chai latte cream is three-coloured.

If I had wanted it to be that way, it never would have been ;0) It's because the spices are too heavy. They have sunk a little to the bottom.

We of course tasted it and found the combination very good as it is. So I didn't change anything. But if you'd prefer to avoid the three-colour effect, you can use Funcakes Speculoos flavouring instead of the gingerbread spices.

Personally I think the effect is awesome. :o)

I hope you enjoy this recipe and that you'll be just as convinced as I am.

Have a lovely Sunday!

Jenny

P.S.: All the equipment used can be found at the bottom of the recipe.