Cardamom + Rose Mini Cakes

Yield: 10–12 mini cakes

Ingredients

Hill Station Cream:

• 1 ½ cups (341g) heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp (8g) The Chai Box Hill Station Chai

Cardamom + Rose Mini Cakes:

• ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter
• ¼ cup (15g) The Chai Box Hill Station Chai
• 1 ¾ cups (210g) all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• 3 egg whites, room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup (120g) sour cream, room temp
• ½ cup (114g) whole milk, room temp

Stabilized Cardamom + Rose Whipped Cream:

• 3 Tbsp (21g) confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• ½ cup (114g) heavy cream
• Hill Station Cream, cold

Decoration Ideas:

• Sprinkle Pop Cupid's Arrow Sprinkles
• dried rose petals

Directions

1. First, make the Hill Station cream. In a small pot over medium heat, combine cream and chai blend. Simmer 1–2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat, then cover and allow to steep for 30 minutes.
2. Set a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl. Pour steeped cream through sieve. Discard chai blend. Allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chai cream is very cold.
3. Now let’s move on to the mini cakes. In a small pot over medium heat, melt butter. (We used the same pot that we used to infuse the cream; one less item to wash!) Add chai blend and simmer 1–2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat, then cover and allow to steep for 30 minutes.
   NOTE: If you have a rather cold kitchen and your butter has firmed up some whilst steeping, gently reheat on the stove just until the butter is liquid again.
4. Set a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl. Pour steeped butter through sieve. Discard chai blend.
5. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease wee heart pans with baking spray. (We used the 3" KitchenDance heart-shaped pans from our Love Made Edible box.) Place pans on a rimmed baking sheet.
6. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
7. In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted infused butter, egg whites, vanilla, sour cream, and whole milk until combined.
   NOTE: If your infused butter has firmed up at all, zap in the microwave for 10–20 seconds and give it a stir before combining with the other ingredients.
8. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture. Using a silicone spatula, mix until combined, being careful to not overmix.
9. Fill heart pans ¾ full with batter.
10. Bake for 17–19 minutes, rotating pans halfway through the bake. Mini cakes are done when a wooden pick inserted in the centre comes out clean with only a few fluffy crumbs attached. Centres will also be springy to the touch.
11. Transfer heart pans to wire rack and allow to cool completely.
12. Once the mini cakes are totally cool, make the stabilized whipped cream. In a small saucepan, whisk together confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch. Place pan on medium-high heat and gradually whisk in ½ cup (114g) of cream. Stirring constantly, bring mixture to a boil in order to activate the cornstarch. Simmer for a moment just until mixture thickens.
13. Pour mixture into a small bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.
14. While mixture is cooling, place metal mixing bowl and whisk attachment in freezer for 15 minutes.
15. In the chilly bowl of a stand mixer fitted with cold whisk attachment, whip Hill Station cream until soft peaks begin to form. Add cornstarch mixture a tablespoon or so at a time, whipping constantly. After all of the cornstarch mixture has been added, whip until stiff peaks form.
16. Pipe, plop, or spread stabilized whipped cream on top of mini cakes. Decorate tops with sprinkles or dried rose petals. (We used Sprinkle Pop Cupid's Arrow sprinkle medley.)

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Stabilized whipped cream adapted from: Rose Levy Beranbaum