Thai tea is steeped in a mixture of milk and sweet condensed milk to make a cupcake that tastes shockingly like its inspiration.
These cupcakes easy to make, and a little confusing to eat (in a very, very, very good way). See, they exactly like Thai iced tea – you know, the delicious kind you order at Thai restaurants to calm down fiery curries and noodles packed with chili (the one you inevitably end up drinking most of before your food even arrives …). You’d swear you were drinking a big glass of creamy, sweet, orange-colored Thai iced tea – but it’s a cupcake. That feels like a win win situation if I ever saw one!
A tasty, easy condensed milk buttercream pulls together the flavor ruse even further and helps to mimic that layer of milk that often comes on top of the tea.
One of my favorite parts about making these cupcakes is handing one to someone without telling them what the flavor is and seeing their excitement as they recognize the flavor.
How to Make Thai Iced Tea Cupcakes
For the Cupcakes:
- Preheat the Oven: Set your oven to 350°F. Prepare 24 muffin cups with liners or grease and flour them.
- Scald the Milk: In a medium pot, whisk together whole milk and condensed milk. Heat over medium heat until scalding, not boiling.
- Steep the Tea: Remove from heat, add Thai iced tea mix, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes. Strain and let cool to room temperature. Use the fridge to speed up cooling if necessary.
- Prepare Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla, mixing until well combined.
- Combine Ingredients: Alternately add dry ingredients and the tea-infused milk to the butter mixture, starting and ending with dry ingredients.
- Bake: Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 20-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
For the Buttercream:
- Mix Butter and Condensed Milk: In a large bowl, beat butter until smooth. Gradually add condensed milk, then powdered sugar, and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add Vanilla: Stir in vanilla extract until evenly distributed.
Serving and Garnishing
- Garnish the frosted cupcakes with a sprinkle of Thai tea mix or crushed dried tea leaves for an authentic touch.
Thai Iced Tea Cupcakes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 24 1x
Description
Thai iced tea cake with condensed milk buttercream – tastes exactly like the beverage!
Ingredients
Cupcake Batter:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/4 cup condensed milk
- 3/4 cup Thai iced tea mix
- 2 3/4 cups cake flour, unsifted
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Condensed Milk Buttercream:
- 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups condensed milk
- 1 2/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cupcakes:
- Preheat the Oven: Set your oven to 350°F. Prepare 24 muffin cups with liners or grease and flour them.
- Scald the Milk: In a medium pot, whisk together whole milk and condensed milk. Heat over medium heat until scalding, not boiling.
- Steep the Tea: Remove from heat, add Thai iced tea mix, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes. Strain and let cool to room temperature. Use the fridge to speed up cooling if necessary.
- Prepare Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla, mixing until well combined.
- Combine Ingredients: Alternately add dry ingredients and the tea-infused milk to the butter mixture, starting and ending with dry ingredients.
- Bake: Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 20-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
For the Buttercream:
- Mix Butter and Condensed Milk: In a large bowl, beat butter until smooth. Gradually add condensed milk, then powdered sugar, and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add Vanilla: Stir in vanilla extract until evenly distributed.
Serving and Garnishing
- Garnish the frosted cupcakes with a sprinkle of Thai tea mix or crushed dried tea leaves for an authentic touch.
Notes
– I purchased Thai iced tea mix from a Thai grocery store in Los Angeles. This recipe will work with any dry Thai iced tea mix that instructs you to steep in hot water and then drain (i.e. not an instant tea powder), whether you purchase it or make it from dry ingredients. Most mixes I’ve seen seem to contain food coloring, which I like to avoid – but I haven’t yet tried making my own mix at home, but I found some good options doing an internet search for thai iced tea recipes.
– The tea flavor develops as the cupcakes sit, so they’re best if you make them 24 hours or so before eating. Finished and frosted cupcakes can be refrigerated for 48 hours before eating (bring to room temperature before serving), and unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen for up to three months (you can even frost them without thawing, if you want).
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Baking
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Thai American
Oh, yes, these are fantastic. Taste is great, perfect level of sweetness!
Used homemade Thai tea mix and it worked like a charm. Thanks for this unique recipe!
Really happy to hear that!!
Ok, this might officially be my favourite recipe in the world. Thank you!
Definitely not going to argue with you on this one :D
Never thought to use Thai Iced Tea in baking—what a fantastic idea and great flavor!
I recommend letting the cupcakes sit a day for even more flavor. Just divine!
That’s actually not a bad idea at all!
Hi Bowen,
Please help. My tea is too thick, it’s sludge and won’t pass through the sieve. It’s barely dripping out. I followed the measurements – 2 cups milk, 1/4 cup condensed milk and 3/4 cup tea mix powder. What can I do? I’m supposed to get 2 cups of tea out of it?
Hi Bowen,
I tried this recipe couple times and it turn out great. I follow the recipe, and it is awesome!
Wow, this was absolutely delicious, really gave me a whiff of Thailand!
sorru i just noticed it
Hi Bowen, I was just wondering how much liquid Thai tea was left after straining it out?
Hi Reia – It’s about 2 cups.
Hi Bowen, I made the frosting…but it is quite runny that when I frosted the cupcakes, it dipped on the sides of the cupcake. What possibly went wrong?
Hi Joanne – It could be a number of things that happened. The ratio of dry (powdered sugar) to thick (condensed milk) to wet/soft (room temp butter) should give you the right consistency, but if the butter was too soft, the condensed milk too thin, or there wasn’t enough powdered sugar, the consistency would definitely be off. Any clues there? Unfortunately beyond that I can’t say much unless I saw how you did it.
If I have frost the cupcake already, how long can I keep it refrigerated?
I intend to refrigerate my frosted cupcakes for 4 days before consumption. Will the cupcakes spoil by then?
Hi Cherly – In four days the cupcake won’t go bad (it would probably take at least a week for that to happen), but the cake will dry out significantly. Usually I recommend refrigerating cake for no more than 48 hours. You could definitely freeze them, though, which is what I’d recommend for 4 days. Either way (fridge or freezer), they’ll probably taste best if you let them come up to room temperature before eating. (Sometimes I do love a good chilled cupcake, though!)
Hi Charmaine – buttercream can be fairly thick and rich, but not always. I’d say this one is kind of in the middle. If it’s too thick and rich for you, you can always add more liquid (preferably milk, but water would work too) to thin it.
Is Buttercream frosting extremely thick and rich?
Hi Bowen,
2 c. whole milk + 1/4 c. condensed milk is used to steep the Thai tea and then 3/4 c. of that is used for the recipe, correct? We don’t actually use all of the tea we steep? Thanks :)!
Hi Tina – You’ll use all the milk mixture; the 3/4 cup measurement refers to how much dry tea mix you steep into the milk. Hope that’s clear – let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck! Hope you enjoy the recipe.
Do you have eggless cake recipe?
Hi Ana – I have not experimented much with direct substitutions of eggs in cake recipes. If you have a substitution you’ve used in other recipes, it would likely work here as well. I’m sorry I didn’t see your comment until now! Good luck.
I made these cupcakes! YUMMY!! I cut the recipe in half with one exception, the tea amount, I kept it at 3/4 cup and passed it through a sieve without a cheesecloth. The second change I made was with the fat 1/2 butter, 1/2 shortening. I used to be a professional baker (not pastry chef) and I know a half and half mixtures keep in moisture without being greasy.
These were minor changes and this is still a solid recipe.
Great crumb, moist, tender, all in all a really tasty recipe. Freezes well (tightens the crumb… a good thing).
Way to go Bowen Close!
Thanks, RK! Glad you liked them.
Good luck finding the mix! If you can’t, I bet you’ll be able to find it online somewhere. Let me know what you think of the cupcakes!
It’s like you read my mind. I’ve been craving Thai Iced Tea for ages – for some bizarre reason Thai restaurants in Britain don’t make it! Crazy and tragic, but true. I need to make a trip into London to a specialist Asian food store to get some of the mix, at which point I may very well go on a bender and try your cupcakes. :-)