I hadn’t heard of dirty chai latte until recently when watching a TV show where it was mentioned. I discovered it is lovely spicy chai tea, mixed with espresso coffee. An interesting combo I’m sure you will agree…
I gave the drink a try and loved it. I did try making it at home first and then ordered one at Starbucks a few days later. It's a difficult taste combination to describe - quite earthy, which is maybe where the dirt part comes in!
However, I decided its unusual flavor mix would work well in a dessert – but what could show off the flavor to its fullest potential?
I decided a thick, creamy pudding would work the best and set about devising my dirty chai pudding. I looked at some coffee recipes on-line and loosely based my recipe on one of those ( a mousse from Sprinkle Bakes to be exact).
This recipe called for one of my favorite ingredients – condensed milk. A lot of recipes say sweetened condensed milk, but I have yet to see unsweetened condensed milk here in the UK – so assume it’s sweet!! The large amount of milk in the recipe adds to the milkiness of an actual dirty chai latte.
The whole process was a bit like making a custard to which I added my mix of espresso coffee and strong chai tea. To serve I poured the mix into little coffee glasses I have, then let it set up in the fridge. When ready I added frothed milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon, just like an actual dirty chi latte.
I really enjoyed the unusual combination of flavours together and thepudding was a perfect ‘host’ for them! Enjoy if you make….
Dirty Chai Pudding
A delicious thick pudding flavoured with espresso and chai tea Cuisine: dessert Category: pudding Yields: 6 small glasses
Prep Time: 45 Mins Chill Time: 3 Hrs Total Time: 3 Hrs 45 Mins
Ingredients
- 1 espresso shot
- 2 chai teabags
- 250 ml almond milk (or whichever milk you prefer)
- 4 teaspoons cornflour
- Pinch of salt
- 1 can (400 grams approx.) condensed milk
- 1 medium egg
- Milk for garnish
- Cinnamon to sprinkle
- Prepare your shot of espresso and steep the two tea bags in one cup of hot water for at least 30 minutes. Remove the bags and add the espresso shot. Measure out 180 ml of this mix and set aside.
- In a large saucepan, mix 4 tablespoons of the almond milk with the cornflour until absorbed, then add the chai/espresso mix, rest of the almond milk and the can of condensed milk. Heat this over a medium heat, stirring with a whisk constantly until begins to thicken. Take off the heat.
- Crack the egg into a small bowl and slowly add a few teaspoons of the hot milk mix, to increase the temperature of the egg (this prevents in scrambling). Add the egg to the rest of the milk mix and place back on the heat, whisking constantly until the mix comes to a boil. Knock back the heat immediately and simmer for a couple more minutes, then remove from the heat again.
- Divide the pudding mix between 6 small glasses and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or preferably overnight.
- To serve, I frothed some milk with a little milk frother whisk thing I had, spooned that on top and sprinkled on some cinnamon to complement the flavours.
