Preheat your oven to 350F and place a rack in the middle portion.

Take your 1 tablespoon of chai and grind in a spice grinder or motor & pestle. Reserve.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and ground chai on medium-high speed. Reserve the waxed butter wrappers.

Beat the butter mixture until fluffy, about 5 minutes.

In a separate large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Fork mix and reserve.

Using the wax butter wrappers, lightly grease the entire inside of the Bundt pan. I like using the wrappers for this, since there’s just enough left over butter on them to properly grease the pan. Add 1-2 teaspoons of flour to the pan, then gently tap the flour into all of the nooks and crannies. Invert the pan and tap any excess flour out into the sink or garbage can.

In the stand mixer, after the butter has beaten for a bit, you’ll now add the eggs, one at a time, making sure to beat in completely before adding the next. You may want to stop the mixer from time to time to scrape down the sides with a spatula.

Add the vanilla and beat to mix.

Lowering the speed, begin to alternate adding about a quarter of the dry ingredients from your bowl with about a quarter of the milk. Repeat this until you’re out of milk and dry. I like to split this into four steps, and I start and end with the flour mixture.

Beat until well mixed.

Next, wash and dry your pears. Slice 1/4 inch thick slices on either side of the core. You should get about three to four slices on each side. We want the slices to be nice and wide, resembling cross-sections of the pear itself. Reserve.

Taking your Bundt pan, spoon a nice layer of batter evenly around and smooth it lightly.

We’ll now take the pair slices, narrow end pointing down, and sink them into the batter. I like to fit each slice into a groove on the center funnel. The goal here is to have a slice of pair with every slice of cake!

Once the pear slices have been arranged, begin to evenly spoon the rest of the batter into the pan. Gently place the batter between the pear slices with a spoon, then place batter over the top with an offset spatula or large spoon.

On a cutting board, firmly tap (bang!) the pan down a few times to help get rid of any air bubbles that may be trapped.

Place the Bundt Cake into the preheated oven and cook for 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean from the middle.

Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then invert. Let cook completely.

I like to wait a few hours before digging in, as the flavors really bloom.

Top with powdered sugar and enjoy!