Earl Grey Tea Chiffon Cake

If you love tea and fluffy cakes, this earl grey tea chiffon cake is for you. Even though you don’t drink tea, you’d like it after the first bite.

This elegant chiffon cake doesn’t taste too sweet. The earl grey tea liquid and tea leaves smell so fragrant. That’s why this cake is well liked by my family. For me, it’s truly a bliss while having a cup of coffee or tea with a little piece of this soft and fluffy cake, couching to read a favourite book.

Earl Grey Tea Chiffon Cake Recipe

(Printable recipe) By Christine’s Recipes
Course: Bakery
Cuisine: Asian
Prep time: 25 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Ingredients of Earl Grey tea milk:

• 120 ml fresh milk
• 6 gm (about 4 teaspoons) Earl Grey loose leaves

Ingredients:

• 5 egg yolks
• 20 gm castor sugar
• 110 ml Earl Grey tea milk
• 100 gm cake flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 80 ml canola oil

Ingredients of meringue:

• 5 egg whites
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• 60 gm castor sugar

To prepare the earl grey tea milk. 

I found a flask that perfectly holds my cake pan inverted.

Method:

1. Put the fresh milk in a little sauce pan. Heat over medium heat until it’s really hot, not boiled though. Add the earl grey tea leaves. Cover and remove from heat. After cooling down, drain out tea leaves through a fine sieve and keep them. Top up with more milk to get 110 ml if needed. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 170C / 335F.
3. Beat egg yolks and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the tea milk. Add tea leaves. Sift in cake flour and baking powder. Lightly combine together. Stir in one-third of the oil at a time. Combine well and get a smooth batter. Set aside.
4. Use a large clean mixing bowl, without any trace of oil or water, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until bubbles form. Add the cream of tartar. After mixing well, add the 60 grams of sugar in three batches, about one-third at a time, and beat well between additions. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form. (Note: Please refer to this video “How To Beat Egg Whites”.)
5. Fold-in the beaten egg whites into the batter with a spatula. (Note: please refer to this video "How To Fold-in Egg Whites".)
6. Pour the batter into the cake pan. Bake in the preheated oven for about 35 to 40 minutes. After baking the first 15 minutes, remove the cake pan from oven. Score 6 lines on the surface of the cake with a sharp knife. Continue to bake until cooked through. An inserted skewer comes out clean.
7. Remove the cake from the oven. Invert the pan immediately on a wire rack. Let it cool completely.

Notes：

• I used Twingings Earl Grey loose tea. Process them in a food processor beforehand if you like stronger tea taste. Bear in mind that if using tea bags, the little bag will absorb some milk. Top it up to get the quantity yielded by the recipe.
• The tea leaves are edible. You can omit them though.