Matcha Chiffon Cake
Matcha Chiffon Cake
How about ringing the changes at tea time and pairing your favourite hot drink with a light, airy Ocha & Co. infused matcha (our premium matcha for baking with) matcha chiffon cake?
As the name suggests, a matcha chiffon cake is a delicate, cloud-like treat.
The cake was originally invented in 1927 by an insurance agent, and keen amateur chef, called Harry Baker, in Los Angeles. The aptly named Baker had a customer base of well know Hollywood personalities and soon after he created his lighter-than-air but wickedly sumptuous cake he was getting more commissions for it than he was for brokering insurance.
Everybody wanted to know the secret of the cake, but Baker wasn’t telling until, in 1947, General Mills, the home of Betty Crocker, made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. General Mills released their version of the cake to the American Public in 1948, their advertising boasted it was: “high, light and handsome, light as angel food, rich as butter cake.”
By law General Mills had to state the ingredients, so the secret Baker had sat on for decades was out: Vegetable oil instead of butter.
Due to the high ratio of eggs and the inclusion of vegetable oil rather than butter, more air can be beaten into the batter producing a delicate crumb. Once in the oven, the egg whites puff up, making the cake taller and even fluffier. Imagine this, already a thing of beauty, with the pale green hue and soft flavour of matcha tea.
Although perfect just as it is, it can be drizzled with warm, melted dark chocolate and you have the recipe for a sophisticated and unique tea party.
We’d love to hear about your own Marvellous Match recipes! Send them to us with photos and we’ll publish them on our blog and our Ocha and Co. Instagram account. As a thank you, we’ll send you a voucher for $5 off your next purchase from Ocha & Co.
Ingredients for Matcha Chiffon Cake
Ingredients
55 g whole milk
30 g cooking oil of choice
55 g self-raising flour
10 g matcha powder
2 large eggs, separated ( the Japanese use refrigerated eggs)
Pinch salt
½ tsp vinegar
65 g castor sugar
Baking the Matcha Chiffon Cake
Preheat oven to 155C/310F
While you wait for the oven to warm, scoot down to the bottom of this page for some friendly words of advice about chiffon pans and cooling the cake…
1. In a large glass bowl whisk oil and milk together and microwave for 20 seconds.
Are you back from the bottom of the page, yet? Great, now let’s begin…
4. In a separate bowl combine egg whites and vinegar and beat until foamy. The bowl must be scrupulously clean and grease free or the whites will not Whisk up properly. Add in 1/3 of the sugar and beat, repeating this method until sugar is incorporated and soft peaks form.
5. Remove about 1 cup of the egg whites into the egg yolk batter. Mix to combine and then add the yolk batter into the egg whites.
6. Using a spatula carefully fold the yolk batter into the whites in a gentle up-and-over motion taking care not to be too heavy-handed as this will deflate the whites.
7. Pour the mixture into a 6-inch chiffon pan* and use a long skewer to run through the batter to remove air bubbles.
8. Bake 25-30 minutes until the tester comes out clean.
Some friendly advice about chiffon pans and cooling…
Chiffon pans can vary in appearance. We recommend a tube-style chiffon pan which produces better results. Some pans have two small ‘feet’ protruding on the upper edge for cooling. This inversion will keep your chiffon cake light and “tall”
Don’t use a non-stick pan or grease the pan. The success of a chiffon cake depends on it clinging to the pan sides to maintain the airy texture. Allowing the cake to cool completely in the pan will ensure it can be turned out smoothly.
