Remember LondonFog? Not the weather phenomenon in the UK’s capital, rather the hot beverage which was apparently conceived in Canada.
It’s a steamed, milky earl gray tea with sweet vanilla syrup added. Disneyboi loves it especially and has it quite often in our local Starbucks. (I’ve made it here on the blog before, check out my recipe).
So when I was thinking what I could make him for Valentine’s weekend, I decided to incorporate those flavours into a cake. I saw a cake online at Hummingbird High and decided to adapt that. (It in turn was adapted from a cake in a book called ‘Easy Gourmet’).
The cake was like a chiffon cake, light and fluffy as it had egg whites incorporated into the mix. It had all the flavours of earl gray tea and vanilla in the sponge. To get that earl gray flavor in there, I soaked some tea bags overnight and got a very bergamot infused solution the following morning. I knew the flavours were going to pack a punch.
I also made a ‘Very Vanilla Whipped Cream’ to serve on top. I also sprinkled some lemon zest over the top of the cream, to compliment the citrusy notes in the cake.
Well, Valentine ’s Day came and guess who was ill in bed all day? Yes, Disneyboi. The cake wasn’t touched until the following day and he only managed a small piece, but he assured me he did like it.
(A wee tip too – I made loads of cream, too much for just the cake and my pancakes in the last post. So I froze dollops of the cream on a baking tray and when solid, popped them into a freezer bag. Pop them on top of some hot cocoa and they melt slowly into the drink!)
And do you like my Cakeyboi greaseproof wrap in the pictures? Well, check out my next post to find out all about that…
Here’s how I made the cake…
London Fog Chiffon Cake
Light and airy cake flavoured with early gray tea and vanilla Cuisine: Dessert Category: Cake Yields: 9" Cake
Prep Time: 30 Mins Cook Time: 30 Mins Total Time: 1 Hr
Ingredients
- 4 Earl Grey tea bags
- 250 ml boiling water
- 5 egg yolks
- 4 egg whites
- 115 grams granulated sugar
- 80ml vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 135 grams plain flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- 400 ml double cream
- 3 tablespoons icing sugar
- Seeds of half a vanilla pod
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- Soak 3 of the tea bags in 250 ml of boiling water and leave until cool, or overnight.
- Remove the teabags and squeeze out the excess liquid.
- In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and two tablespoons of the granulated sugar until light and creamy. Slowly add the vegetable oil and whisk until incorporated. Add 185ml of the cooled tea and whisk this in also. Add the vanilla extract and salt and beat this in. Add the flour and baking powder and gently mix this in. Set the bowl aside.
- Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 9” cake tin with greaseproof paper and lightly grease the sides of the tin.
- Whisk the egg whites in a mixer until foamy then add the remaining granulated sugar slowly, until you get stiff peaks and you have a thick glossy meringue mix.
- Add one third of the beaten egg whites to the cake batter and mix in. Add another third and carefully fold this in then the last third, mixing that in gently too.
- Transfer the mix to the cake tin and bake in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes. When a toothpick comes out clean from the centre, it is ready.
- Allow to cool fully in the tin, before taking a knife and running around the edges to loosen the cake.
- To make the cream, beat it with the icing sugar and vanilla seeds until thick. Spread on top of the cake and sprinkle with the lemon zest.
- Serve with a cup of earl gray tea.
