Remember that I said before that there is another recipe that I can incorporate more tea liquid into a chiffon cake... You wanna try?
It's the Swiss meringue recipe that I have to beat the egg white mixture with an alternative sugar like honey with heating until the mixture reaches 65°C. This recipe can accommodate 60g more liquid than the traditional recipe one at here, making it a better recipe to use if the tea that you are using is milder in flavor.
Here, I'm showing you how to bake an ultra soft honey fruit tea chiffon using a cold infused tea with honey. You can use any tea that you like and goes well with honey to bake with this recipe. And the tea can be either cold infused or hot brewed, with or without caffeine.
Wanna bake this Ultra Soft Honey Fruit Tea Chiffon Cake?Let me show you how...
If "a picture is worth a thousand words - Fred R. Barnard", my short and concise baking video speaks at least a million words... LOL!Watch my video to see how I baked this cake. It is pretty straightforward but please note that this moisture-loaded chiffon cake is very very very soft and tender and can be easily squashed. So please remove it from the pan with lots of tender loving care.
Music: Bensound
The cake will shrink slightly after cooling but not too bad.
Texture-wise, the cake is superb! It is super ultra soft and tender.
Depending on the strength of the tea that you used, your cake might smell a little less or more intense than mine. Mine with strawberry, watermelon and mint tea has a really sweet fruity smell but its sweetness is just right. In another word, it doesn't taste as sweet as it smells. Nice!
Pros and Cons?Pros:Due to the addition of honey, this chiffon cake has a nicer flavoursome golden brown crust as compared to the other chiffon cakes that are made with just sugar.Cons:This method of beating the egg white mixture is more time consuming than the traditional non-heating method.I would say that both cakes are equally good being ultra soft. To describe further, the previous cake at here is fluffier and more like cottony soft whereas this cake with more added liquid is moister and more tender.I like both cakes! What say you? Maybe bake both and see which one you will like.
If you like this recipe or the previous tea chiffon cake recipe at here, please support me! Please LIKE, SHARE and FOLLOW me at either my Facebook at here or here or my Instagram @zoebakeforhappykids because every LIKE, SHARE and FOLLOW from you means a lot to me. It tells a busy full-time working mom like me that I'm in the right track and I should continue to bake and share more in the future. Thank you!!!
Here's the recipe.
IMPORTANT: Please use the exact weight and make sure that all ingredients are at room temperature.
Makes one 8-inch (20 cm) chiffon cake
For the tea extract:
5g (about 1 tbsp) any tea leaves, cold infused or hot brewed type
150g water plus slightly more to top
To make cold infused tea: Combine tea leaves and water (at room temperature) and allow mixture to infuse for 10-15 min with occasion stirring. Strain and remove the tea leaves. Top the extract with extra water to 150g if required.
To make hot brewed tea: Combine tea leaves and hot boiling water. Set aside for the tea to infuse while cooling to room temperature. Strain and remove the tea leaves. Top the extract with extra water to 150g if required.
For the egg white mixture:
240g egg whites (about 7-8)
30g caster sugar70g honey
For the egg yolks mixture:
90g egg yolks (about 6-7)
50g neutral tasting vegetable oil
150g tea extract - see above
120g cake flour with 8% protein
1/4 tsp salt
5g fine ground / chopped / pieces tea leaves*, dried and not hydrated
* Tip: I like the addition of dried tea leaves into the cake because it enhances its tea flavor further but it can be optional if the dried tea leaves are too coarse or too hard to chew. If you are fussy and still want to add the tea leaves, I suggest that you can ground the dried tea leaves into fine powder before adding the tea into the cake batter. Honestly speaking, I couldn't be bother because it is really difficult and troublesome to grind just a tiny 5g of tea leaves in any coffee grinder or food processor. So, I will add the tea leaves or I don't.
Preheat oven to 160°C with top and bottom heating. Please do not use fan forced heating!
For the egg white mixture:
Combine egg whites, caster sugar and honey in a large mixing heat proof bowl and place the bowl over a pot of simmering hot water. Use a hand whisk to whisk lightly while the mixture is heated to 65-68°C (not more than 70°C). Mixture should look pale, foamy and slightly thickened.
Remove mixture from the heat and transfer mixture into a mixing bowl of an electric mixer. Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites in the lowest speed for at least 10 mins to stabilise the mixture.
While the mixture is beating, prepare and whisk egg yolk mixture.
For the egg yolk mixture:
Using a hand whisk, combine egg yolks, oil and tea extract in a large mixing bowl until combined. Sift in flour and salt. Add fine pieces of tea. Whisk gently until the batter is smooth and combined.
Back to the beating of egg white mixture:
Increase beating speed to two higher speed and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Do not use too high beating speed. Do not over-beat the mixture. The meringue should be very smooth with tiny bubbles.
Using a hand whisk or a spatula, gently fold in the egg whites to the egg yolks mixture in 3-4 batches. It is ok to mix the 1st batch of egg white more vigorously into the egg yolk mixture but the subsequent portions must be folded in very gently. Make sure that most of the white is not visible after folding. Do not over-mix mixture.
Pour batter into an un-greased 20 cm chiffon tube pan. Give the pan a gentle tap to remove any large air bubbles.
Chiffon baking options:
Basic - Bake at 160°C for 55 mins or until it is thoroughly baked. IMPORTANT: This cake has to be baked for at least 55 mins in total.
With slits - This chiffon cake baking strategy will help the cake to rise uniformly rising with minimal cracks. The cake will also have a deep flavoursome top and surrounding crust.
Bake at 160°C for at least 15 mins or until a "skin" has formed on the cake surface and just before the cake surface starts to crack.
At the 10th to 14th minute, remove the cake out from oven. Cut 6 or more slits on the cake surface and place the cake back into the oven immediately. Continue to bake at 140°C for another 60 mins or until it is thoroughly baked. WARNING: Honey burns more quickly than sugar! If the top of the cake turns brown too quickly, cover the bread loosely with a foil at the last 20-25 mins of baking and the cake needs to be thoroughly baked it for at least 60 mins in 140°C. Do not under-bake the cake!
Please do not bake this cake with too low oven temperature or a tray of boiling water (also known as steam bake). Detailed explanation is at here.
After baking, invert the cake immediately to cool on a wire rack. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan before removing it from the pan. Important: Do not unmould the cake by pressing it! The cake is very fragile!!! To unmould, please use a blunt thin plastic spatula or knife to run along the cake's edges and gently push the cake out from the pan. Slice and serve. WARNING: This cake is very soft and it can difficult to slice even with a serrated knife!
Store any uneaten in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. And it is still very soft and moist even on the 3rd day of bake!
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