Green Tea Chiffon

We were invited to my cousin's for a Post-Christmas Steamboat/Hot Pot dinner so I thought I'd whip up a cake.  I decided on a chiffon cake as I wanted it to be light, fluffy and not overly sweet.  I decided on Japanese Green Tea as my flavouring and set to work on looking for a recipe.  I used this one here to base my recipe on.

Green Tea Chiffon Cake 

6 large free-range eggs (separated)

150g caster sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

60ml sunflower oil

30ml cold water

30ml milk

120g self-raising flour

3 level tsp ground green tea powder

Sift the flour and green tea powder together 3 times and set aside.  Weigh out 100g the caster sugar and place in a small dish/saucer.

Place the 6 eggs whites in a scrupulously clean, grease-free bowl and whisk until large bubbles form.  Sprinkle in the cream of tartar and continue to beat (I use the whisk attachment of my hand blender) until white and fluffy.


Add 100g of the caster sugar a quarter at a time into the whites and beat in fully before adding another quarter.  When the 100g sugar is added, continue to beat until the whites are glossy white and are fairly stiff. The whites need to be able to hold their shape and will not fall out of the bowl if the bowl is upturned.

Add the remaining 50g caster sugar to the 6 egg yolks and beat until thick.  Add in the oil and beat for a couple of minutes more until it is incorporated.  Add the milk and water and mix in (it does turn back to liquid.)  Sift in the flour and green tea powder and mix in until there are no traces of flour left.

Scoop a quarter of the egg white mix into the cake batter and mix in to loosen the batter.  Take another quarter and fold in lightly with a large metal spoon.  (I use a large plastic serving spoon.) Continue with the remaining egg whites folding in so that the whites mix into the batter but be careful not to knock the air out.

Pour the mixture into an ungreased chiffon tin (mine is 23cm wide at the top and 20cm wide at its base).
Bake at 170 C for 45-55 minutes.  The chiffon will be ready when a skewer poked into the cake comes out clean with not wet sticky mix on it.  If cake browns too quickly, lower the temperature slightly and continue to cook.

Invert the cake immediately to cool.  (I balanced the central tube of the pan on a small tin.) Remove the chiffon cake when it has fully cooled.

***Notes:
I would reduce the sugar next time to 130g and increase the green tea powder to 5 level teaspoons as although it looked nice, the taste was quite mild.