Hojicha Chiffon Cake (Roasted Green Tea)

This was my first shot at making a chiffon cake! I was nervous about sufficiently whipping the egg whites, but it turned out well - the texture was so soft and airy! I wanted to try a tea flavor and had hojicha (a roasted green tea, one of my favorites) on hand, so I found a recipe for just that. As you can see, my cake did fall a little despite resting upside down, but I don't think it interfered with the texture. 

The process started with steeping the tea in warmed milk. Definitely use the strongest tea you can find! I knew my hojicha wasn't going to be the strongest, so I doubled the quantity - but I still probably could have used more. A good, strong looseleaf tea would have been best, I think!

Then came separating the egg whites from the yolks and beating the crap out of the whites!

It took much longer than I had hoped to get to a stiff peak stage, but eventually it happened! I wanted to make sure the air was incorporated in there for good before folding it into the batter.

Hojicha Chiffon Cake

Ingredients

6 eggs, separated

120g white sugar

100ml milk

2 tbsp hojicha

40ml oil

120g flour 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.

2. In a microwavable bowl, cover the milk and the hojicha with cling film and warm it up, about 20-30 seconds. Strain the hojicha-infused milk.

3. In a bowl, whisk the egg whites, gradually adding the sugar until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks, oil and hojicha-infused milk.

5. Add the flour to the egg yolks, and gently fold in. Gradually incorporate the egg whites until fully mixed in. 

6. Pour into a buttered cake tin and bake for about 40 minutes until a tester comes out clean. 

7. When finished, leave to cool upside-down to avoid the cake falling in on itself. 

This cake goes wonderfully with a little fresh whipped cream. Enjoy!