Earl Grey Vanilla Chiffon Cake

And so, my baking spree continues into August.  This time, I decided to try baking an Earl Grey Vanilla Chiffon cake.  As usual, I turned to Diana's blog for guidance and did some tweaking on my own to streamline the baking process.  

Instead of brewing my tea in water, I decided to just use milk & vanilla.  The aroma is heavenly as expected, however the taste of the milk tea is really quite bitter.  But that will change once the sugar is incorporated.  

Brewing Earl Grey Tea Leaves in Milk & Vanilla - Galaxy Note 9

Again, I used slightly more liquid in my recipe as compared to Diana's, 240 ml in total as compared to her 200 ml. 

140 ml of Earl Grey Milk Vanilla Essence + 100 ml Olive Oil - Galaxy Note 9

And after a short preparation time, all ingredients are ready.  

All Ingredients Ready - Galaxy Note 9

Team Yellow & Team White were properly mixed individually.  

Beating Team White - Galaxy Note 9

And then combined together and poured into the pan.  

Good to Go - Galaxy Note 9

Bake at 170℃ for 55 minutes.  The house smelled wonderful as the cake was baking. 

Rising Very Nicely in The Oven - Galaxy Note 9

Once done, take out from the oven and invert while cooling down.  

Recipe for a 23 cm chiffon cake pan

Team Yellow: 

- 6 egg yolks 

- 30 gr caster sugar 

- 140 ml milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I use Whittington Natural Vanilla Extract - Double Strength)

- 8 Earl Grey Tea bags

- 100 ml olive oil 

- 150 gr cake flour 

- 1/2 teaspoon salt 

- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 

Team White:  

- 6 egg whites 

- 130 gr caster sugar 

- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar  

  

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 170℃. 

2. Brew tea in milk & vanilla mix, make sure milk does not boil, only reaching scalding heat.  Strain and set aside to cool down.  If final mix is less than 140 ml, top up with milk till 140 ml.         

3. Beat egg yolks, olive oil & sugar till well incorporated.  Pour in the Earl Grey Vanilla essence.  Beat well again till well combined.  

4. Mix in the flour, salt & baking powder and beat till well incorporated.

5. Beat egg whites till foamy.  Gradually add sugar and cream of tartar till stiff peaks formed.  Set aside.  

6. Take a third of meringue mix and fold into Team Yellow, mix till homogenous.  Pour in the rest of Team White to Team Yellow and fold well.   

7. Pour batter into chiffon cake tube pan, tap pan on table surface a few times to remove large air bubbles.  Run through a chopstick in the batter a few times to remove smaller air bubbles.  

8. Bake in oven at 170℃ for 55 minutes.  

9. Once done, take cake out to cool by inverting the pan.  

10. Remove from pan after cake has cooled down completely.  

Unfortunately I didn't mix Team Yellow and Team White very well, which left some white meringue in the final cake.  Also there were some wet streaks.  I was too gentle when combining them.  Won't make the same mistake in the future.  And the kids didn't like the cake that much, I guess Earl Grey Tea is an acquired taste, so it will be some time before I bake another Earl Grey Vanilla chiffon cake.  

Here's a closing shot for this short entry:  

The Final Result - Galaxy Note 9

~ Photos Taken With Samsung Galaxy Note 9 ~