the coffee cat: Matcha Chiffon Cake

I've began to realize that I'm probably the only one among my friends and family who indulge in sweets. As long as it's not the rot-your-teeth kind of sweetness, I can handle most desserts pretty well.

Anyways as by strong request from the family, here comes another cake for those not interested in super sweet desserts. Compared to the traditional Japanese Cheesecake, the chiffon is slightly spongier( quite fun to press into the cake and see them bounce again), less heavy on the cream part and generally a healthier option.

"ICING FAIL" - Just on a sidenote: the cake is fine to eat the way it is. No ICING DECORATIONS (shown on picture as I have failed miserably here.)because the icing tend to stick back to the piping bag rather than onto the cake.

Again this is adapted from my favorite recipe index Just One Cookbook. The cake is perfect for snacking, breakfast, celebration, or self-enjoyment.

Green Tea Chiffon Cake Recipe

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Yield: Makes one 12-cm (about 7 inch) cake

Ingredients:

3 large egg yolks
85 g (3 oz, or 1/2 cup and take away 1 Tbsp.) sugar
3 Tbsp. (40 ml) vegetable oil
4 Tbsp. (60 ml) water
75 g (2.6 oz, or 2/3 cup and take away 4 Tbsp.) cake flour (or make your own - see below)
1 heaping Tbsp. (about 10 g, or 0.4 oz) matcha powder
1 tsp. baking powder
3 large egg whites
1 17-cm (about 7”) chiffon cake pan
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 340F (170C).
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and add 1/3 of the sugar. Then add oil and water and whisk all together till combined.
3. Sift cake flour, matcha, and baking powder together and add to the egg yolk mixture in 3 separate times. Whisk until totally incorporated and make sure there are no lumps.
4. Using a stand mixer, whip the egg whites on medium low speed (speed 4) till opaque and foamy and bubbly.
5. Add 1/3 of the remaining sugar and continue whipping. After 30 seconds or so, increase the stand mixer speed to high (speed 10) and add the remaining sugar slowly in small increments. It takes about 2 minutes (since you changed the speed to speed 10) until stiff peaks form.
6. To check on stiff peaks, pull up your whisk and see if you can make strong 'peak' that stays still without bending down.
7. Add 1/3 of the beaten egg whites into the flour mixture using spatula until the mixture is homogeneous.
8. Fold in the rest of the egg whites in 2-3 increments and mix gently but quickly until the mixture is homogeneous.
9. Pour the mixture into the ungreased 17cm chiffon cake pan. Tap the pan a few times on the kitchen countertop to release the air bubbles.
10. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
11. The cake must be cooled upside down; stick the pan on a tall heavy bottle, leave until cake is completely cool before removing it from the pan.
12. Use a thin sharp knife or thin offset spatula and run it around the cake.
13. Place the serving plate on top and flip over. The cake will pop out easily. Enjoy!