Oolong Tea Chiffon Cake

The start of 2011 has been mad busy for me. Spent the weekend at my crazy friends' chalet, drawing only 3 to 4 hours of sleep per night and had activities lined up back to back. Am also involved in Chingay practices as well since Chinese New Year is approaching. I'll try to sneak in a few pictures of the awesome floats in my next few posts. On top of that I have to work. But there's this intricate sense of satisfaction and happiness derived from being so busy and tired hehe :)

BBQ again~ Pigging out time :/

See what I mean by my friends are crazy

Did a stock take recently on my baking ingredients, discovered that I have a load of threatening-to-expire goods. Boooo. Bought a pack of tea early last year when I was figuring out how to make bubble milk tea at home, turns out that the Oolong tea bags were a little too light for my fancy, so they were chucked aside, long forgotten at the corner of the cabinet until recent discovery.

Adjusted the recipe to fit a 21cm pan. I've actually tried another Oolong Tea chiffon cake recipe before this one and it didn't turn out too well, so was kinda of discouraged. Fortunately, my chiffon cake didn't fall off the pan this time. The tea-ish taste is kinda lacking, but the cake carries a relatively higher water content than other chiffons that I've made, contributing to a moist yet fluffy texture.

Oolong Tea Chiffon Cake (adapted from Sarah Marx Feldner's A Cook’s Journey to Japan: Fish Tales and Rice Paddies, 100 Homestyle Recipes from Japanese Kitchens)

Ingredients:
3 (2) tbsp of loose leaf oolong tea, or 4 (3) tea bags), divided
160ml (112ml) water
4 (3) egg yolks
100g (70g) sugar (I use superfine)
65ml (45ml) vegetable oil
1/2 (1/3) tsp salt
140g (99g) cake flour

6 (4) egg whites
Pinch of salt
50g (35g) sugar (I use superfine)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C with the rack in the middle position.
2. Using a mortar and pestle or an electric coffee grinder, grind 1 tbsp of the loose leaf tea until fine. Set aside. If you’re using tea bags, skip this step.
3. Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of loose leaf tea or, if using, the 4 tea bags. Cover and let steep according to packaged instructions, about 5 minutes. Strain if using loose leaf tea. Let cool to room temperature. If necessary, add additional water to measure 160 ml.
4. Whisk together the egg yolks, 100 g of the sugar, oil, salt, ground tea leaves and steeped tea in a large bowl.
5. Add the flour and gently whisk just until smooth. Set aside.
6. Beat the egg whites in another large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. When the whites become frothy, add the salt. When the whites begin to increase in volume and lose their opaqueness, gradually add the remaining 50 g sugar. Beat until whites are stiff and glossy, but not dry.
7. Fold ¼ of the whites into the egg yolk-tea mixture to loosen the batter, then gently fold in the remaining whites just until fully incorporated, being careful not to deflate.
8. Pour batter into an ungreased 25-cm (I use 21cm) tube pan with removable bottom. Gently run a knife or spatula through the batter to break up any large air pockets – be sure to reach the bottom.
9. Bake for 30-35 (29 for me) minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool upside down – suspended over the neck of a wine bottle works best.
10. Once the cake is completely cooked, remove it from the pan by running a knife around the sides and carefully pushing the bottom out. To release the tube portion from the cake, carefully run a knife between the cake and bottom of the pan.