Yuzu Tea Chiffon Cake (柚子茶戚风蛋糕)

There was a bottle of Korean Yuzu Tea (Citron Honey Tea) sitting in my fridge with only 2 to 3 tablespoonfuls left so I decided to make good use of it to bake a Yuzu Tea Chiffon Cake  (柚子茶戚风蛋糕) this morning. The recipe was adapted from the same recipe which I used to bake the orange chiffon cake 2 months ago. The only differences which I made to the recipe were : (a) 100g of all purpose flour + 15g cornstarch instead of 115g cake flour since I didn't have any cake flour on hand, and (b) 2-3 tbsp of Yuzu Tea mixed with warm water topped up to a total of 90ml, instead of 85ml of warm orange juice.

The Yuzu Tea Chiffon Cake turned out to be light, soft, springy, and moist and there was a sweet yuzu tea fragrance lingering in the whole kitchen afterwards.

This chiffon cake rose quite high, so to avoid the cake from collapsing and losing its height, I turned off the oven heat when the cake was ready after 45 min, but kept it in the oven with the door slightly open to maintain a gradual instead of drastic drop in temperature (our room temp was only 20 degrees). This was something that I read from a baking book and indeed that helped in preventing the cake from shrinking and collapsing.

I am still not an expert in unmoulding chiffon cakes, as you can see, the area near the centre is a bit bald after unmoulding. :)

Recipe adapted from Florence

Ingredients

115g cake flour (I replace with 100g all purpose flour + 15g cornstarch)

3/4 tsp baking powder

60ml corn oil

2-3 tbsp Yuzu Tea + warm water topped up to 90ml
finely grated zest of 1.5 oranges 

1 tsp rum or vanilla essence

5 egg yolks + 30g sugar + 1/4 tsp salt

5 egg whites + 50g sugar + 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Method

1. Sieve flour and baking powder together in a big bowl.

2. In another big bowl, use electric whisk to whisk egg yolks with sugar and salt till light and creamy, about 1 min. Add in 60ml corn oil followed by 90ml yuzu tea mixture and 1 tsp rum and mix well.

3.  Add in the flour mixture from step (1) into the egg yolk mixture from step (2) and fold in swiftly and lightly using a spatula.

4. In a dry and clean bowl, use electric whisk to whisk the egg whites until there are big bubbles appearing. Add in 1/2 tsp cream of tartar and beat till it turns white. Add in 50g sugar over 3 times, a little at a time and beat until stiff peaks. (Note that it takes about 5 min at high speed for me. The peaks should hold and point straight without collapsing when you turn the bowl upside down. However do not over beat the egg whites. Note that in order for stiff peaks to be formed successfully, the bowl must be dry and clean without any stains and the egg white mixture should not be stained with any yolks)

5. Pour 1/2 of the egg white mixture from step (4) into the egg yolk mixture from step (3), and use a spatula to fold in swiftly and lightly.

6. Pour the combined mixture from step (5) into the rest of the egg white mixture and again use a spatula to fold in swiftly and lightly.

7. Pour the batter into a 8-inch chiffon pan and bake in a preheated oven at 175 degrees celsius for 45 min or until cooked. Do not line or grease the chiffon pan. Before putting into the oven, use a spatula to smooth out the top of the batter, and bang the cake pan on the table a few times to remove any big bubbles. (When my cake was baking, the cake rose too high and became too close to the top of the oven, so I used an aluminium foil to cover it loosely in the last 10-15 min to prevent it from getting burnt.)

8. When the cake is cooked, turn off the oven and leave the cake to cool in the oven with the door slightly open. Then remove the cake from the oven, invert it and allow it to cool. To unmould the cake, use a sharp serrated knife to first loosen the edges of the cake while it is still inverted, followed by the bottom of the cake, and unmould it slowly and carefully.

Note : This yuzu tea chiffon cake is adapted from an orange chiffon cake recipe which used 85ml of orange juice, hence it is not as sweet as the original orange chiffon cake. If you have a sweet tooth, you need to increase the sugar accordingly.