Matcha Chiffon Cake
A matcha chiffon is the tallest, most trembling thing I know how to bake — light as a breath and green as the first tea of spring. Be tender with the egg whites and patient with the cooling, and the cake will rise slowly, then hold that height for you.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Servings
- 8
- Calories
- 230
- Protein
- 5g
Ingredients
- 1 cup cake flour
- 2 tbsp matcha powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 5 whole eggs
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup milk
- ¾ cup sugar
Instructions
- 1
Heat your oven to 340F (170C) and set a rack in the lower-middle. Have an 8-inch tube pan ready — the tall kind with a hole in the middle and a removable bottom. Please do not grease it, and no paper either. A chiffon needs to grip those bare metal walls to climb; a slippery pan gives you a short, sad cake.
- 2
Separate the 5 eggs while they are still cold, because cold eggs part more cleanly. Slip the yolks into a large mixing bowl, and let the whites fall into a second bowl that is spotlessly clean and dry. Even a fleck of yolk or a smear of oil will keep the whites from whipping, so be careful here. Let the whites sit while you make the yolk batter.
- 3
Add the vegetable oil to the yolks and whisk until the color pales a little and it looks smooth and slightly thickened, about a minute. Pour in the milk and whisk again until it is one even, silky liquid with no oily streaks floating on top.
- 4
Now sift the cake flour, matcha powder, baking powder, and salt right over the bowl. Sift — do not just dump — because matcha loves to clump into little bitter green pills, and the sieve catches them. Whisk gently until the batter is smooth and glossy and falls from the whisk in a slow ribbon. Stop the moment it is smooth; over-mixing wakes up the flour and toughens the crumb. Set this bowl aside.
- 5
Whip the egg whites on medium until they turn foamy and lose their clear look, then add the sugar in three small pours, whipping between each. Keep going until you reach firm, glossy peaks: lift the beater and the peak should stand up with just a soft little curl at the very tip, like a wave about to fold. This is the whole cake, so take your time and trust your eyes over the clock.
- 6
Scoop about a third of the meringue into the yolk batter and whisk it in freely — this first batch is a sacrifice, just to loosen things. Add the rest in two goes, but now switch to a spatula and fold: cut down through the middle, sweep along the bottom, turn the bowl a quarter, and lift. Fold slowly until no white streaks remain, and no longer. Every stroke lets a little air escape, so be thorough but kind.
- 7
Pour the batter into the ungreased pan from a hand's height, letting it ribbon in to settle evenly. Smooth the top, then drag a chopstick or skewer in a slow circle through the batter to pop any big hidden bubbles. Lift the pan an inch and let it drop once or twice on the counter to release the rest.
- 8
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. It is ready when the top springs back softly under your fingertip, the deep crack that forms looks dry inside rather than wet, and a skewer pushed into the tallest part comes out clean. If the top browns fast but the center still wobbles, give it a few more minutes — an underbaked chiffon sinks as it cools.
- 9
The instant it leaves the oven, turn the pan upside down — rest it on its little feet, or hang the center tube over the neck of a sturdy bottle. This is the secret of chiffon: cooling it inverted stretches the delicate crumb and stops it from collapsing under its own softness. Leave it hanging until completely cool, about an hour. Do not rush this, even if it smells wonderful.
- 10
To release, run a thin knife or offset spatula around the outer wall and around the center tube, pressing against the metal rather than the cake. Ease out the removable bottom, then free the base the same way and turn the cake out. Cut with a gentle sawing motion, not a press, so the tall airy crumb stays light. It keeps its tenderness best on the day you bake it.
Tools you’ll need
- oven
- 8-inch tube pan (ungreased, removable bottom)
- large mixing bowls
- electric mixer or hand whisk
- balloon whisk
- fine-mesh sieve
- rubber spatula
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- skewer or chopstick
- thin knife or offset spatula
- cooling rack or tall bottle
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