This delightful Earl Grey Chiffon Cake is the perfect sweet treat for an afternoon snack. It’s light, spongy, and airy, with a lovely fragrance and calming citrus flavor from the bergamot orange oil in the tea. Tea-infused baked goods and chiffon cakes are very popular in Japan, and for good reason. Follow my simple techniques for a beautiful cake that’s surprisingly easy to make at home.
Have you tried Earl Grey flavored baked goods before? How about baking with tea leaves? If you haven’t, you must try this Earl Grey chiffon cake. Earl Grey is a tea blend with a delightful and calming citrus flavor. The citrus flavor comes from oil extracted from the rind of a bergamot orange.
As Earl Grey is my all-time favorite tea, all kinds of baked goods infused with Earl Grey tea are my top choices in bakeries. Given my love for sweets, I would even rank any Earl Grey flavored baked goods higher than chocolate. I am not kidding! From Earl Grey cookies, and Earl Grey pound cake to this Earl Grey chiffon, I can never resist any of them.
Tea-Infused Baked Goods
After living in the U.S., I realized tea-infused baked goods are not as popular compared to Japan. This actually motivated me to learn how to bake so that I can enjoy my favorite Earl Grey baked goods at home.
If you haven’t tried making a chiffon cake before, you will have to trust me when I say it’s one of the easiest cakes to bake. Not an experienced baker? Not to worry. I used to think it would be intimidating to bake chiffon cake as well, but it turned out to be less challenging than I had presumed. Once you understand the simple techniques, it will be one of your favorite cake recipes to bake at home.
Tips to Make Airy Chiffon Cake
The most crucial part to make a successful chiffon cake is to make perfect meringue and fold it into batter correctly.
Meringue
In Japan, the majority of recipes call for cold egg whites to make meringue (and we don’t use cream of tartar). If you already know how to make meringue with room-temperature egg whites and cream of tartar, please use your own method. Otherwise, you can follow my detailed instructions in the recipe.
Fold In
When you finish making meringue, make sure to fold in egg whites gently so the tiny bubbles don’t deflate. If you deflate the egg whites too much, the cake will not be fluffy.
How to Make the Perfect Chiffon Cake
- Have a question on chiffon cake making?
- Do you have a different size chiffon cake pan?
I answered your questions in this post.
Itadakimasu!
Chiffon cakes are my daughter’s favorite cake because she can help me make them and we enjoy making different types together. What I like best about chiffon cakes is they are so fluffy and bouncy, and not too sweet. The sponge-like texture is exceptionally light and airy and I feel like I can gobble up half of the cake myself.
It is also slightly healthier than other types of baked goods that use plenty of butter. This earl grey chiffon cake recipe uses just 3 Tbsp. of oil. With a faint citrus aroma, it makes the perfect cake to enjoy in an idyllic afternoon when you have some good friends over.
If you don’t like Earl Grey, try my Green Tea Chiffon Cake or Meyer Lemon Chiffon Cake.
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Earl Grey Chiffon Cake
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tsp Earl Grey loose tea leaves (for the tea powder)
- 1 Tbsp Earl Grey loose tea leaves (for the strong brewed tea)
- 6 Tbsp hot water (just boiled)
- 3 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (yolks and whites separated)
- 85 g sugar (½ cup minus 1 Tbsp; 3 oz; divided into thirds)
- 40 ml neutral oil (3 Tbsp minus 1 tsp)
- 75 g cake flour (⅔ cup minus 2 tsp; weigh your flour or use the “fluff and sprinkle“ method and level it off; you can make Homemade Cake Flour)
- 1 tsp baking powder
For Serving
- confectioners’ sugar (for dusting; optional)
Instructions
- Before You Start: Gather all the ingredients. I highly encourage you to weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale for this recipe. Click on the “Metric“ button at the top of the recipe to convert the ingredient measurements to metric. If you‘re using a cup measurement, please follow the “fluff and sprinkle“ method: Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle the flour into your measuring cup, and level it off. Otherwise, you may scoop more flour than you need.
- Preheat the oven to 340ºF (170ºC). For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). You will need a 17-cm (7-inch) chiffon cake pan. If you have a different size pan, read this post to adjust the ingredient measurements. Make sure you use an aluminum pan with a removable base (read my blog post for more details). Please see my Notes at the end of this recipe for additional details on ingredients, equipment, and techniques.
- To make tea powder, put 2 tsp Earl Grey loose tea leaves in a food processor (I used a Nutribullet here). Grind them to a fine powder. Alternatively, you can use a mortar and pestle to grind the tea leaves, or put tea leaves in a bag and crush them. Transfer to a small bowl and set it aside.
- To brew strong tea, put 1 Tbsp Earl Grey loose tea leaves in a fine sieve over a bowl. Next, pour 6 Tbsp hot water over the tea leaves to steep. Let it cool, then remove the tea leaves. Measure 4 Tbsp (60 ml) of this brewed tea and set it aside.
- Separate 3 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) into egg yolks and whites. Keep the eggs whites in a stand mixer bowl; refrigerate or freeze the bowl and egg whites for 15 minutes until cold. (It‘s okay if the egg whites are partially frozen). Tip: In Japan, we chill the egg whites to make smooth, fine-textured meringue and do not use cream of tartar.
To Mix the Batter
- Start mixing the batter. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and one-third of the 85 g sugar with a hand whisk. Whisk vigorously until it‘s a creamy pale yellow color.
- Add 40 ml neutral oil and 4 Tbsp brewed tea to the egg mixture. Whisk all together until combined.
- Add the powdered Earl Grey tea to the egg mixture and mix well.
- To a flour sifter or fine-mesh sieve, add 75 g cake flour and 1 tsp baking powder. Sift one-third of this flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Whisk by hand to incorporate the dry ingredients well. Check that there are no lumps in the batter, then sift another one-third of the flour mixture into the bowl. Mix to incorporate. Then, sift in the rest of the flour mixture and whisk until just combined; do not overmix. Make sure there are no lumps in the batter. Set aside while you beat the meringue.
To Make the Meringue
- Take out the bowl of egg whites from the refrigerator or freezer. Set the bowl on the stand mixer with a whisk attachment (I used the KitchenAid Professional Series). Start whipping the egg whites on medium-low speed (Speed 4) until the egg whites are bubbly, opaque, and foamy.Add another one-third of the sugar and continue whisking for 30 seconds. Then, increase the mixer speed to high (Speed 10) and gradually add the remaining sugar in small increments. Beat vigorously until stiff peaks form. It takes about 2 minutes of beating at high speed to reach stiff peaks. Tip: I usually pause beating when the egg whites are almost done. Take off the whisk attachment from the mixer and use it to hand-mix the looser egg whites near the bowl‘s edge into the stiffer whites near the center until it‘s all homogenous in texture. Then, put the whisk back on and continue beating.To check for stiff peaks, pull up your whisk. The meringue in the bowl or on the whisk should be firm enough to hold a peak, pointing straight up (or maybe folding over a little bit just at the very tips). By this time, the meringue should have a glossy texture, too. Tip: If you overbeat the meringue, it will become very stiff and grainy and won‘t incorporate into the batter at all.
To Fold In the Meringue
- Using a spatula or hand whisk, add one-third of the meringue into the batter. Mix well by hand until it‘s homogeneous.
- Gently fold in the rest of the meringue in 2 or 3 increments. Take care not to deflate the air bubbles in the meringue and batter as you fold. Once it‘s well combined and homogenous, fold the batter one last time and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure there is no tea powder accumulation. The final batter should fall in ribbons when you lift the spatula or whisk.
To Bake
- Prepare an ungreased 17-cm (7-inch) chiffon cake pan. From 6–8 inches high, pour the batter into the pan at just one spot to prevent air pockets from forming. While holding the removable base in place, gently tap the pan a few times on the work surface to release any air pockets in the batter. Run a wooden skewer through the batter to release any remaining air pockets.
- Put the cake pan on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Bake at 340ºF (170ºC) for 30 minutes. To check if it‘s finished baking, insert a toothpick or wooden skewer into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean and the top of the cake springs back when gently pressed, it‘s done. Tip: If the top of the cake gets dark too quickly, cover the top loosely with aluminum foil to prevent burning. (The cake may be too close to the heat source.)
- Remove the cake pan from the oven and gently drop the pan onto the work surface to shock the cake. This stops the cake from shrinking. To cool the cake, prepare a tall, heavy bottle with a long neck, such as a glass wine bottle. Invert the center tube of the cake pan onto the bottle‘s neck and let the cake cool completely in its pan. Cooling the cake upside down helps it stretch downward and maintain its loft.Once the cake is completely cool, run a long offset spatula around the outer edge of the pan and a small offset spatula around the inner tube. Gently take out the removable base and cake from the outer pan. Then, run the offset spatula along the bottom of the cake to release it from the base. Tip: I used to use a knife for this step, but the tip of the knife tends to poke the cake while moving around, so I now recommend using offset spatulas.
To Serve
- Invert the cake with the removable base onto a plate or cake stand. The cake will slide off the inner tube. Chiffon cake is served “upside down” with the flat bottom on top. Dust confectioners’ sugar on top, if you‘d like. Slice and enjoy.
To Store
- I strongly recommend consuming the cake sooner for the best freshness. However, you can keep the cake covered on a plate or stand at room temperature in a cooler place for 1–2 days. To keep it longer, wrap individual slices in plastic wrap or put in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 3 days or in the freezer for 2 weeks.
Notes
- Make sure your beaters and mixing bowl are clean and dry. A speck of oil or egg yolk on either one can minimize the volume of the beaten egg whites.
- Avoid plastic bowls, as even clean ones may hold oily residue that can affect the beaten quality of the egg whites.
- Use a bowl that’s wide enough to keep the beaters from being buried in the egg whites.
- Do not overbeat or underbeat the egg whites or your cake may fall. Egg whites should have a stiff peak, pointing straight up (or maybe a little bit folding over just at the very tips).
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on June 7, 2015. The blog content has been updated with more information.
Hi! Thank you for being so specific in explaining each step in the procedure and having photos and a video as well! I like the additional info about substitutes and how to make it he recipe foolproof. Many thanks and keep the recipes coming. Looking forward to more????
Hi Teresa! You’re very welcome. I tend to write too much… but I like sharing a little things I learned from baking/cooking with my readers too. Thank you for your kind comment. xoxo
Hi, Nami,
This summer was the first time I tasted an Earl Grey chiffon cake and since then I wanted to try and make one myself. I was looking all over the internet for a good easy, Japanese recipe and yours looks absolutely amazing!
My question is: Is it possible to make the cake in a regular, round cake pan?
Hi Noa! Personally, I don’t recommend. One reader left comment above in this post or another chiffon cake recipe on my blog that he/she tried with round pan and it worked. But I didn’t see it and I’m not sure how successful it was. The thing is, if you want to make a chiffon cake, tall and airy, I really think . you need a chiffon cake pan that’s NOT non-stick. The batter is supposed to climb up and slippery non stick won’t work, also the center of cake needs to climb up using the tube area… therefore, I don’t think the regular cake pan works. If you have a leftover batter I would put in a small cake pan or muffin cup to try… but not a big cake pan. That’s what I think, but I’m not an expert in baking either. 🙂
The cake turned out amazing and got many compliments 🙂 Eventually found a chiffon cake pan although it wasn’t with a removable base so it was very hard to take the cake out of the pan.
I will definitely make this cake again!
Thank you, Noa.
Hi Noa! I’m glad to hear you and others enjoyed this chiffon cake recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Thank you so so much for this PERFECT recipe! Its delicious!
Hi Sly! So happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you!! 🙂
Hi, there is an error in your video. It says 107C instead of 170C. I tried to bake the cake just by watching the video and used the wrong temperature. Now my cake is still wet after 30mins of baking at 107C. I hope I can still save it. Thanks for the great recipe anyway!
Hi Adeline! We’re aware of the typo in the video, but won’t be able to fix once it’s published. We put the annotation over the video to correct the temperature, but YouTube discontinue to support annotation function so it might not be shown anymore. 🙁 I truly apologize. 🙁 I put a note in the video description on YouTube and wrote a comment there… but I am aware that not everyone will read the description before baking or check my website for the written recipe… I’m very sorry.
Hi Nami, it is ok coz my cake still turned out well after I continued baking it at the right temperature!
May I ask if I should burst every lump I see when folding the egg whites into the batter? How thorough should I mix them? Thanks.
Hi Adeline! I’m glad to hear….
Don’t worry too much – make sure to run a skewer through the batter and then drop gently a few times before putting into the oven. 🙂
Can you replace the eggs with yogurt instead?
Hi Adrienne! Sorry, but chiffon cake will need egg white to get that volume and height, and yogurt can’t do that…. 🙂
Hi Nami, I love earl grey tea too! My first reaction after finding this recipe is literally “I’m so gonna make this cake!” (^^;)
Anyway, I have some things to ask you…
1. I don’t have the small blender that’s shown in your video so I’m afraid I won’t be able to grind the tea leaves, is it OK if I just omit the ground tea leaves?
2. Can I use parchment paper so the cake will be a bit easier to pick up instead of running a knife around it? Or is it better to not use it since we are going to put the cake upside down for a while until it’s cooled?
And the last but not least: 3. Your cake looks amazing, can I have a slice, please? (LOL JK) 😛
Hi Debby! So happy to hear you like this recipe! Here are my answers.
1) To be honest, this brings so much flavor so please don’t skip. If you don’t have a blender, you could 1) use a mortar and pestle, 2) use your knife to chop (a little more tedious), or 3) do you have anything that you can grind? Coffee bean grinder, blender?
2) No, you can’t use a parchment paper. The chiffon cake’s batter climbs up the side of aluminum cake pan (which is why it’s best to use aluminum material, and NEVER non-stick cake pan). If you use a parchment paper, cake batter can’t grab to climb higher and the cake will be very flat. And upside down is important process so the cake can still be taller while cooling down instead of shrinking down. 🙂
3) I really wish! Move to my neighborhood? 🙂
One more thing! If you ever watch our video from your mobile device, the video has typo on oven temperature. Make sure to follow my written recipe. I put the annotation to correct the oven temperature which is visible from computer on desktop, but mobile doesn’t show annotation. Hope that helps!
Hi Nami
I am happy to discover your Earl Grey Chiffon Cake recipe through Youtube. I have tried doing it twice. But both times, the cakes did not rise as much as shown in the video. Both times, the cakes raised up to a quarter height of the 17 inch pan.
I am not sure whether is it due to the meringue or other reasons? My finished meringue is white, foamy, and it is soft to touch with peaks. My mixer has the maximum speed of 4. After folding in the meringue with the “Earl Grey” mixture, when pouring into the baking pan, the mixture quantity’s height were less than half instead of 3-quarter full.
Should I increased the number of egg whites for the meringue?
Hope you can help out and advise.
Many thanks!
Valerie
HI Valerie! I have a few questions.
1) What cake pan are you using? Please don’t use non-stick. The cake batter doesn’t “grab” the wall to climb up when it’s slippery.
2) The way you described meringue sounds right. You probably took a longer time to beat the egg whites compared to mine if your max is 4. If you’re not sure about egg whites, maybe you can look for a video or image of how egg whites should look like. Since your cake batter is only half, it’s the egg whites that cause this lack of batter. Don’t change the amount of ingredients, but beat the egg whites until it has more volume. 🙂
Hi Nami
Thank you very much for your reply. =)
I am using angel pan and did not grease the pan.
Yes, yes, as you have mentioned, it may be the mixer beating power.. I followed 2-3 mins of beating as per video but may have to take longer now. For the second round, I reduced the sugar to 70g as my family’s seniors feedback that it is a tad sweet for them. =)
I am going to try again tomorrow. Hope it will rise up. =)
Cheers!
Hi Valerie! I see. Hope next time will be successful! Good luck. xo
Hi Nami, I am a fan of Japanese food and am loving your website! I’ve made this EG cake 3 times, and your recipe never fails me. The only problem is I’m too greedy 🙂 , wish the cake is bigger.
Can I use 4eggs or more instead of 3? But how should the rest of the ingredients be adjusted? Thanks in advance!
Hi Clairice! I’m so happy to hear you like Japanese food and enjoy my recipes. 🙂 Haha, I know, the chiffon cake disappear too fast as it’s so light and airy and I feel like I didn’t eat any slice after half of the cake is gone… 😀 Cake is like science, and it’s important to keep the ratio correct, if you think this recipe works perfectly now. I recommend doubling the recipe or find the easy calculation to keep the same ratio. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Thank you for the recipe. The chiffon cake is really soft & light! My family & friends love it a lot. One question, there seemed to have many lumps of egg white mixture when I mixed in with the egg yolk batter. Should I flatten the lumps?
Hi Tracia! I’m so happy to hear your chiffon cake came out well and enjoyed by your family and friends. Do you mean air pockets? What do you mean by “lumps”? Are they batter that’s not well mixed?
Hi!
Recipe says 90ml water, but in the directions it says 60ml. May I know which is right?
Thanks so much for this recipe, I’m looking forward to trying it!
Wendy
Hi Wendy! The recipe is correct. You use 90 ml of hot water to make tea, but at the end you will only need 60 ml. I am including about 2 Tbsp. extra hot water since leaves will absorb moisture etc. If you pour 4 Tbsp, you may not be able to get 4 Tbsp. exactly. 🙂
I re-wrote the recipe so hopefully my English is easier to understand? 🙂
I see! Ah now it is clear to me. Thanks so much for replying!
Hi there
I only have an 8 inch aluminum angel food cake pan. Can I use that and do I need to make any changes to the measurements.
Thanks
Hi Karen! I’m not a big fan of changing the recipe that works. It’s hard to increase the ingredients by %… and if you use 8 inch chiffon cake pan with this recipe, it’ll be flatter. Therefore, I’d either double it and make 2 chiffon cakes (one 8 inch and use other cake pan). It’s hard to increase 50% (1.5 egg…..). I always avoid to do that. Sorry I’m not so helpful…. :/
hi! love your recipes…question on this cake. Do i need a chiffon pan or can I use a standard 9″ round baking tin that one can use for cakes? Pros/cons? We live in a small space and don’t have space for another cookware.
Thank you
Hi ben! Thank you for your kind words! 🙂
Chiffon cake is different from the round regular cakes. It needs the ungreased pan surface to climb up to get it’s light, airy height (I recommend aluminum pan, do not use non-stick). This is why a tube pan is used, so the center also has a surface to climb up. Also you will need to put the pan upside down as soon as it comes out from the oven. With the tube pan, it’s easy to do that.
I think with the regular pan, the cake will be higher around the edges and sunken in the middle? But it’ll be edible and delicious, maybe it’s not perfect chiffon cake. 🙂
You’ll love the chiffon cake and I think it’ll be a good investment. It took me a long time to decide buying chiffon cake pan, madeleine pans, and popover pans, but I make these often and it was worth it. 🙂
This recipe is awesome! It nails the subtle sweetness that’s in Japanese sweets, not over powering. Really great! I’ve made this 3 times (an earl grey, a banana and a huckleberry tea) and the basic proportions are spot on. I also am making this cake with gluten free flours (my own whole grain mix) and never a problem. It’s easy to make, light, airy, sweet, spongy! Everything you need in a chiffon cake:) it’s hard to order this at a cafe now, lol! I just wanted to give you a shout out, and let you know how good your recipe is. Thank you.
Hi Stephen! Thank you so much for your kind words. This is my favorite too! I love your chiffon cake with different flavors… huckleberry tea! YUM! This recipe works with so many different flavors and you’re already making different versions, which made me happy!
And thanks for letting me know about the GF flour info! So glad to know it works! I’m sure other JOC readers will appreciate your feedback. Thank you!
Thanks for writing! xo
Hello Nami! I love tea-infused desserts! Thanks for your recipe and I’ve got one thing to ask: if using convection oven, how should I adjust the temperature/baking time for this recipe? Thank you!
Hello KaChun! Reduce 25F. So if it’s 350F, change to 325F. 🙂 Hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
I’m living in USA. Can I use betty crocker cake mix instead of cake flour?
Thank u
Hi Ezra! If you want to make chiffon cake, you have to use cake flour. This is my favorite cake flour brand:
http://amzn.to/2dt2xSG