This Matcha Chiffon Cake is spongy, moist, and light as a cloud. Its lightly sweet flavor balances perfectly with earthy and savory notes from Japanese green tea powder. With its soft green matcha color, you’ll love this popular Japanese cake as a light afternoon snack.
Making chiffon cake was one of my dreams since I started baking regularly last year. I always thought it was going to be difficult to make a chiffon cake. However, after some lengthy experiments with my Castella recipe, this Matcha Chiffon Cake (抹茶シフォンケーキ) was a lot easier than I expected.
If you are new to chiffon cake, it is a very light sponge cake made with vegetable oil, eggs, sugar, flour, and whatever flavor you want to add. You beat the egg whites and fold them into the oil-based cake batter so that the cake will get a fluffy texture.
Tips on Making Matcha Chiffon Cake
1. Use the correct chiffon cake pan.
The best types are the aluminum ones with a removable base (Do not use non-stick bakeware for chiffon cake – it will not work).
I bought 17-cm and 20-cm aluminum chiffon cake pans while I was in Japan because I wanted to follow a Japanese chiffon cake recipe. If you are interested in the same pan and know someone in Japan who can receive the package for you, you can purchase one from Rakuten (かっぱ橋浅井商店つなぎ目のない17cmシフォンケーキ型). They are great!
Or, you can order this 17-cm aluminum chiffon cake pan online from Nihon Ichiban which ships internationally.
If you have a different size chiffon cake pan, then check the conversion of the ingredients in this post.
2. Do not grease the mold.
The cake needs to cling to the sides and center of the pan for support as it rises or it will collapse.
3. Use good matcha.
You want to be able to taste the subtle matcha flavor, so I recommend using good quality matcha (green tea powder). When it comes to chiffon cakes, I like them to be simple. No sweet frosting necessary. A good reason to enjoy more than 1 slice.
You only use 3 tablespoons of oil for this recipe, so you can expect a very light cake. If no one was looking, I would probably eat the entire 17 cm (about 7 inches) cake all by myself!
If you follow the recipe closely, you can expect a fluffy, light, and moist Matcha Chiffon Cake. It turned out just like the chiffon cake that I have tried in Japan and dreamed of making myself.
If you are a fan of not-so-sweet desserts, this is for you. Knowing how easy it is to make chiffon cakes now, I am going to try making other flavors soon. What would be your favorite flavor?
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.
Matcha Chiffon Cake
Video
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (yolks and whites separated)
- 85 g sugar (½ cup minus 1 Tbsp; divided into thirds)
- 40 ml neutral oil (3 Tbsp minus 1 tsp)
- ¼ cup water
- 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 heaping Tbsp matcha (green tea powder) (1 level Tbsp matcha weighs 6 g)
- 1 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Before You Start: 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.
- Gather all the ingredients. Separate the egg yolks and egg whites from 3 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell). 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.
- Preheat the oven to 340ºF (170ºC). For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). You will need 1 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 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. Then, add 40 ml neutral oil and ¼ cup water and beat with a whisk to combine.
- To a flour sifter or fine-mesh sieve, add 75 g cake flour, 1 heaping Tbsp matcha (green tea powder), 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 (see the next step for how to check). 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 homogeneous 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 homogeneous, fold the batter one last time and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure there is no matcha accumulation. The final batter should fall in ribbons when you lift the spatula or whisk.
To Bake
- Prepare 1 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.
- 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.
To Serve
- I serve the Matcha Chiffon Cake as is, but you may dust the top with confectioners‘ sugar, if you‘d like (optional). 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).
Can use self raising flour?
Hi Rachel! Not for this recipe. 🙂
[…] Matcha Green Tea […]
I followed the green tea chiffon cake recipe but didn’t achieve the same results. The upper part of the cake when baking in the oven was a thin layer of dense (when overturn is the bottom for slicing).
Realized when the texture is not full liquid but with some richness in ingredient like matcha or chocolate powder, it couldn’t raise as much compared to pandan chiffon cake which the juice is more liquid and not so rich.
I tried baking orange chiffon and the result also not so good as thin and light liquid ingredients.
I use a top and bottom fan mode in a convention built in oven.
Could you pls advise what causes this imperfection?
Thank you.
Hi Cheryl! To be honest, I’m not sure… This basic chiffon cake recipe ratios by Junko Fukuda have been working well for me (and many readers who tried different chiffon cake recipes shared on JOC) so I wouldn’t change the measurement to test. Always the dry ingredients, oil, liquid ratios are the same. 🙂
Hi, can i check why my orange chiffon cake a bit dense at the bottom? First time baked was ok but this time round not sure is it my zest is too wet and too much. I used zest from 3 oranges which were quite wet.
My lemon chiffon also bottom a bit dense.
Thank you.
Rgds Cheryl
Hi Cheryl! Do you think that could introduce additional moisture/liquid to the cake batter? The ratio/portion for each ingredient is important and I hope it wasn’t significant. Usually, when the cake is dense at the bottom, the batter wasn’t mixed thoroughly (due to being afraid of over-mixing or breaking the air bubbles). Or the egg whites are not beaten enough that the cake didn’t rise as it’s supposed to without the air in the batter, and end up being dense at the bottom. Hope this helps!
Hi! If I am using a 20cm cake pan how should I adjust the matcha?
Thank you !
Hi Mimi! Hmmm maybe roughly 2 Tbsp (15 g)?
[…] these pans, you can make my Meyer Lemon Chiffon Cake, Green Tea Chiffon Cake, Orange Chiffon Cake, and Earl Grey Chiffon […]
Hello! I was wondering how to figure out if the pan is aluminum rather than non-stick. I went to a baking store today and asked a worker and she didn’t know and so I want to know how to tell the difference.
Thank you!
Hi Hesper! Oh I see! Aluminum is very light and non-reflective. It’s smooth texture but not shiny. Light grey color, and it has a texture that could get scratch easily. Non stick is heavier than aluminum, reflective and shiny, and it’s slippery. It can be dark or grey but not as light as aluminum. 🙂
Hi Nami, is this recipe for the Asai Shoten 17 cm regular or tall chiffon pan? I have the tall version which is 10cm in height. Based on your flour weight, my guess is yours is a regular height, rather than the tall.
Hi Belle! Correct, mine is regular. 🙂
Hi,
I followed your recipe step by step to make the cake, however it did not rise too high. I used a 23 cm tube pan like yours , and since is a bigger sized pan , so I double up the ingredients.
It came out pretty good, moist, soft, but my only challenge is it did not rise very high, not even to the edge of the pan.,
Please give your advise.
Hi Mary! Thank you for trying this recipe! If you double this recipe, it’s good for 22 cm pan (https://www.justonecookbook.com/perfect-chiffon-cake/ – see where I talked about different pan sizes). You may want to increase a bit more.
Also, rising can be due to how you prepare meringue and how you folded into the batter, etc besides simply doubling the recipe. But maybe first you may want to increase the ingredients amount a little bit. 🙂
Hello Nami,
Is Mary again, thank you for teaching me how to make chiffon cake, after a few tries and with your tips I am getting better and better.
However, there is one small issue that I still need your help.
After baking the cake, I take it out from the oven, immediately I tap on the counter a few times, then I turn the tube pan upside down and let it cool down.
About two hours later, I use a knife to go around the cake and it came out nicely. It was moist and soft, but I find the top is a bit wet. To this day I am not sure why the top is wet, should I perhaps not turn it upside down and let the top face up instead??
It puzzles me a lot, otherwise it’s a beautiful cake, thanks to you.
Next time, can you teach me how to make a banana cake and a light butter pound cake.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate your time and enjoy using your recipe.
Look forward to hear from you.
Mary
Hi Mary! Thank you for your feedback, and I’m glad your chiffon cake is getting better! My first thought – what type of chiffon cake pan do you use? Is that one with hole in the middle (for a bottle – like mine)? OR the one that has a cake stand for chiffon cake pan to be upside down (similar to Angel Food Cake pan). I was thinking if that’s what you have, maybe the top of your cake gets wet from condensation that’s trapped between cake and the countertop?
Mine is the pan that you have to put onto the bottle. So the cake top and countertop is very wide and the air can go through. There is no “wet” problem.
When you are about to flip, is the cake top wet already? Or is it developed after you flip? Do you think there was some moisture left? Did you test with a skewer to make sure it comes out clean?
We do need to put the pan upside down so that the cake will be tall. It’s a signature technique that’s used for chiffon cake pan’s recipes. 🙂
Thank you for your feedback, yes I am using the exact same tube baking pan like yours.
The top of the cake was dry when it came out from the oven, the moisture must have developed after.
Next time I will try to leave more space between the cooling rack and the counter to allow more air.
Thank you again and regards,
Mary
Hi Mary! Best wishes! Keep me posted. xo
Thank you for the useful hints, I will try again.
Hi Mary! Good luck, and keep me posted. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Thank you again for your feedback. I have tried the ingridients for 22cm and I brought a smaller size 17 cm tube pan and both turned out beautiful.
You are the best best, have a nice day.
Mary
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you so much for your kind feedback, Mary!
Hi Nami. My chiffon cake pan is 20cm, how should I adjust the ratios of the ingredients? Thanks
Hi Joyce! Hope this post will be helpful for adjusting ingredients: https://www.justonecookbook.com/perfect-chiffon-cake/
Just wanted to say thank you for the recipe! I tried it out tonight and it turned out perfect! No tunneling in the cake, rose up perfectly without collapsing, and the green tea flavor is just right! I’ve tried a lot of chiffon cake recipes over the years, but your recipes always give the most consistent result. Thank you!
Hi Ann! Thank you so much for your kind feedback, and I’m so happy to hear yours came out perfectly. It made my day! I agree it’s really good to have a recipe that gives a consistent result. It’s one less thing to worry about. 🙂 Thank you again for writing!
[…] Matcha Green Tea […]
Can you please share a chiffon cake recipe for a 20cm pan? Thank you.
Hi Ju! Please use the measurement for 20-cm in this post.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how_to/perfect-chiffon-cake/
Thank you Nami-san for another great recipe. I made matcha chiffon cake yesterday for my senpai and she really liked it. She even asked for the recipe. I will forward her the link to your website so that she can try making the cake herself. Thank you very much!
Hi Kisa! I’m so happy to hear your senpai enjoyed this cake! Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. 🙂
OMG this is the first time in my life I have made a cake so moist! I added a little cream of tartar to my egg whites but otherwise followed the recipe to the letter. Another great recipe from your website… thank you so much!
Hi Luc! I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for for trying my recipes and I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe. 🙂