Honey Matcha Rose Chiffon Cake (Steam bake Method)

I steam baked this Honey Matcha chiffon with Strawberry Roses for Mother's Day and for the principal (to thank her great help!). Reviews for the cake were so good and I personally loved it so much that I baked it again for a very dear friend's birthday. This recipe is a keeper to me :)

Since my lego cake post, I have been thinking of steam baking to improve the moistness of the cake. So for this chiffon, I took the chance to try steam baking. As my family have been unwell lately, I looked for a recipe with honey (nourishing and increases moistness) and matcha (our favourite) and decorated the cake with strawberry roses inspired by my mother.

The recipe was very lightly adapted from Lily's matcha chiffon cake. I personally found the addition of honey and hot milk to be very fragrant. I incorporated steam baking to the chiffon, as well as patterning of green leaves on top. I also baked strawberry chiffon cake in rose moulds separately. You may choose to omit the strawberry roses and green leaves (marked in asterisk) which I included to decorate the chiffon :p

Ingredients (makes one 17cm chiffon tin and 8 "roses")
4 egg yolks
27g sugar
47g vegetable oil
63ml hot milk
2 tsp matcha powder
80g cake flour (+ 1/3 tsp cake flour for the patterns)
1/8 tsp salt
15 ml honey (1 tbsp)
2 ml strawberry paste*

(Meringue for patterns)*
1 egg white
10g sugar
1/6 cream of tartar

(Meringue for cake)
5 egg whites
55g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

*Ingredients may be omitted for honey matcha chiffon cake.

Method
1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Prepare a tray of water at the bottom of the oven (I used the lowest rack to bake the cake).
2. Dissolve matcha powder and honey in 15 ml hot milk.
3. Beat egg yolks with sugar with whisk till pale yellow before stirring in oil and 45 ml hot milk.
4. Add in sieved flour and salt and whisk till no trace of flour found.
*5. Scoop out 10 tsp batter. Add 2 ml strawberry paste in 3 ml hot milk, mix well and add to the batter.
*6. Scoop out 2 tsp batter for patterning. Add a tiny dip of green colour and 1/3 tsp flour and mix well.
7. To the rest of cake batter, add the matcha/honey in hot milk.
*8. Make the meringue for patterning. Scoop 4 tbsp over and pipe patterns. Bake for 1.5 min.
*9. Make the meringue for the cake and roses. Scoop over 20 tbsp to strawberry batter. Fold gently and pour into rose moulds. Steam bake the strawberry roses at 150°C for 25 mins.
10. Fold the rest of the meringue into the cake batter gently in 3 additions. Pour the cake batter into the tin from a height and tap on table top 3x to release bubbles.
11. Steam bake the cake at 160°C oven for 15 minutes, then at 150°C for 35 mins.
12. Invert when cakes are removed from oven and unmould when cool.

*Steps 5, 6, 8 and 9 marked in asterisks may be omitted for honey matcha chiffon cake.

Isn't a cross-section of a slice pretty? :)

My hubby said that the honey matcha chiffon tastes ogura-like because it was airy, moist, soft and very bendy! So probably steam baking does make chiffon cakes more moist and soft! Taste-wise, everyone said it was yummy and fragrant. The addition of honey seemed to give it a very nice sourish sweet taste that balanced well with the matcha fragrance. I tried to capture how "bendy" and soft the cake was (below) :)

Elastic and soft :p

Happy Mother's Day to all and a very happy birthday to my dear friend Joan! :)

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Bake For Happy Kids, and My Little Favourite DIY, hosted by Tze of Awayofmind Bakery House.

With love,

Susanne