Mint & Lavender Honey Tea Chiffon Cake

I used to make pots of mint & honey tea with fresh mint leaves. I enjoyed sipping the menthol taste infused in the drink. Was trying out mint with lavender tea one day. Having baked 2 chiffon cakes using tea : Rose Tea Chiffon cake & Rose Tea Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes,  I was game enough to try out using mint and lavender tea to make this fluffy soft tea flavour chiffon cake.  I've added 2 drops of violet food colouring, thought of making a pale shade of lavender colour.  Haiz ! But it turned out pale brownish instead. Oh ! I should have omitted it ...  Anyway, I liked the hint of cool sensation minty effect especially when chilled (yes, I kept some in the fridge for our next day's brekkie), a hint of icy mint cooling and the aroma of the lavender. Truly enjoyed!

Mint & Lavender Honey Tea Chiffon Cake
17cm chiffon pan
Ingredients :
For Batter :
80g Top flour
3 egg yolks
25g caster sugar
40ml vegetable oil
60ml mint & lavender tea (10g mint leaves + 1 teaspoon dried lavender + 1.5 teaspoons honey see *(2) below)
Mint leaves - few pieces finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried lavender
2 drops of violet food colouring (optional)

For Meringue :
4 egg whites (cold)
40g caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Method :
1) Sift the flour and set aside. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2) *For making the mint & lavender honey tea:
Pour about 100ml of hot boiling water over the mint leaves and lavender in a teapot and allow to steep for about 15 minutes. Stir and mix the honey before straining 60ml of tea into a cup, set aside to cool.

This is how I made the mint & lavender tea

Let it steep for 15 minutes to bring out the mint & lavender fragrant.
Stir in some honey before straining the tea into a cup

3) Separate the eggs into yolks and whites.

4) In a clean mixing bowl, whisk the cold egg whites and cream of tartar till foamy using the electric mixer. Gradually add in caster sugar in 3 separate additions and beat till stiff peak, formed into a firm meringue. Transfer to a big bowl and chill in the fridge.

5) In the same mixing bowl, cream together egg yolks and caster sugar until pale and thick using the electric mixer (about 3 - 4 minutes).  Add vegetable oil and continue beating. Next stir in the chopped mint and the mint & lavender honey tea.

6) Fold in the sifted top flour with a spatula and mix until just combined. Next stir in the dried lavender and 2 drops of violet food colouring and mix well.

7) Gently fold 1/3 of the meringue into the batter mixture with a spatula. Gently fold the remaining meringue into the
mixture in 2 batches until it looks evenly mixed (no streaks of meringue).

8) Pour batter evenly into the ungreased chiffon pan and gently give the pan a bang on the table top to release air bubbles.

9) Bake chiffon cake at 180°C oven for 20 minutes, lower the temperature to 160°C and continue to bake another 15 minutes until the cake surface turns golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
*note : I used the lowest rack.
The temperature of the oven may vary, do adjust the temperature and timing to suit your oven.

10) When the pan was removed from the oven, I used the suggested technique to drop the pan at a height of 20~30cm onto a table top. This action helps to keep the springy texture of the cake when it is left to cool.

11) Immediately invert the pan to cool before unmoulding the cake from pan.

Aiyoh ! Cracked!

Happy baking & enjoy your weekend!

♡~~♡~~♡

 

Submitting this post to the event Little Thumbs Up (July 2015 Event: Tea) organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY and hosted by Cheryl of Baking Taitai.