Earl Grey Chiffon Cake Recipe & Anna Olsen’s Back to Baking Cook Book Giveaway!
The warmer weather usually calls for ice cream, but being that this was a dinner from Anna Olsen, dessert was going to come from the oven instead of the freezer. I attended the Edible Canada Market Dinner with guest chef Anna Olsen where she demonstrated a 5 course meal from her recipe books. I posted her recipe for Fiddlehead Salad, Goat Cheese Gnocchi, and last but not least Earl Grey Chiffon Cake in my post here. What? Did you think I was going to end the series without leaving you a recipe for her dessert? It’s Anna Olsen! I’d consider that extra taboo and I couldn’t do that to you. To see my full experience and her Edible Canada Market Dinner Menu see here.
And this is the Anna Olsen I grew up knowing! Part of me was actually looking forward to 5 courses of various cakes. Walking by the trays was tempting, but we eventually got to the plated version for this dessert (shown at the beginning of this post). Due to the nature and size of the event, the Edible Canada kitchen team had to remake the cake in individual servings for over 60 guests, so needless to say it was a challenge. If you decide to bake this cake and serve it in small portions like this, I highly recommend keeping a close eye on baking time because they risk over baking.
Earl Grey Chiffon Cake With Maple Meringue Frosting Recipe
I’m a huge fan of any desserts made with tea let alone Earl Grey. From matcha to lavender, chamomile and chai, it’s getting more popular to see tea in desserts and not just with desserts. This was a very light dessert and the maple meringue was a nice Canadian touch. Nothing about it was that sweet and I liked the flavour, but the texture didn’t translate as well in the one I had for dinner. It was likely due to the big batch baking so I would still try this recipe again in the context of home. This happens to be Anna Olsen’s personal favourite.
Note: This is just my own idea, but you can also switch the lemon zest for orange zest and that would enhance the orange flavour naturally found in Earl Grey. If you’re just not a fan of Earl Grey, then substitute the tea bags for another flavour.
Earl Grey Chiffon Cake With Maple Meringue Frosting Recipe
This recipe is compliments of Anna Olsen’s recipe book Back to Baking.
• Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) tube cake | Serves 16 to 20 •
Cake:
- 2 tea bags Earl Grey
- 3/4 cup (185 mL) boiling water
- 8 egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) cream of tartar
- 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) sugar
- 2 1/4 cups (560 mL) cake and pastry flour
- 2 1/2 tsp (12 mL) baking powder
- 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) vegetable oil
- 5 egg yolks
- 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
- 1 tsp (5 mL) finely grated lemon zest
- 3 oz (90 g) milk chocolate, chopped and melted
- 1 recipe Maple Meringue Frosting (see below)
1. Preheat the oven to 325°f (160°c).
2. Steep the tea bags in the boiling water until the water cools to room temperature. Without squeezing out excess liquid, remove the bags, then top up the water to its original 3/4 cup (185 mL) measure.
3. Whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy, then add 1/4 cup (60 mL) of the sugar and continue whipping until the whites hold a medium peak. Set aside.
4. Sift the flour, the remaining 11/4 cups (310 mL) of the sugar, the baking powder, and salt into a large bowl or into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Add the cooled tea, oil, egg yolks, vanilla, and lemon zest. Whip this mixture on high until it is thick, about 4 minutes. Add the melted milk chocolate and whip it on low speed until blended. Fold in half of the whipped egg whites by hand until they are incorporated, then fold in the remaining whites (the batter will be quite fluid). Pour this into a 10-inch (25 cm), ungreased tube pan.
5. Bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes, until the top of the cake springs back when gently pressed. Invert the cake pan onto a cooling rack and cool the cake upside down in its pan. To extract the cake, run a spatula or knife around the outside edge of the cake, then tap the cake out onto a plate.
6. Use a spatula to spread the maple meringue over the entire surface of the cake (use a small spatula or butter knife to frost the cake inside the centre hole). Store the cake at room temperature until ready to serve and cover the interior cake with plastic wrap only once cut. The cake will keep for up to 3 days.
Maple Meringue Frosting
• Makes about 2½ cups (625 mL)• dairy-free gluten-free
This frosting recipe can be interchanged with Seven-Minute Frosting (page 150), wherever you wish to add a hint of caramel from the maple syrup. Even though this recipe uses maple syrup, the frosting comes up a bright white colour.
- 2 egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) cream of tartar
- 2 Tbsp (30 mL) sugar
- 3/4 cup (185 mL) pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
1. Whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy, then add the sugar and whip the whites just to a soft peak.
2. Bring the maple syrup to a boil and cook uncovered and without stirring until it reaches a temperature of 242°f (117°c) on a candy thermometer. While beating on medium speed, carefully pour the maple syrup into the meringue by pouring it down the side of the bowl (this will help prevent splashing of hot syrup) and continue whipping until the mixture has cooled but is not quite room temperature, about 3 minutes. Stir in the vanilla. This frosting should be used immediately after making.
Follow Me Foodie’s Back to Baking Cook Book Giveaway!
Prize: Anna Olsen’s Back to Baking Cook Book.
How to enter:
1) “LIKE” the Follow Me Foodie Facebook Fanpage and comment with your favourite thing to bake.
OR
2) Comment on this post with your favourite thing to bake.
OR
3) RT the following: “RT to enter! I entered to win Anna Olsen’s Back to Baking Cook Book from @followmefoodie! http://bit.ly/Kug2MD”
Winner will be selected at random.
Contest closes Sunday May 27 at 11:59pm.
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
Banana bread… it’s simple, fast and always delicious!
I love baking chocolate chip cookies! So easy and they turn out fabulous. For something harder, I love making (and eating) red velvet cupcakes
Love baking… cakes, cookies, brownies… but cakes are fun because you get to decorate after
I love baking peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
chocolate souffle
I like to bake chiffon cake and ice it w/ whipped cream and mangoes.
Macarons!
I like to bake peanut butter cookies! =)
Banana bread and blueberry muffins. I love these for breakfast or snack!
I love to bake cookies.
cake pops! They’re so fun to decorate
I love baking Chocolate chip cookies & Banana bread
I love baking matcha chiffon cake!
Well honestly matcha anything~
Banana bread and raspberry oatmeal muffins – can’t live without them!
My 3year old and I love baking oatmeal chocolate chip cookies together – those are her favourite!
I like chiffon cake…….good~
I love baking cookies. They’re fast and so delicious right out of the oven!
My favourite thing to bake would have to be gingersnap cookies. Soooo good especially with chunks of crystallized ginger added to the batter. Maybe I should change that to My favourite thing to eat
My favorite thing to bake is chocolate chip cookies!
My white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies are my favourite.. super easy and super tasty
brownies, cookies, butter tarts, lemon bars. I think I’ve figured those out and idiotproofed them. Onto a new challenge!
I love making carrot cake and coconut blackberry muffins!
Cupcakes and cookies!
Cakes, cupcakes, cookies, squares, brownies…anything except pies…I find the crust too intimidating.
Brownies are my favourite! But this looks amazing!!
I like to bake brownies.
I live to make mousse cakes.
I like to make mousse cakes
I like baking angel food cakes because they’re a guilt-free treat!
:)
I like to make cinnamon buns
totally worth the time!!
biscotti!
My favourite things to bake right now are banana bread and also loaves of bread.
“Liked” your FB page and left a comment. My fave thing to bake is a Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake (one of Emiril’s recipes).
I also tweeted: https://twitter.com/chancesmommy/status/208900362596392960
Thanks for entering! Congrats Siobhan S. comment #25 wins! Winner was selected by random generator!
Suggestion: try infusing the tea in milk or cream, for a less tough cake. Reduction will also enhance flavor, milk will lessen bitterness.
I make Earl Grey cream scones this way, works excellently.
@Misa – Earl Grey Cream scones… that sounds fantastic!! A little orange jam or just Devonshire cream… thank you for the great tip!!! I really appreciate it!