Earl Grey Chiffon Cake with Lavender Meringue Icing
A light and airy delight of a cake! Earl grey and lavender are a beautiful pairing that is perfect for the tea lover! This makes a lovely cake for spring celebrations such as Easter, Mother's Day, bridal showers, or birthdays.
Servings 1 cake
Ingredients
For the Earl Grey Chiffon Cake:
- 5 bags earl grey tea
- 3/4 cup water
- 7 large eggs , separated and at room temperature
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
For the Lavender Meringue Icing:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp dried lavender buds
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 tsp vanilla
- purple food colouring , to desired colour
Instructions
For the Earl Grey Chiffon Cake:
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Boil the water and add two of the tea bags and allow tea to steep. Allow to cool while completing the next steps.
- In a large mixing bowl sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and remaining 3 bags of tea (cut tea bags open and dump leaves into mixture).
- In a smaller mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, brewed tea (cooled), canola/vegetable oil and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture and beat until fully combined.
- In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, add the egg whites and cream of tartar. Beat on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold 1/4 of the beaten egg whites into the batter. Then gently fold in the remainder of the beaten egg whites.
- Gently spoon the batter into an ungreased 10-inch bundt cake pan. Cut through the batter with a knife to remove air pockets.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes until the top springs back when lightly touched. Immediately invert pan after removing from the oven, and allow to cool for at least 1 hour.
- Gently run a knife around the sides and center tube of the pan, and removed the cake to a serving plate.
For the Lavender Meringue Icing:
- While the cake is baking stir together the sugar and lavender buds together in a tupperware container. Close lid. This will help infuse the sugar with the lavender flavour.
- While cake cools, in a sauced pan stir together the sugar with lavender buds, water and cream of tartar. Cook over medium high heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is bubbling. Remove from heat.
- In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer whisk together the egg whites and vanilla until soft peaks form. Gradually pour the sugar mixture through a sieve (to strain out lavender) into the mixing bowl.
- Continue whisking on high speed untill stiff peaks form, about 7-10 minutes. Gently stir in food colouring until the icing has reached your desired colour.
- Once cake has fully cooled, ice entirely around the sides and centre. Serve and enjoy. Cake should be stored in an air-tight container and kept in the fridge.