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Soft and fluffy chiffon cake infused with an amazing aroma of Earl Grey milk tea and topped with brown sugar boba pearls/tapioca pearls and whipped cream.
Chiffon cake surely gets lots of love in our house. I’ve lost count of how many chiffon cakes I have baked in the past 2 years. I have to add this Early Grey milk tea chiffon cake to my chiffon cake collection for sure. I love the aroma of the milk tea in this chiffon cake. Boba pearls also have gained so much attention and popularity off late and I thought, why not top the cake with some whipped cream and the soft and chewy brown sugar boba pearls? hey…it totally works and we love it! Have your boba pearl milk tea and eat it too!
You can, of course, serve the Earl Grey milk tea chiffon cake without any cream or boba pearls and it is still a very soft, fluffy, and delicious chiffon cake.
How to make Earl Grey milk tea chiffon cake with boba pearls
1. Preheat your oven to 330 F (165 C) for a conventional oven. If you have a convection oven, I suggest lowering the temperature by 20 F (15 C). Put the milk in a saucepan and bring to just boil and turn off the heat. Put the tea bags in and let them steep for 10 minutes
2. Remove the tea bags and squeeze out liquid from the tea bags. Let it cools down to warm. Get one of the soaked tea bags, cut it open and get about 1 teaspoon of the tea leaves. Finely chop them. Set aside
3. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, oil, milk tea you prepared above, and the tea leaves to combine
4. Sift in the cake flour and salt and whisk again to combine
5. Place the egg whites in a clean bowl. You will have trouble whipping your meringue if there’s a trace of grease in your utensils or bowls. Beat the egg whites on medium speed (speed 6 on KA) until frothy, add cream of tartar/lemon juice/vinegar and whip until it turns whitish, about 1 minute. Gradually add the sugar as you beat, about 1 minute apart. Continue whipping on medium speed until you reach a stiff peak with a slight bent on the tip when you lift the meringue up. Then turn the speed to lowest and whip for 1 minute to smooth out large air bubbles
6. Gently fold 1/3 of the meringue into the thick batter using a whisk. Continue on with the second 1/3 of the meringue again to mix
7. Continue to do this until you are done with the meringue and switch to a rubber spatula. Swipe down and fold over motion again to make sure we are combining the batter and the meringue. Sometimes some batter at the bottom of the bowl didn’t get mixed with the meringue
8. Gently pour the batter into the pan. Give the pan a few gentle shakes to even out the batter. Give the pan 3-4 firm taps on the counter. Use a skewer to run a zig zag motion to pop any large bubbles inside the batter. Tap the tube pan on the counter 3-4 times again before putting it into the oven
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 60-65 minutes on the middle rack or until a cake tester comes out clean with just a few dry crumbs. It shouldn’t be wet. The top of the cake should be dry to touch and springy when you gently press on it.
Don’t be alarmed if your cake has some cracks on top. What you are looking at will become the bottom of your cake
10. Once out of the oven, give the pan 3-4 taps on the counter to prevent the cake from sinking. Then carefully invert the pan upside down immediately. Your chiffon pan may have little stands for you to invert. Please don’t be tempted to remove it from the pan if it’s still warm. It takes about one to two hours to cool down completely
11. Cook the boba pearls according to the direction on the package. Drain off and put them in a container. Put about 1 tablespoon of brown sugar to coat them. They can be kept at room temperature for about 12 hours or so before they get hardened I don’t recommend cooking a huge batch because they cannot be stored in the fridge. They will harden
12. Slice one piece of chiffon cake with a serrated knife. Lay it flat on its side and cut it open halfway. Pipe some heavy cream in there and top with some boba pearls on top. Serve immediately. Only dress the cake when you are ready to serve them
Variations
You can also use other type of tea such as hojicha, genmaicha, etc. I especially love genmaicha for its nuttiness and amazing flavor. If you are using loose-leaf tea, simply put about 4-5 grams in the hot milk and steep for 10 minutes.
Did you make this Earl Grey milk tea chiffon cake with boba pearls recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Earl Grey Milk Tea Chiffon Cake with Boba Pearls
Ingredients
For Earl Grey milk tea:
- 4 Earl Grey tea bags
- 1 tsp tea leaves (from the tea bags above)
- 120 ml whole milk
For cake batter:
- 5 egg yolks
- 50 gr sugar
- 80 gr oil
- 150 gr cake flour
- ¼ tsp salt
For meringue:
- 5 egg whites
- 100 gr sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Tapioca pearls:
- 70 gr Boba pearls
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
Whipped cream:
- 120 gr heavy cream
- 15 gr icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 330 F (165 C) for a conventional oven. If you have a convection oven, I suggest lowering the temperature by 20 F (15 C)
- Separate the egg yolks from the whites while they are still cold because they are easier to separate when they are cold. Then let them sit out for 20-30 minutes at room temperature. The meringue whips better at room temperature
Prepare milk tea:
- Put the milk in a saucepan and bring to just boil and turn off the heat. Put the tea bags in and let them steep for 10 minutes
- Remove the tea bags and squeeze out liquid from the tea bags. Let it cools down to warm. Get one of the soaked tea bags, cut it open and get about 1 teaspoon of the tea leaves. Finely chop them. Set aside
Prepare the cake batter:
- Make sure your chiffon cake pan does not have a non-stick coating or your cake will not rise. The cake needs to cling to the side of the pan to rise tall
- Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, oil, milk tea you prepared above, and the tea leaves to combine. Sift in the cake flour and salt and whisk again to combine
Prepare the meringue:
- Place the egg whites in a clean bowl. You will have trouble whipping your meringue if there's a trace of grease in your utensils or bowls. Beat the egg whites on medium speed (speed 6 on KA) until frothy, add cream of tartar/lemon juice/vinegar and whip until it turns whitish, about 1 minute. Gradually add the sugar as you beat, about 1 minute apart. Continue whipping on medium speed until you reach a stiff peak with a slight bent on the tip when you lift the meringue up. Then turn the speed to lowest and whip for 1 minute to smooth out large air bubbles
Fold meringue into the cake batter:
- Gently fold 1/3 of the meringue into the thick batter using a whisk. Continue on with second 1/3 of the meringue again to mix. Continue to do this until you are done with the meringue and switch to a rubber spatula. Swipe down and fold over motion again to make sure we are combining the batter and the meringue. Sometimes some batter at the bottom of the bowl didn't get mixed with the meringue
Baking:
- Gently pour the batter into the pan. Give the pan a few gentle shakes to even out the batter. Give the pan 3-4 firm taps on the counter. Use a skewer to run a zig zag motion to pop any large bubbles inside the batter. Tap the tube pan on the counter 3-4 times again before putting it into the oven
- Bake in the preheated oven for 60-65 minutes on the middle rack or until a cake tester comes out clean with just a few dry crumbs. It shouldn't be wet. The top of the cake should be dry to touch and springy when you gently press on it.
- Don't be alarmed if your cake has some cracks on top. What you are looking at will become the bottom of your cake
Cooling:
- Once out of the oven, give the pan 3-4 taps on the counter to prevent the cake from sinking. Then carefully invert the pan upside down immediately. Your chiffon pan may have little stands for you to invert. Please don't be tempted to remove it from the pan if it's still warm. It takes about one to two hours to cool down completely
- Once it's cool down completely, use an offset spatula to run through the edge of the cake to help release the cake. Use a skewer to loosen the tube area. Gently push the base of the pan up. Use an offset spatula again to run through the bottom of the cake to help release it from the base of the pan
Store the cake:
- If you have the patience to wait, once the cake has cooled down completely and you have unmolded the cake, wrap it up in a cling wrap or store in an air-tight container and the flavor and texture gets even better the next day
Prepare whipped cream:
- Put the chilled heavy cream and icing sugar in a chilled mixing bowl. Whipped on medium speed until firm peak. Take care not to overwhip the cream as it will turn grainy
Cook the boba pearls:
- Cook the boba pearls according to the direction on the package. Drain off and put them in a container. Put about 1 tablespoon of brown sugar to coat them. They can be kept at room temperature for about 12 hours or so before they get hardened I don't recommend cooking a huge batch because they cannot be stored in the fridge. They will harden
To serve:
- Slice the chiffon cake with a serrated knife. Lay it flat on its side and cut it open halfway. Pipe some heavy cream in there and top with some boba pearls on top. Serve immediately. Only dress the cake when you are ready to serve them
Marv's Recipe Notes
For 6 inch tube: use 3 eggs and multiply 0.6 the rest of the ingredients. Bake for 50-55 minutes
For 9 inch tube: use the same recipe with 8-inch tube pan recipe (the one I posted on the recipe card)
For 10 inch tube: use 8 eggs and multiply 1.6 the rest of the ingredients. Bake for 70-80 minutes