Thai Tea series - Part I Thai Milk Tea Chiffon (Cooked Dough Method)

Did anyone visit Artbox Singapore at Marina Bayfront last weekend or intend to go this weekend? I've not been to the one in Bangkok; thus it was a must-go for me and I did last Friday. Didn't expect such a huge crowd and by the time I finished browsing all the merchandise stalls, the queues for the food stalls were horrendous that we didn't even know how to start? In the end, only managed to buy a "Dragon's Breath" puff cracker snack which is actually over-rated, more for the novelty. And so, while I was happy with my shopping loot, was quite disappointed that I didn't get to eat some of the more famous Thai street snacks and desserts like egglet with Thai Milk Tea ice-cream or even any Thai Milk Tea.

I digress.

So recently I was madly in love with Thai Milk Tea; bought 2 canisters of the red and gold tea from my previous trip to Samui and have been making the drink every other day. Didn't make it as sweet as the authentic ones but the fragrance alone is enough for me. 

Anyways, was inspired to explore a series of bakes and desserts using Thai Tea :)

The very first one is Thai Milk Tea Chiffon Cake using cooked dough method. Baked a Pandan Chiffon Cake using the cooked dough method some time back (I have to post that recipe soon!) and really love the super moist and soft texture of the cake.

But it's rather tricky to get the correct proportion. This was my second attempt; for the first attempt, my cooked dough was too dry and I had too little liquid (milk tea) so ended up with a hard cake. Somehow, the milk tea got absorbed into the cooked dough very quickly and luckily this time I prepared a larger portion of milk tea to add into the cooked dough. Very glad that the cake turned out alright because the cooked dough batter was quite thick and sticky before I folded in the egg white meringue.

Thai Milk Tea Chiffon Cake
(makes 1 cake using 21cm regular chiffon pan)
(*reference from Bake For Happy Kids, Cook.Bake.Love, Wen's Delight)

Ingredients

• 250ml (1 cup) fresh milk
• 3 Thai tea bags
• 65g unsalted butter
• 60g cake flour
• Pinch of salt
• 4 egg yolks (I use XL size eggs, around 65-70g)
• 4 egg whites
• 80g caster sugar

**Update April 2019: 5 eggs medium/large size, around 60-65g yields better result

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 160 degree celsius, fan mode.
2. Place fresh milk and tea bags into a saucepan, bring to simmer and let the tea bags seep in the milk for about 10 mins.
3. Strain the tea-infused milk, squeeze as much liquid from the tea bags as possible and discard the tea bags. Managed to extract about 180-190g of milk tea, set aside.
4. Heat up the butter in the saucepan till melted, add flour and pinch of salt and stir till all blended and paste is formed. Do not overcook.
5. Remove from heat, add the milk tea bit by bit and stir till blended. *used around 120g of milk tea.
6. Add egg yolks one by one and stir till blended. Add more milk tea if batter is too dry. *used all the remaining amount of milk tea.
7. Beat the egg whites using an electric mixer on high speed, add sugar gradually, till stiff peak.
8. Pour 1/3 of the meringue into the batter bowl and fold till just blended. Repeat with next 1/3. Finally, pour the batter back to the meringue bowl with the remaining 1/3 of the meringue and fold.
9. Pour the batter into the chiffon pan, knock the pan on the counter a few times. Bake at 160 degree celsius fan mode for 45-50 mins.
10. Once done, remove chiffon pan from oven, turn it over and let it cool completely before unmolding.

The chiffon turned out just a tad shorter than I like, maybe coz I used a 21cm regular pan? I think it would be perfect if I were to use a 18cm tall pan or 20cm regular pan (for this particular recipe where I used 4 pieces of XL size eggs). Or perhaps I could use 5 regular size eggs. I believe the recipe proportion vs size of chiffon pan does matter. Or probably I didn't fold the meringue properly and some meringue deflated hence resulting in shorter cake?

Anyways, the wonderful aroma of Thai Milk Tea whiffed through the kitchen during the baking process and I was really anticipating it! The cake turned out super moist and soft and I totally love it. It's good to eat on its own but I made some chantilly cream and Thai Milk Tea drizzle sauce to make it more fancy.

The ever-critical HB said that it's a tad too moist (he didn't complain when I baked the Pandan chiffon previously). Oh well. Probably I will try 5 regular size eggs next time round to see how it goes.

Next up, what should I explore? Cookies? Cupcakes? Egg Tarts? I'm excited, but let's hope that I don't get overdose of Thai tea too soon!