The Chiffon Cake is an iconic dessert of Japanese cuisine. With its airy and spongy texture, Chiffon Cake with matcha is not only delicious, but also easily made at home and requires simple ingredients.
I advise you to read my tips before starting the Chiffon Cake recipe, you’ll make it right the first time!
How to make a successful Japanese Chiffon Cake?
- Fresh eggs: the secret of its lightness is the use of egg whites beaten in snow, which are then delicately incorporated into the dough. We advise you to put your eggs in the fridge.
- The rag cake mold: the batter is then baked in a tube-shaped mold, which allows the cake to rise and cook evenly. We bought this 17 cm cake rag pan which allows the cake to be unmolded easily.
- Do not line or butter your rag cake pan.
- Remove any air bubbles by tapping the pan gently on the work surface, and gently stirring the batter with a chopstick.
- After removing from the oven, let the cake cloth cool on its side.
- Wait until the cake cloth has cooled completely before removing from the mold.


Japanese recipe Chiffon Cake with matcha
Equipment
- 1 electric mixer
- 1 17cm diameter chifffon cake mold
Ingredients
Cake batter
- 60 g of T45 wheat flour
- 3 g baking powder
- 1 tbsp matcha powder
- 4 egg yolks (60g)
- 50 g of sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 30 g neutral oil (rapeseed, grape seed)
- 70 ml of whole milk
Meringue
- 4 egg whites (120g)
- 50 g of sugar
Décoration
- powdered sugar
- red fruits such as raspberries or strawberries
Instructions
Preparation of the dough
- Preheat your oven to 170°C. Using a whisk, mix the egg yolks, sugar and salt.
- Add the oil a little at a time, mix, then add the milk until smooth.
- Sift the flour and matcha. Then mix it all together with your whisk.
Preparation of the meringue
- Put the cold egg whites in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer. When it starts to foam, add the sugar in 3 times, mixing well each time and whisk until you get a firm texture that does not run.
- Using a spatula, add the egg whites to the batter in batches.
- Gently fold in each time.
Preparation of the cake in the pan
- Place your ungreased, unlined rag cake pan on the work surface. Pour the batter into the pan in one spot to avoid air bubbles. Once the pan is filled, hold the pan tightly and then gently tap the cake pan on the work surface to release any air pockets in the batter.You can also run a thin wooden chopstick through the batter to release any remaining air pockets. (You can use skewer picks).
- Bake at 170°C for 25 minutes. Check if the cake is cooked by inserting your fine wooden pick inside, if it comes out dry it's cooked.
- After baking, gently tap the cake pan on the work surface. Then turn it over to cool completely to room temperature. Allow 2 to 3 hours.
- Turn out carefully by passing a thin spatula inside the mold. Do well also around the central circle and the bottom.Arrange on a plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar to finish.



How to keep the Japanese Chiffon Cake?
We advise you to eat it quickly, it will be better. However, you can keep it at room temperature covered with a bell for 1 to 2 days. You can also keep it up to 3 days in an airtight box placed in the refrigerator.
For this Chiffon Cake I made it with matcha green tea, but you can also make it with vanilla, chocolate, hojicha tea yuzu for example.

And if you like Japanese desserts with an ultra soft and fluffy texture we recommend our matcha and anko roll cake recipe ! Good recipe to all of you! Don’t hesitate to put a little comment.