This jasmine green grape cake is made with layers of soft and fluffy jasmine tea-infused chiffon cake, whipped cream, and fresh green grapes made in a milk bar cake style. It's a light and airy cake with a gentle flavour and enough leftover cake scraps for cake boxes!
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Notes from the baker
The lightly roasted flavour of jasmine tea complements the fresh and light flavour of green grapes so well in this jasmine grape cake. I decided to make it in a "naked" milk bar style cake to showcase the green grapes around the edges of the cake and to do something a bit different from my usual fully-frosted chiffon cakes.
When you make a cake in this way, you'll also end up with some cake scraps that you can either snack on or throw them together with some leftover whipped cream and grapes to make one or two trendy cake boxes.
Of course, you can also make this recipe in regular 6" round cake pans and forego the extra tools needed to make this cake like the acetate and cake ring if you don't have them. Either way, I think this is a worthwhile flavour combination to try!
Why you'll love this recipe
- Soft and fluffy chiffon cake. This jasmine grape cake is made with my go-to chiffon cake recipe that I've used countless times. It's light and spongy and stays that way even after storing in the fridge because it doesn't contain any butter.
- Jasmine tea-infused cake layers. A delicate and unique flavour that's fragrant but not overpowering.
- Tart and juicy fresh green grapes. Green grapes are truly underrated in desserts. They add such a lovely flavour and pop of colour without being too sweet.
- Milk bar style cake. The iconic unfrosted layer cake look highlights all the different layers in this cake.
- Leftover cake pieces for cake boxes. Use the cake scraps for cake boxes or trifles or snack on them as a reward for all your hard work making this cake.
Tools
- 9x13" pan - To make this style of cake, you'll need to bake the cake in a rectangular pan and then cut out the cake rounds from the cake sheet. A 9x13" pan with tall walls is the perfect size for this amount of batter for thick cake layers. Use a pan without a non-stick coating as chiffon cake needs to stick to the walls of the pan and "climb" up. You can also bake the cake layers in 6" round cake pans but the edges won't be as sharp and evenly sized.
- Electric hand mixer - A hand mixer is essential for whipping the egg whites to stiff peaks. It makes the process much faster and easier. I wouldn't recommend doing it by hand.
- 6" cake ring - You'll need a 5" or 6" cake ring or cookie cutter to cut the cake layers out of the cake sheet. You'll use it again when assembling the cake to keep the cake collar in place.
- Acetate sheet - You'll need a stiff sheet of acetate to make the cake collar around the whole cake. It helps create a smooth and clean cake exterior and holds everything together until you're ready to serve the cake.
- Piping bag - You'll need a piping bag if you want to pipe any kind of design on top of the cake with the whipped cream.
- Open star piping tip - I used an large open star piping tip for my whipped cream dollops on top of the cake.
Ingredient notes
As always, the fullย recipe cardย with ingredient amounts and instructions is at the bottom of this post! Keep reading for more details on each ingredient or skip ahead to theย recipe.
- Jasmine tea bags - We'll be steeping a strong jasmine tea and also adding the finely ground tea leaves directly to the batter to help the tea flavour come through. If you're using loose tea leaves, use about 1 tablespoon in place of each tea bag and make sure they're finely ground.
- Hot water
- Eggs - You'll need to separate the eggs whites and egg yolks to make chiffon cake. Room-temperature eggs whip up into a meringue faster.
- Cream of tartar - This is an acidic powder that helps stabilize the egg whites and helps them whip up into a meringue faster. If you don't have it, you can simply omit it.
- Granulated sugar
- Oil - Use any light-tasting oil like canola oil or avocado oil.
- Vanilla extract
- Cake flour - Cake flour contains less gluten than all-purpose flour and creates a lighter and softer cake.
- Baking powder - While chiffon cake is leavened almost entirely by all the tiny air bubbles that you whip into the meringue, I always like to add baking powder as a backup in case the meringue fails.
- Whipping cream - You can use whipping cream for a lighter whipped cream topping or heavy cream for a thicker and richer whipped cream texture.
- Powdered sugar
- Green grapes - Green grapes or muscat work well in this cake. For the same look as this cake, you'll need to cut some grapes into quarters for the design on the outer edges of the cake and either halved or finely chopped grapes for the filling. Finely chopped grapes make the cake easier to slice into if you don't have a super sharp knife. If you're planning on covering the cake completely with whipped cream then you won't need the quartered grapes.
Tips for making the best jasmine grape cake
- Separate the egg whites and egg yolks by cracking the eggs one at a time into a small bowl and carefully pass the yolk between your hands until the egg whites slip through your fingers. Transfer the yolk and egg whites to their respective mixing bowls before repeating with the next egg. This method lowers the chance of the egg yolk breaking and if it does, it will only ruin one egg and not the entire batch.
- Patience is key when whipping the egg whites to stiff peaks. Don't add the sugar too early or too quickly. Don't turn the mixer up to a high speed otherwise you'll overwhip the meringue and create large air bubbles that collapse after baking. It's whipped properly when it leaves stiff glossy peaks when you pull the mixer out of it and it doesn't budge at all when you flip the bowl upside down.
- Use more tea bags for a stronger flavour. Most of the tea flavour comes from the tea leaves added directly to the batter. The more finely ground the tea leaves are, the more prominent the flavour will be. You'll also want to steep a very strong tea for the liquid you add to the batter. There isn't a lot of liquid used in a chiffon cake recipe so you want it to be as concentrated as possible.
- Chill the cake before slicing. The whipped cream needs time to set and firm up otherwise the cake layers will slide around when you try to cut into it.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the cake. If your grapes have a thicker skin, it can be tough to cut through with a dull knife. You can alleviate this by finely chopping the grapes for the filling instead of using halved or whole grapes.
Storage
This jasmine grape cake can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Leftovers can be frozen in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month. Thaw in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for about an hour before eating.
Frequently asked questions
It's normal for chiffon cake to shrink slightly as the steam is released from all the air pockets but it shouldn't collapse significantly. If your cake deflates significantly, your meringue may not have been whipped up properly - either it wasn't aerated enough (didn't reach stiff peaks) or the air bubbles were too big and they collapsed. Your cake might have been underbaked so it didn't have enough structure to hold itself up. Also remember to use a non-stick pan and do NOT grease or line the sides of the pan with parchment paper.
Baking by weight is much more accurate than volume. When using US standard cups, ingredients like flour and sugar can easily be overpacked into the cup causing you to add too much of certain ingredients. Recipes with weight measurements are also easier to scale to smaller or bigger batches without dealing with weird fractions.ย To measure by weight, you simply need a kitchen scale which you can usually pick up for less than $20.
Small measurements are given in tablespoons and teaspoons because most kitchen scales are not accurate under about 10g. Tiny amounts like a ยผ teaspoon may not register accurately unless you have a drug scale. Mixing these measurements is a common practice among other recipe sites and commercial kitchens.
More chiffon cake recipes to try
Recipe
Jasmine Grape Cake
Equipment
Ingredientsย ย
Jasmine Chiffon Cake
- 5 jasmine tea bags, divided into 3 + 2
- 150 g hot water
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- ยฝ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 150 g granulated sugar, divided into 100g + 50g
- 50 g light-tasting oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 120 g cake flour
- ยฝ teaspoon baking powder
Whipped Cream
- 300 g whipping cream
- 20 g powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling
- 10 green grapes, quartered, for the outer edge
- 24 green grapes, halved or finely chopped, for filling
Instructionsย
Jasmine Chiffon Cake
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF. Line the bottom of a 9x13" pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Steep the tea: Pour hot water over 3 of the jasmine tea bags. Cover and steep for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool until needed.
- Flour mixture: In a small bowl, add the flour and baking powder. Cut open the remaining 2 jasmine tea bags and add the tea leaves. Stir together and set aside.
- Separate the eggs: Separate the egg whites and egg yolks into two separate large mixing bowls, being careful not to get any of the egg yolks in the egg whites. Set the egg yolks aside.
- Egg white meringue: To the egg whites, add the cream of tartar. Use an electric hand mixer to beat the egg whites on low-medium speed until it becomes frothy like cappuccino foam.
- Whip to stiff peaks: Sprinkle in 100g of granulated sugar, one spoonful at a time, mixing well in between each addition. After all the sugar has been added, continue mixing on medium speed until it becomes stiff peaks. Set aside.
- Egg yolk mixture: To the egg yolks, add the remaining 50g of sugar and mix briefly with the same hand mixer until the eggs are loosened. Add 70g of the cooled jasmine tea, oil, and vanilla extract. Mix to combine.
- Sift in flour: Use a fine mesh sieve to sift in the flour mixture. Mix again until combined.
- Combine meringue and egg yolk mixture: Add about โ of the egg white meringue to the egg yolk mixture. Use a spatula to fold them together until mostly combined. Add the rest of the meringue and fold together until no streaks remain.
- Fill pan: Pour the cake batter into your lined pan. Use an offset spatula to spread the batter into the corners and sides of the pan.
- Bake: Bake for about 25-27 minutes or until the edges of the cake are lightly browned and the surface of the cake is just beginning to brown. Let the cake cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Once cooled, run an offset spatula around the edges of the cake and invert the pan to release the cake sheet.
- Cut out cake rounds: Use a 6" cake ring to cut out 3 cake layers. For the last cake round, cut the cake out in 3-4 pieces from the leftover edges of the cake sheet and arrange them together into a circle. With the scraps, you can either eat them as a snack or save them to make a cake box.
Whipped Cream
- Whip: In a medium mixing bowl, add the whipped cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Use a hand mixer or whisk to beat until it becomes firm peaks.
Assemble the cake
- Line cake ring: Place the same 6" cake ring you used to cut out the cake layers down on a cake board or serving plate. Fit a sheet of acetate into the ring. Place the first cake layer into the bottom of the cylinder.
- Grape layer: Arrange quartered grapes around the edge of the cake, firmly against the acetate. Add finely chopped grapes or halved grapes to the middle of the cake layer.
- Whipped cream layer: Add a layer of whipped cream on top of the grapes and smooth it out with a spatula. Place the second cake layer on top (I like to use the layer that's made of several pieces as the bottom or the second layer). Repeat with the another layer of grapes, whipped cream, and the last cake layer.
- Decorate top of the cake: Add another layer of whipped cream on top of the last cake layer. Transfer the remaining whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with a piping tip of your choice. Pipe a few whipped cream dollops on top of the cake. Arrange halved grapes on top of the cake.
- Chill: Cover and chill the cake in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight to allow the whipped cream to set before releasing the cake and slicing.
- Bonus (optional): With the leftover cake scraps, simply arrange them in a layer in a small container. Add halved green grapes and a layer of whipped cream on top. Enjoy right away or let it chill at the same time as the cake.
Notes
- Grape filling: Keep in mind that if your grapes have a thick skin, it may be a bit difficult to slice through if you don't have a sharp knife. If this is the case, I would recommend adding finely chopped grapes in between the cake layers instead of halved grapes.
- Making this cake in regular cake pans: You can absolutely make this cake as a regular layer cake instead of this "naked" milk bar style cake. Divide the batter into three 6" cake pans and make a bit of extra whipped cream to have enough to frost the outside of the cake.
Sachi says
Really delicious and delicate flavor! I forgot the oil by mistake but texture still came out fluffy and moist ๐
Suzanne says
Hi,
I was wondering how do I make it in a 8 inch cake tin.