Making Matcha Cake

Asked by chrisnelson. Answered on 16th July 2016

Full question

I've made the Matcha Cake With Cherry Juice Icing several times and although it goes down a treat and is delicious I've noticed the sponge doesn't rise that much. Can you advise if there would be a specific reason for this? How thick should the sponge be? Thanks, Chris.

Our answer

Nigella's Matcha Cake With Cherry Juice Icing [from SIMPLY NIGELLA) is a style of cake known as a "chiffon cake". This type of cake gets some of its rise from a small amount of baking powder, but also from air whisked into the egg whites and egg yolks. The cake is a single layer and is not a particularly deep cake, but should be between 5cm and 7cm (2 to 2 3/4 inches) deep in the centre (it does sink a bit as it cools). It is possible that too much air is being knocked out of the egg whites when they are folded into the cake batter, and this will mean that the cake rises less.

Nigella suggests mixing in a dollop of the whisked egg whites before folding in the remainder. This helps to "slacken" the cake batter, making it easier to fold in the remaining whites. You can use up to a quarter of the egg white mixture in this first step, then fold in the remaining whites quickly but gently. For chiffon cakes it is also usual not to grease the pan as the batter needs to cling to the sides of the cake tin as it rises during baking. If you are using a new non-stick springform pan then the non-stick coating may be a little too efficient and the cake may not rise as much as it will not be able to "climb" the sides of the pan quite as easily.