How to enjoy a cake without getting fat
Recipe #43: green tea chiffon cake

Every year, my parents would take me to a well-known bakery on my birthday to buy me something I want. I would usually pick something with a lot of chocolate, mousse, tiramisu or something with a lot of whipping cream.

My mother loves these desserts as well, so the two of us would quickly finish them.

However, after learning some recipes, I started paying more attention to the nutrition value of many ingredients. This year, I decided to celebrate my birthday in a different way: I tried making my own dessert, a "healthy" green tea chiffon cake with reduced fat and sugar.

Recent studies have shown that green tea has many health benefits. For example, it it lowers cholestrol and has antiozidizing properties. If you like angel food cake, you will love this recipe as well. It is full of the aroma of green tea and fresh eggs. Although it looks simple, it is actually quite elegant.

Ingredients

1. 4 egg whites and 3 yolks
2. 1 c. sugar, divided
3. 1/4 c. oil
4. 1 Tbsp. rum
5. 1 c. + 1 Tbsp. water or milk
6. 3/4 c. minus 1 Tbsp. cake flour
7. 4 tsp. green tea powder
8. 1 tsp. baking powder
9. 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
10. pinch of salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Put egg whites and yolks in separate, clean bowls. They should not come into contact with any oil or water.
3. Mix egg yolks and add 1/2 c. sugar. Mix well, add oil rum and milk, and mix further.
4. Prepare another bowl and mix flour, green tea and baking powder using a fork and a sieve.
5. Put the two mixtures together. Using a mixer, beat the egg whites at high speed. Divide the remaining sugar into two parts. Add one part the egg whites. Beat for about ten seconds, and add the cream of tartar and remaining sugar. Continue beating until small peaks form.
6. Mix about 1/3 of the meringue into the flour mixture (in a folding motion) at a time using a spatula, until no white streaks remain.
7. Pour batter into a tube pan. Cut through it to release air. Put in preheated oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes.
8. Remove the cake, turn it upside-down and let it cool completely. Take out the cake from the mold.

Tips

1. We personally reduce the sugar to 1/3 cup.
2. We also substitute the milk with soy milk.
3. When a stick inserted into the cake comes out clean, the cake is ready.
4. The egg whites and yolk much be separated carefully. If there is any yolk in the whites, you must remove it; otherwise, the recipe will not turn out well.