Matcha Honey Red Bean Chiffon Cake – How to make & decorate!

Matcha and sweetened red bean are always paired beautifully together especially in many Asian desserts. This Matcha Honey Red Bean Chiffon Cake is definitely a must-try dessert for all matcha lover!

Let’s start by making the honey red bean. Soak the red bean overnight.

Next day… Boil them in a cup of water until soften, about ½ an hour to an hour.

When they are softened, if there are still a lot of water in the pot, drain it. Then add the sugar and honey, then continue to boil on medium heat, until the beans absorb all of the sugary juice.

Transfer them to a plate to cool off completely.

Now let’s make the cake! There are all of the ingredients…

First, mix the oil, flour and matcha powder.

If you have seen any of my chiffon cake videos (except the pandan-flavored chiffon cake) on my YouTube channel, you’ll know that I always use the same method in mixing the ingredients for the egg batter. That is, first combining the oil and flour, then other ingredients.

First combining the oil and flour won’t develop gluten, You can stir it any way you want and you don’t have to sift the flour neither.

Now add the milk and egg yolks. Stir until all well-combined.

Now let’s whip the egg whites. Add cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat on high speed.

Cream of tartar can stabilize the meringue. If you don’t have it, you can add a small teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar instead. You can also use a stand mixer for this, both methods will work just fine.

When you see big bubbles forming, add a third of the sugar then continue to beat on high speed.

When the foam becomes finer and silkier, you can add another third of the sugar, and continue to beat on high speed.

The foam will continue to get silkier, and you will start to see some texture lines/trails. At this point you can add the remaining sugar and beat on medium-high speed.

Continue beating until you see some stiff peaks. After lifting the whisk, the meringue is stable and firm, and the peak will not drip.

Scoop about one-third of the egg whites to the batter and fold it in gently.

This is to lighten the batter initially and prepare it for the rest of the egg whites. The motion is like first draw a circle around the edge, then draw a straight line in the middle.

Once it’s mixed well, change to a spatula and pour it into the egg whites.

Continue to fold gently until it’s all combined. Same motion: first draw a circle around the edge, then draw a straight line in the middle.

Scoop half of the red bean on a plate and coat them with a little bit of cake flour. This is to prevent them from sinking all the way to the bottom of the cake when baking.

Now add them to the batter and fold them in.

Repeat the same mixing movement until the batter is homogeneous. Don’t overdo it.

Transfer the batter to the pan immediately.

Shake it, tap it a couple of times to get rid of the big bubbles, and draw a few circles with a toothpick to flatten the surface.

Place in the preheated oven and bake at 300°F (150°C) for 50 minutes. Personally, I prefer to bake it at 300°F (150°C) for 40 minutes, then increase the temperature to 320°F (160°C) for 5 minutes. This is after a few testing with my oven as oven temperature varies.

If I just bake it at 300°F (150°C) for 50 minutes, even though it’s perfectly baked, the top of the cake will be a bit sticky after it’s cooled. So if you have the same problem, you can do the same switch.

Once it’s out of the oven, tap it on the table once, then cool it upside down. It will take 2-3 (or longer) hours to cool completely.

While waiting for the cake to cool, let’s make the garnish. I’m going to use candy melts to make something that looks like a birch tree trunk.

First melt the chocolate candy melts in microwave for about a minute. Prepare a piece of parchment paper, using a small brush, brush small spots of the chocolate on it.

Put this in the fridge for a few minutes to set. We can melt some white candy melts at this time.

Now take the hardened chocolate out from the fridge, and brush an even layer of white candy melts on it.

Use the spatula to draw some lines on the entire sheet. This will help us breaking them nicely once they are hardened. Then put these in the fridge to set. They will get hardened very quickly in the fridge.

Now that they are set, we can break them up carefully. And here they are! Some cool looking birch tree trunk.

Now that the cake is cool, remove it from the pan carefully, then slice it into 3 layers.

Now let’s make the whipped cream frosting. Combine the heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar into a chilled mixing bowl.

Beat on high speed until it thickens.

This is good.

For this cake, besides the regular whipped cream frosting, I’m going to make a some matcha whipped cream frosting as well. Making matcha whipped cream frosting is very simple. Scoop some regular whipped cream frosting into a bowl, sift some matcha powder in it and stir until all well-combined.

I don’t have a specific measurement for this. I will just add matcha powder until I achieve the color and taste I like. And this is it! matcha whipped cream!