This cake was a fun reunion between me and a friend from middle school, Inna. Inna and I had been friends during middle school and high school, and while we did hang out a lot with the same people, and had similar interests(video games, anime, baking), we weren’t necessarily the closest of friends back then. A lot of it was just due to the school environment we went to – it made it hard to openly embrace interests like video games or anime without being ostracized, and we were both kind of forced to be muted versions of ourselves to not get bullied. If there’s anything that I would tell any high schoolers out there, it would be fuck the bullies and fuck what they think. Just be yourself and don’t be ashamed of that. Inna and I had the fortune of reconnecting last year at our mutual friend Ellie’s wedding, just over a decade after we had last seen each other in high school. While I would like to say it felt like no time has passed, I actually am glad to say it felt like time had past, and we both were able to grow into being ourselves and feeling comfortable with just being who we are. So fast forward, and we finally got around to hanging out. And of course with baking being one of our shared interests, it just made sense to bake together! When it came to the flavor, I wanted to introduce Inna to one of my favorite ingredients in milk oolong, which is a Taiwanese oolong tea that tastes like milk candies. Inna wanted to make a roll cake, and that was how this recipe came about!

For the components, we have a black sesame chiffon cake stuffed and surrounded with milk oolong cream, and it is dusted with black sesame praline powder, just to tie in the nutty black sesame flavor and the caramel notes with the milk oolong cream itself. The chiffon cake itself is a fairly technical batter to make, but it is a lot easier to execute with a stand mixer – you are whipping a lot of egg whites to achieve that light as air batter. The cream itself takes a while to prep technically; you are steeping the tea leaves into the cream first, and that involves heating up the cream too. And the thing about whipped cream is that it can only whip when cold, meaning that you have to cool down the cream after the tea steeps into it. I prefer steeping the tea leaves into the cream for at least 1 day in the refrigerator, just to give the cream ample time to not only cool down so that it is easier to whip, but also gives the tea ample time to infuse into the cream itself. For the garnish, the black sesame praline powder is made by taking essentially a black sesame brittle, and blitzing that into a fine powder to dust the exterior of the cake with. It adds a gorgeous nutty flavor and caramel notes that accentuate the oolong and the black sesame, making for a light as air and surprisingly not too sweet cake!

Makes roughly 6-8 servings:
For the milk oolong cream:
2 cups heavy cream
2.5g milk oolong tea leaves
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp xanthan gum

In a pot, heat up the cream with oolong tea leaves until the cream just reaches a simmer. Transfer the cream into a heatproof container and refrigerate until completely cold. Allow the tea leaves to steep in the cream for at least 2 hours before straining it out. Transfer the cream to a stand mixer and whip with the other ingredients until stiff peaks form.

For the black sesame chiffon cake:
4 egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1oz ground black sesame powder

In a bowl, whip together egg whites with sugar to stiff peaks. In another bowl, mix together egg yolks with canola oil, vanilla, and salt. Fold together the egg whites with the egg yolk, sifted flour, and sifted black sesame powder to form your batter. Pour the batter onto a parchment-lined quarter sheet pan and spread into an even layer. Bake at 350 degrees F for 18 minutes. While the cake is still warm, roll it up with the parchment so that it will form a roll shape.

For the black sesame praline powder:
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1g corn syrup
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp toasted black sesame seeds

In a pan, heat up the sugar, corn syrup, and salt until the sugar turns an amber brown color. Spread the sesame seeds onto a sheet of parchment or a silicone mat. Pour the sugar over the seeds and allow the sugar to harden completely – it should be peel off the mat in one clean layer. Transfer the sugar into a spice grinder and blend into a fine powder. Store in an airtight container until time to use.

For assembly:
Start by spreading 3/4 of the cream inside of the cake and then roll it up. Spread the remaining cream around the cake, then dust with the praline powder to finish.