Boba Cake (Bubble Tea Birthday Cake)
This adorable boba cake features a hidden cup of homemade brown sugar boba tea within its light and fluffy chiffon layers. It not only looks cute, but it's also a unique treat that you can both eat and drink!
Equipment
- Aluminum cake pan 6 x 3 Inch (Both round cake pans or tube cake pans would work. Do not use a non-stick cheesecake pan.)
- hand mixer
- Kitchen scale
- Mixing bowls
- saucepan
Ingredients
Chiffon Cake Base (Ingredients listed below are for making one 6-inch chiffon cake. You need 2 or 3 chiffon cakes depending on the size of the boba tea cup. )
- 3 large eggs (Each egg weighs about 60g with shell)
- 50 g cake flour
- 30 g vegetable oil (Or corn oil)
- 30 g milk (Or soymilk, coconut milk, oat milk, almond milk …)
- 45 g granulated sugar
- 1 black tea bag (About 2 grams of ground black tea.)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- ½ tsp lemon juice (optional)
Milk Tea Flavor Whipped Cream
- 3 cup heavy whipping cream (About 720g)
- 6 black tea bags (About 15g)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (About 65g)
- 2 tsp gelation powder (optional)
- 2 tbsp cold water (optional)
Marshmallow Fondant
- 150 g marshmallow (About 23 regular-size marshmallows. Can also use mini marshmallows)
- 20 g cold water (About 1½ tbsps)
- 300 g powdered sugar (About 2½ cups)
- vegetable oil
- black food coloring (Powder one is better than liquid one in this recipe.)
Fruits of your choice
- ½ cup mango
- ½ cup kiwi
- ½ cup pineapple
Instructions
Prepare the Chiffon Cake Base
- Make two to three 6-inch cakes by following my chiffon cake recipe. Optionally, for a black tea flavor, you can add a tea bag of ground black tea, which weighs about 2 grams, to the egg yolk mixture during step 3 of the chiffon cake recipe. If you don't want to make the cake base by yourself, you can also use store-bought angel food cakes or sponge cakes.
- Use a long serrated knife to cut each cake horizontally into halves. Use a round cookie cutter or a round cup to hollow the center of each slice of the cake, so that we can insert a cup in the center of the cake later. You can leave one cake slice uncut and use it as the base layer when you assemble the cake.
Make the Milk Tea Flavor Whipped Cream
- Add gelatin powder and cold water to a small bowl. Stir to mix well, set aside and let bloom. (Gelatin can stabilize the whipped cream, allowing it to hold its shape for a longer period at room temperature. But it is optional.)
- Heat the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and tea bags in a saucepan over medium heat until it just starts to boil. (You can increase the tea flavor and milk-tea color by tearing open the black tea bags and adding the tea leaves directly to the saucepan. Strain the tea leaves from the cream mixture later using a fine-mesh strainer.)
- Reduce the heat to low and let the mixture simmer for about 5 minutes to infuse the tea flavor into the cream. Add the bloomed gelatin to the saucepan, gently stir until the gelatin is fully dissolved.
- Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing on the tea leaves to extract as much flavor as possible.
- Cover the surface of the mixture with plastic food wrap. (Ensure that the plastic food wrap is tightly attached to the surface of the mixture to prevent water droplets from forming on it.) Chill the cream in the refrigerator until it is cold.
- Using a hand mixer, beat the chilled cream until stiff peaks form. Cover with food wrap and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Make the Marshmallow Fondant
- Place the marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl, add 1½ tbsps of cold water to the marshmallows, gently stir to mix well. Microwave at 100% power for 1 minute.
- Remove the bowl from the microwave, add the powdered sugar to the marshmallow mixture. Use a nonstick spatula to stir until the sugar is fully incorporated.
- Transfer the mixture to a silicone pastry mat, or line your work surface with plastic food wrap to prevent sticking. Grease your hands with vegetable oil. Knead the fondant dough until it is smooth and pliable.
- Cover a rolling pin with plastic food wrap to prevent sticking. Take around ¾ of the fondant and use a rolling pin to flatten it into a circle with a diameter of 8 inches. (It will be the cheese foam on top of our boba cake.)
- Take the remaining ¼ of the fondant and add black food coloring powder to it, mixing it thoroughly until the desired black color is achieved. Roll or cut the black fondant into several ½ inch diameter circles. (They will be the boba pearls on our boba cake.)
Assemble the Boba Cake
- Place the first layer of the chiffon cake (uncut) onto a cake plate. Spread a layer of milk tea whipped cream on top of the cake layer using an offset spatula.
- Arrange a layer of fruit slices (such as mangoes, pineapples, strawberries, or kiwis) on top of the whipped cream. Cover the fruits with whipped cream. Place the second layer of cake (hollowed) on the top, and repeat the process by spreading a layer of whipped cream and fruit slices.
- Place the 5th or 6th layer of cake on top (depending on the size of the cup) and cover the cake completely with a layer of whipped cream.
- To prevent the cake from falling down, insert a boba tea cup into the center of the cake before applying the whipped cream. Smooth out the whipped cream on the sides and top of the cake using a straight spatula. (*See Note 1)
- Fill the central boba tea cup of the cake with bubble tea. For instructions on how to make boba pearls and milk tea, refer to my bubble tea recipe. Or you can use store-bought boba tea to save some time.
- Place the white fondant sheet on top of the cake to resemble cheese foam. Then, attach the small black fondant circles around the cake to resemble boba pearls. Optionally make eyes and mouth for the boba cake using the black and white fondant.
- You can either serve the boba cake immediately or store it in the refrigerator and consume it within two days.