Boba Milk Tea Cake
This boba milk tea cake consists of sweet black tea infused cake layers, milk tea buttercream, and warm brown sugar tapioca pearls.Yield: three layer 6-inch cake
Servings: 12 slices
Ingredients
Milk Tea Cake:
- ¾ cup whole milk (170 g)
- 6 black tea bags, or 7 teaspoons loose leaf black tea
- 2 ½ cups cake flour (300 g)
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar (250 g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, (227 g) softened but still cool to the touch
- 3 large eggs
- 1 large egg white
Black Tea Simple Syrup:
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup light brown sugar (100 g), packed
- 2 black tea bags, or 2 ⅓ teaspoon loose leaf black tea
Black Tea Milk Concentrate:
- ⅓ cup whole milk (76 g)
- 3 black tea bags, or 3 ½ teaspoons loose leaf black tea
Milk Tea Buttercream:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, (227 g) room temp
- 3 ½ cups confectioners' sugar (400 g)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons black tea milk concentrate
- pinch of fine sea salt
Soaking Syrup:
- ¼ cup black tea simple syrup
- 2 Tablespoon black tea milk concentrate
Brown Sugar Tapioca Pearls:
- 1 cup dried black tapioca pearls*
- ½ cup light brown sugar (100 g), packed
Instructions
Milk Tea Cake:
- Bring milk to a simmer. Add tea and steep for 30 minutes. Strain out tea. Squeeze out as much liquids from tea as possible. Measure remaining liquid. Add additional milk as necessary until you have ¾ cup liquids.
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly butter and flour three 6-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine 2 cups flour (reserve remaining ½ cup), sugar, baking powder, and salt. Run mixer on speed. Add butter in three additions. Continue to mix on low speed until mixture is crumbly.
- In another bowl, combine infused tea milk, eggs, and egg white. Add half of liquid to mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until incorporated. Scrape down bowl as needed to ensure thorough mixing. Add remaining half of liquid and mix until batter is combined. The batter will look curdled. Add reserved ½ cup flour and mix until batter comes together.
- Evenly distribute batter among prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in pan for 10-15 minutes. Run an offset spatula along the sides of cake pan to loosen cake. Invert cake onto a wire rack and allow to cool to room temperature.
Black Tea Simple Syrup:
- Combine water and sugar in a small sauce pot. Bring to a boil until sugar has dissolve. Remove from heat. Add tea and steep for 20 minutes. Strain out tea. Cool to room temperature and keep store in the fridge until ready to use.
Milk Tea Concentrate:
- Warm milk to a simmer. Remove from heat. Add tea bags and let steep for 15 minutes. Squeeze out as much liquid from tea bags. Discard tea bags. Keep chilled until ready to use.
Milk Tea Buttercream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using an electric hand mixer), cream butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and mix until incorporated. Scrape down bowl as needed. Add vanilla, salt, and milk tea concentrate. Mix until thoroughly combined.
Soaking Syrup:
- Combine black tea simple syrup and milk tea concentrate before assembling cake.
Tapioca Pearls:
- Fill a heavy bottomed sauce pot with 5 cups water. Bring to a boil. Add dried tapioca pearls. Stir to combine and distribute pearls. Allow mixture to continue boiling for about 40 minutes. At this point the pearls should look gelatinous. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for another 15 minutes until peals are soft and chewy. Add brown sugar and continue to simmer until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and allow tapioca pearls to cool. As mixture cools, the syrup will thicken. Keep warm until ready to use.
Assembly:
- Place one cake round on cake board (or serving plate). Brush cake layer with soaking syrup. Spring a thin layer of buttercream over cake layer. Repeat with second and third cake layer.
- Spread buttercream around the exterior of cake to seal in any crumbs. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes to set up. Add another thin coat of buttercream all over cake.
- Keep cake chilled. Allow cake to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving. Just before slicing, add warm tapioca pearls to top of cake. Serve cake slices with additional tapioca pearls, if desired.
Notes
Cake can be made two days in advance.
If you have leftovers of the assembled cake, remove and discard boba before storing cake in the fridge.
Ingredients Notes:
- Any tea can be made into milk tea. For this tea, I used standard black tea.
- I purchase my dried tapioca black pearls from Ten Ren. I go to the location on Broadway (LA Chinatown). They sell large 6.5 pound bags- which roughly making 100 servings of boba.
- The dried tapioca pearls I used are already sweetened with caramel and maple syrup flavor.
- There are two types of tapioca pearls: one has a long cooking time while the other one is par-cooked allowing for a much shorter cooking time. I prefer the longer cooking one.
- Tapioca pearls are best eaten within hours of cooking. DO NOT refrigerate. The pearls will harden to a rubbery consistency.
Nutrition
Calories: 730kcal | Carbohydrates: 105g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 130mg | Sodium: 210mg | Potassium: 117mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 74g | Vitamin A: 1049IU | Calcium: 105mg | Iron: 1mg