Orange Chiffon Cake

Adapted from :

http://pickyin.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/blood-orange-chiffon-cake.html

Good recipe for a 25cm tin which I own. I love it. It was light and perfect.

Blood Orange Chiffon Cake

Recipe modified from this Pandan Chiffon Cake.

Yield: One 25cm 5-inches tall cake.

• 180 grams cake/top flour
• ¼ tablespoon baking of soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 180 grams castor sugar, halved
• 160 milliliters blood orange juice
• grated zest of 2 blood oranges
• 8 eggs, separated
• 6 tablespoon corn oil

Pre-heat oven to 170°C and position a wire rack at the lower third rack. Prepare a clean 25 cm chiffon cake tin, do not grease.

Sift the flour and baking soda into a small bowl, add in the salt. 

In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the corn oil to form an emulsion. Add the blood orange juice and orange zest. Mix well before adding half (90 grams) of the sugar and whisk till sugar has melted. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk well into a smooth batter, there should be no lumps. Set aside.

On medium-high speed of a stand or hand held mixer, whisk the egg whites. Start adding the remaining sugar once the egg whites begin to foam, gradually in 3 additions. Beat till the meringue is smooth and glossy, with stiff peaks. Be careful not to over-beat the egg whites.

Immediately stir in approximately 1/3 of the meringue into the flour batter. With a flexible rubber or silicon spatula, fold in the meringue gently and mix well. Once a roughly homogeneous mixture is achieved, add the rest of the meringue and repeat the gentle, light-handed folding process till the cake batter is well combined. Scoop from the bottom of the bowl to ensure no meringue or flour batter is left unmixed. Do not beat or overwork the batter as this will knock out the air you've put into the meringue.

Pour the cake mixture into the cake tin. Using your spatula, dip it into the batter right to the bottom and make circles around the tin twice. This is to remove any large air bubbles possibly trapped while pouring in the cake batter. Bake at 170°C for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 160°C and bake for another 45 to 50 minutes or until cake is done. The cake tester should come out clean. Don't fret if the top of your cake cracks a little, this is normal.

Remove the cake from the oven and immediately overturn it to cool completely, up to 2 hours. I like to do this over an upturned funnel as the legs of the chiffon cake tin are not long enough to avoid the top of the cake touching its resting surface - the cake should rise to the same level or slightly higher than the center tube. You can also use a narrow necked bottle but ensure that it's stable enough to support the weight of the cake. Release the cake by running a sharp, thin knife along the sides of the cake tin and subsequently the bottom of the tube. The cake is meant to be served upside down as it is heavier on the top. 

Orange chiffon cupcake

Adapted from:
http://nasilemaklover.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/orange-sponge-cupcakes.html

Followed recipe to the dot.

Orange Sponge Cupcakes( makes 12)

25g corn oil

35g fresh squeeze orange juices

3 eggs (large), cold from fridge
95g caster sugar
100g Top flour or cake flour
1/4tp fine salt
1 orange rind

Method

1. Mix corn oil and orange juices together, set aside
2. Mix flour and salt together, sift them twice, set aside
3. Remove eggs from the fridge, add into the mixing bowl, add in caster sugar, immediately beat it till pale, thick and fluffy (I use KA mixer with balloon whisk, 3mins at speed 8-9, 10mins at speed 4-5, 2mins at Speed 1-2, total time 15mins ).
4. With mixer running at speed 1-2, add in orange rind, add flour spoon by spoon, then add in corn oil + orange juices, do not over mix. Remove mixing bowl, use a spatula to fold the batter till well combined.
5. Pour batter in a lined 12 holes muffin pan until 90% full. Lightly tap on countertop twice to remove air bubbles.
6. Bake at pre-heated oven at 170C for 25mins at middle rack.

Orange Chiffon Cake

Adapted from jothetartqueen:

https://jothetartqueen.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/orange-chiffon-cake/

Totally love her chiffon cake technique. Just follow her recipe to the dot. I love chiffon cake, though this one did not rise as high as hers but the taste was incredibly light and fluffy. This cake is so far the best I have made for chiffon cakes.

Recipe: Orange chiffon cake
Makes a 23 cm (9.5″) chiffon cake
This is a very light chiffon cake, packed with lots of orange flavour. The orange flavour becomes more pronounced the next day. If this is your first time baking a chiffon cake, you may refer to my previous post on “how to make a chiffon cake” for tips to handle the tricky chiffon cake.
Ingredients:
Group A:
5 large egg yolks, room temperature
120g castor sugar
90ml corn oil (or any neutral flavour oil like canola and grapeseed)
130ml freshly squeezed orange juice (I used 2 medium sized oranges)
finely grated zest of 2 oranges ( I use a microplane to do this)
1 tsp vanilla extract
190g cake flour+
3/4 tsp baking powder (optional, just to ensure the lift. but I have baked without the baking powder and it works just as fine.)
1/4 tsp salt
Group B:
5 large egg whites, room temperature
90g castor sugar
+ Cake flour substitution: If you don’t have cake flour, you can easily make your own at home. Measure out a cup of all-purpose flour, remove 2 tbp of flour, then replace 2 tsbp of cornflour. Sift this mixture twice to distribute the cornflour evenly.
Method:
1. Separate the egg whites and the egg yolks. Ensure that there is no trace of yolk in the whites. Allow them to come to room temperature. This is especially important for the egg whites to be whisked to their peaks.
2.Preheat oven to 180C Have your chiffon cake tin mould ready. Do not grease it!
3. Start with the group A ingredients as we only want to whisk the egg whites when everything else is done. If not, the egg whites will start to deflate.
4. In the bowl containing the yolks, add in sugar and whisk until light and pale. This can be done with a hand whisk. We just need some aeration in the yolks. Add in the oil and whisk until incorporated.
5. Add the orange juice, grated orange zest, vanilla extract into the yolk mixture and whisk. Then, measure and sift your dry ingredients and whisk into the yolk mixture (until just incorporated).
6. Next come the crucial step of whisking the egg whites. It is best to use room temperature egg whites because whites right out of the fridge will be too cold and will not whisk well. We are essentially whisking a meringue. Start with a stainless steel clean and grease-free bowl (I always rinse it with boiling water to rid of any remaining grease). Add in your room temperature egg whites and put it onto your mixer.
7. Begin whisking your egg whites at medium low speed till foamy. You can add a pinch of cream of tar tar (which increases the meringue stability) at this point if you like. This is optional and your meringues will still work even without it.
8. Turn your mixer speed to high and whisk whites until soft peaks. Soft peaks are reached when the peaks of the whites droop when the whisk is lifted.
8. Start to pour in your caster sugar slowly, in a few additions, while the mixer is still running. The sugar, when added gradually, greatly stabilizes the meringue. But the sugar needs to be added slowly to give time for the sugar to dissolve and not weigh down the meringue. The meringue should be whisked to a glossy, firm peaks – just slightly short of stiff peaks. The whites should look glossy and when the whisk is lifted, the peaks will hold but the tip will fall back slightly onto itself. Just a note: stiff peaks mean that when you turn the whisk is lifted, the peaks will hold up straight without collapsing onto itself at all.
9. Start by adding 1/4 of the meringue to mixture A (yolk mixture). Whisk lightly to combine until it is well incorporated. Do not be afraid to knock out air at this stage. We are lightening the yolk mixture so that it will be of a more similar consistency to the meringue which will help you fold the meringue through easily and more evenly.
10. Next, add in 1/2 of the remaining meringue to the mixture A (yolk mixture). Fold gently using a rubber spatula drawing a line across the centre of the batter then going under the batter and lifting up when the spatula reaches the sides of the bowl. Turn the bowl as you do this. Do ensure that the egg whites are folded into the mixture thoroughly so you won’t get egg white streaks after baking. Fold in the dried cranberries into the batter.
11. Gently pour the chiffon cake batter into the chiffon tin. Using a rubber spatula, level and smooth out the top of the cake batter and gently tap the chiffon cake tin against the kitchen counter twice to remove any large air bubbles.
12. Bake in a preheated 180 degrees celcius for about 1 hr 5 minutes (+/-). The top of the cake should be lightly browned and springs back to touch when it is done. The cake tester inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean. At about 25 minutes into the baking, check on your chiffon cake. If the top starts to get too brown or starts cracking too much, cover the chiffon cake with a sheet of aluminum foil (oil it so that the cake would not stick to it) before you continue with the baking.
13. Remove the ready cake from the oven, place a funnel into the center hole of the tin and invert the cake to cool on a cooling rack. Only attempt to unmould the chiffon cake from its tin when it is cooled fully.
14. To remove the cake after it is cooled, run a palette knife against the sides of the cake tin. Turn it out gently onto a cake board. The base of the cake tin would now be on top. Run a palette knife in one swift motion against the base of the tin. Allow the chiffon cake to gently fall onto the cake board. Remember not to shake/yank out the chiffon cake – the crumb structure is very tender and you would only tear your cake if you do so.
*Storage tips:
*The chiffon cake can keep in an air-tight container in room temperature for a few days.

Pandan Chiffon Cake

Adapted from: http://jothetartqueen.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/pandan-chiffon-cake/

I followed this recipe to the very inch. It worked very well as it measures the egg whites in weight to get the precise bake. Her site is very comprehensive and even provides tips on how to get the folding of the eggwhites right. It also provides troubleshooting tips as well.

The chiffon cake i bake turned out very well. Apart from small sections where it was a bit moist, it was nice and fluffy and light. I might turn the cake after 25 minutes next time to get an even bake. The only thing that is different from this recipe is the baking time. I took less than an hour, around 55 minutes for the whole baking time and i omitted the pandan leaves as i can't get hold of them here.

Recipe: Classic pandan chiffon cake
Makes a 23 cm (9.5″) chiffon cake
A chiffon is as beautiful as a summer’s day when it is light as air and fluffy like clouds. Though the texture of this cake is feather-light, its flavours are unmistakably pronounced, in a good way. Pandan and coconut milk complement each other and its beautiful marriage can be tasted in this chiffon cake.
Ingredients:
Group A:
100g egg yolks (or approximately 5 yolks), room temperature
35g sugar
40ml corn oil (or any other neutral flavoured oil like canola or soybean)- i used canola
about 12 fresh pandan leaves, washed thoroughly - i did not have fresh leaves so i omitted this part out
160ml coconut milk - i used the can
20ml water
1/2 tsp pandan paste
120g cake flour+
3/4 tsp double acting baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Group B
270g egg whites (or approximately 6 whites), room temperature
55g caster sugar
pinch of cream of tartar (optional)- i used abit of salt instead
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Have your chiffon cake tin mould ready. Do not grease it!
2. Whisk yolks with sugar until pale and light. Add in the corn oil and whisk until incorporated.
3. Prepare pandan coconut milk: Using a blender, place coconut milk, water and cut up pandan leaves and blitz. Pour mixture over a sieve and squeeze out the pandan coconut milk. Alternatively, you can use your hands (do wear disaposable gloves as pandan juice can cause your skin to itch) to squeeze out the pandan flavoured coconut milk. Discard the remaining pulp.
4. Mix the pandan coconut milk into your egg yolk mixture. Add in pandan paste and whisk in sifted dry ingredients. Whisk well until there are no lumps.
5. Prepare a meringue: Use group B ingredients to whisk a meringue to glossy, firm, just short of stiff peaks. Start by whisking egg whites until soft peaks before adding the caster sugar and whisk till glossy and firm, just short of stiff peaks. Do not overwhisk.
6. Add in 1/4 of the meringue to the egg yolk mixture. Whisk lightly to combine.
7. Add in 1/2 of the remaining meringue to the yolk mixture. Fold gently to incorporate before folding in the rest of the meringue. Make sure that the whites are folded into the mixture thoroughly.
8. Gently pour the pandan cake batter into the chiffon tin. Using a spatula, level and smooth out the top of the cake batter and gently tap the chiffon cake tin against the kitchen counter twice to remove any large air bubbles.
9. Bake at 180 degrees celcius for about 1 hr. The top of the cake should be lightly browned and springs back to touch when it is done. At about 25 minutes into the baking, check on your chiffon cake. If the top starts to brown or crack, cover the top with a aluminium foil before continuing with the baking. You can turn down the temperature slightly as well to about 170-175 degrees celcius.
10. Remove the ready cake from the oven, place a funnel into the center hole of the tin and invert the cake to cool on a cooling rack. Only attempt to unmould the pandan cake from its tin when it is cooled fully.

 

 This is the Group A ingredients

 I am always nervous about getting egg whites right. I have watched and read alot before even attempting it. For this very reason, i used a hand mixer to control the right consistency. So even my fabulous Thermomix had to step aside for this cake.

 Whisk and whisk. took me a good 9-10 minutes standing and whisking

 This is how it looks like after folding in Part A and Part B. I did it very gently and big folds.
I knew the mixture was correct as it looks very nice and fluffy. the volume was definitely there and it was not deflated

 The pan i got is abit too big but it works as well. This is a 24cm pan.

 I did cover with an aluminum foil after 25 minutes. And i did invert it when it came right out from the oven.

 it did deflated after that. but it still had a nice height and light as a feather. Very delicate cake

 I did not wait till it totally cool. Was too impatient but definitely need to wait longer next time. I was too anxious to see the insides.

 and voila!, A perfect chiffon cake.

I love the texture and the taste. I might add more sugar next time and fresh pandan leaves please. :)

The family and our friends loved it so i will definitely have a go with more chiffon cakes next time.