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.