Pandan Condensed Milk Chiffon Cake 香兰炼乳威风蛋糕

Yes, another pandan chiffon cake recipe of mine. I was not very satisfied with the previous pandan chiffon cake recipe which used fresh milk, so I modified it by adding condensed milk this round. 

Besides the condensed milk, I also blanched the pandan leaves before blending it.  I have no plant biology background, but I think there are probably some enzymes or compounds in the pandan leaves that will affect the air-trapping function of the batter.  The batter seemed to have lots of bigger or burst air bubbles after adding the untreated pandan mixture.

Previous cake with coarser texture

The cake texture seemed to have improved after I blanched the leaves. And the cake also seemed to be taller as the air bubbles were "well preserved" 😀

The later cake with finer texture

Yield: one 6" round cake

Ingredients 

All ingredients in room temperature

Using 55g Omega 3&6 eggs

3 egg yolks 蛋黄

15g fine sugar 细砂糖

55g hot water 热水

10g pandan leaves 香兰叶

10g condensed milk 炼乳

20g vegetable oil 植物油

55g top/cake flour 低筋面粉

3 egg whites 蛋白

40g fine sugar 细砂糖

Directions

1. Line the base of an 6" round cake mould with parchment paper. Need not grease the side.

2. Sieve cake flour twice. Set aside.

3. Cut pandan leaves into strips and pour hot water to soak for about 10 minutes.

After cooling down, blend in a food processor til the pandan leaves become very smooth puree.

Collect 45g of the pandan puree and mix with 10g of condensed milk. Top up  20g of vegetable oil over the pandan mixture. Set aside.

4. In a separate mixing bowl, beat egg yolk with 15g of fines sugar till pale and creamy using a hand whisk. 

5. Blend in the mixture from (3).

6. Sieve and combine the flour in a few batches, to (5). Cover and set aside.

7. In a separate, clean and grease-free mixing bowl, beat egg white to frothy, then starts to add 40g of sugar gradually. Beat at high speed till almost stiff peak state.

Reduce the mixer speed to low in the final 1 minute. Set aside.

8. Add about 1/3 of the meringue to (6) and mix well.

9. Pour (8) back to combine with the remaining meringue. Fold to combine into a smooth batter.

10. Pour the batter to an ungreased 6x3" round cake pan. Tap the pan against the work top to remove any trapped air bubbles.

11. Bake in a preheated oven at 140 degree Celsius for about 25 to 30 minutes, at the lowest rack.

When the cake rises to almost reaching the rim of the cake mould, increase the temperature to 170 degree Celsius for about 15 to 20 minutes.

10 minutes after baking in 170 degree Celsius, the cake raised above the rim.

5 minutes later, the cake shrank slightly in height when it is about done.

12. Remove from oven and drop the cake with the pan, 3 times over a cloth. And invert the mould immediately over a wire rack to cool down for about 25 minutes.

13. After about 25 minutes, while the cake is still warm, jiggle the cake pan to loosen the cake, invert to remove the cake from the cake mould.

The cake crust stuck the wire rack while I tried to remove it. And it disfigured my pretty cake 😭

14. Return the cake to the warm oven to dry it.  This step is optional.

15. Allow the cake to cool down completely before cutting :)