My Mind Patch: Pandan Chiffon Cake 烫面香兰威风蛋糕

Monday, 1 September 2014

Pandan Chiffon Cake 烫面香兰威风蛋糕

My family likes pandan chiffon cake because of its light texture and sweet pandan aroma. However, most recipes I came across use 5 to 6 eggs and bake in a 22cm tube mould. I prefer a smaller cake whereby my family can finish within a day. Besides, my kitchen cabinet has no room to accommodate a bulky 22 cm tube mould. Therefore, I have to modify a recipe which would allow me to bake a small cake in a normal springform cake tin.

This recipe uses the gelatinization of starch method (烫面) which allows the flour to absorb more liquid than when it is cold. Flour is added to a warm mixture, around 65 degree Celsius. Cakes baked using this method has a higher moisture content than usual.

It was a pure luck to get the cake rose to a right height without much shrinkage at my first trial. Hope this recipe works for the subsequent bakes Y(^_^)Y

Yield: one 18cm round cake

Ingredients

Yolk batter

20g fine sugar

40g coconut cream

30g unsalted butter

25g concentrated pandan juice

Pinch of salt

55g top/cake flour

3 egg yolks

Meringue

3 egg whites

1/2 tsp lemon juice

30g fine sugar

Direction

1. Heat up 20g sugar, coconut cream, butter, pandan juice and pinch of salt till the butter melts.

2. After the butter has completely melted, remove the mixture from the heat source to add in flour.

If the mixture starts to boil, let it cool for 1 minute before adding flour.

The optimum temperature is around 65 degree Celsius.

3. Add in the flour at one go. Stir with a spatula to mix.

4. Add one yolk to the warm mixture in (3) and blend well, before adding the next yolk. Cover with a lid and set aside.

5. Before you start to prepare the meringue, starts to preheat the oven to 160 degree Celsius.

6. Place egg whites in a clean and grease free mixing bowl. Add in the lemon juice and beat at medium high speed till frothy.

Add in the 30g sugar and beat at high speed till firm peaks formed (the tips of the egg white slightly bent).

Reduce the mixer speed to low and continue to beat till stiff peaks formed (the tip of the meringue pointing up). Check your meringue regularly to avoid over beating.

7. Add 1/3 of the meringue into (4) and blend well.

8. Return the mixture in (6) to the remaining meringue and mix well.

9. Pour the batter into an ungreased 18cm springform cake tin. Give the cake tin a few taps to get rid of trapped air.

10. Transfer the cake to the lower rack of the preheated oven. After closing the oven door, lower the temperature to 140 degree Celsius and bake for about 50 minutes.

Baking temperature and duration vary depending on individual oven. The temperature can range from 140 to 160 degree Celsius; and the baking time from 30 to 50 minutes. It took me more than 10 bakes to figure out this right temperature and baking time combination for my oven Y(^_^)Y

11. Immediately after leaving the oven, drop the cake with the tin from a height of about 10cm to the kitchen top cushioned by kitchen towel. This prevent the cake from shrinking after cooling down.

Then invert the cake tin onto a cooling rack.

12. After the cake has completely cool down, open the spring lock and run a butter knife round the cake; or, push down the edge of the cake to dislodge it from the mould.