Pandan Chiffon Cake II

as mentioned in my earlier post, i will bake another PCC and here it is. this recipe is more tedious but it is completely worth it.

see the "holes" in my PCC? the result of over beating; too many air bubbles formed in the process..

Pandan Chiffon Cake II (adapted from ieatishootipost)

Ingredients:

1 tsp ------------ pandan paste (original recipe uses fresh pandan leaves which i will the next round)
90-100 g ------- coconut cream (original recipe uses fresh coconut milk)
50 g ------------ caster sugar
60 g ------------ egg yolks (about 4 egg yolks)
100 g ---------- cake flour
60 g ----------- canola oil
1/4 tsp -------- salt
1 tsp ---------- baking powder

180 g --------- egg white (about 4-5 egg whites)
1/2 tsp ------- cream of tartar
50 g ---------- caster sugar

Method:

1. blend pandan paste into coconut milk. set aside
2. beat egg whites with cream of tartar until frothy. add sugar slowly until stiff peaks form. set aside
3. beat egg yolks with sugar until pale and creamy
4. add pandan-coconut milk mixture, oil and salt and whisk until well mixed
5. sift in cake flour and baking powder into yolk mixture and mix it well
6. add the beaten egg whites, one-third at a time, to the egg yolk mixture
7. after each addition, mix in the direction just used for whisking the egg whites, scraping bottom of bowl and lifting batter upwards just until evenly mixed.
8. lift bowl nd bang bowl hard against the worktop a few times to remove air bubbles.
9. pour batter into 21-cm chiffon tin, very slowly, so that more air bubbles are released.
10. bake cake in bottom of preheat oven of 180degC till risen (about 15 min)
11. place a baking tray on the top of oven (to block off heat from top) and continue to bake for another 25 min or so
12. remove cake from oven and invert it onto a rack to cool. after cooled, cut cake out from tin.

somehow, the sides of my PCC never browns and i wonder if it's got to do with my baking tin.. (anti-burn property???)

Pandan Chiffon Cake 1

pandan has a nice aroma and is popularly used in many Asian and Chinese desserts. pandan's best friends are coconut milk and kaya..

Dear's family (of indonesian background) makes the best pandan cake! when i was first introduced to their pandan cake, i was expecting a chiffon cake but to my surprise, it was a dense pandan cake. nothing like the local pandan chiffon cake but i really love it! bengawan solo and subway niche both sell "kaya cake", which is quite similar to Dear's family pandan cake.

unfortunately, i dont get to eat Dear's pandan cake often. only when his mommy visits singapore then i get to enjoy it. since the mid-autumn festival, i have been craving for pandan cake. pandan chiffon cake seemed like the most logical choice of bake since recipes are easily available. BUT, from my simple research, i realised that it takes a LONG trial-and-error process to master the BEST pandan chiffon - something insanely fragrant, moist but light.... interestingly, i found out that prima deli (singapore) sells two types of pandan cakes - the normal one and the premium one... the latter costs about twice the price of the former, and just about the same as that of bengawan solo... by the way, bengawan solo apparantly sells the best pandan cake in singapore...

i really believe that there is a secret ingredient AND a secret technique to making the best pandan chiffon. while i'd used pandan paste and storebought coconut milk here, i know nothing beats using real stuff like real pandan leaves (blended and essence extracted) and freshingly squeezed coconut cream.

well, you might have noticed that the post title is pandan chiffon cake ONE. yes, i believe i will be pursuing the pandan-chiffon perfection..

Pandan Chiffon Cake (adapted from Bisous A Toi)



Ingredients:

100 ml ------------- coconut cream
1tsp ---------------- pandan paste
100 g -------------- cake flour
1 tsp --------------- baking powder
50 g ---------------- canola oil
4 ------------------- egg yolks
100 g --------------- castor sugar (divided)
one pinch of salt

5 ------------------ egg whites
1/4 tsp ----------- cream of tartar

Method:

1. preheat oven to 170degC

2. mix pandan paste into coconut milk. mix well

3. add oil, yolks, 50g sugar and salt into the mixture from 2 and mix well

4. sift in flour and baking powder and whisk using a handwhisk until smooth. set aside

5. using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy.

6. add the remaining 50g sugar until beat until stiff peaks (meringue forms)

7. transfer 1/3 of the meringue into the coconut-flour mixture and mix well using a handwhisk

8. slowly fold mixture 7 into the remaining meringue until well incorporated

9. pour final batter into an ungreased 18-cm chiffon pan and bake for about 50 min

just as i expected, this is quite a big gap from my ideal pandan chiffon. much room for improvement. this cake was fairly fragrant and light but not moist. i might have over-baked it.

just keep trying!

A rare birthday cake

I was elated when my colleagues suggested that I could bake a cake for a little surprise party that we were planning for our birthday colleague (the usual practice was getting a gift and buying a cake). Not only was there a greater motivation for me to bake, I felt kind of touched that my colleagues trusted my baking skills and didn't mind. It mattered so much to me; it was a form of recognition, no matter how small it might seem. That was two days ago.

Yesterday, I was on medical leave. The flu bug hit me the night before. But I was still determined to bake a birthday cake for the birthday girl. And so I did! It was a rare birthday cake because I made a chiffon cake for her! Birthday cakes, as everyone knows it, are often elaborated with coloured frostings or whipped cream, well-piped wordings and decorations and/or topped with candied/fresh fruits. Mine was absolutely simple - dark chocolate chiffon cake with chocolate rice & almond nuts.

Though still drowsy from my flu medicine, I somehow thought it was a breeze to go to work today even with a big cake container. Maybe it was the drowsiness that made me oblivious to the peak hour crowd. But more likely I think it was because of the cake that I was holding. Regardless, I think my colleagues enjoyed it. Or did they not? Erm... I think they did. ;)

I am nothing but grateful for my colleagues who are always appreciative of my bakes and generous with words of compliment.

 

Dark Chocolate Chiffon Cake

Ingredients A

• 50 g Cake flour
• 20 g Cocoa powder
• 10 g Corn flour
• 60 ml Chocolate milk (I used normal milk)
• 1/2 tsp Instant coffee (I omitted)
• 50 ml Corn oil (I used canola oil)
• 4 Egg yolks
• 1 tsp Chocolate paste (or black forest paste)

Ingredients B

• 4 Egg whites
• 60 g Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Cream of tartar (I substituted it with salt)

Method for A

1. Heat chocolate milk and instant coffee powder until the latter dissolves. Set aside
2. Whisk egg yolks, add milk, corn oil and continue to whisk till well-mixed
3. Add in the sifted flour/corn flour and mix till batter resembles a thick paste

Method for B

1. Whisk egg white and cream of tartar till bubbly
2. Add in sugar a little by little and continue to whip until soft peaks form
3. Fold in 1/3 of egg white into chocolate batter
4. Pour chocolate batter into the rest of the egg white and continue to fold in gently
5. Pour batter into chiffon pan
6. Bake in a preheated oven of 160degC for 45 min