I really think this recipe is quite good haha so I'm posting it here for anyone interested to try it out! I've been on a quest for the perfect pandan chiffon cake for almost the whole of the past month during circuit breaker and I think I finally have it: a recipe for the perfect pandan cake that my family loves! (After 5 separate trials and modifying three different base recipes from ieatishootipost, bakeforhappykids and Jeannie Tay's blog --haha yes, it did take a while, but it's all worth it.)
Here's the recipe! (Makes a 23 cm tube pan)
6 egg yolks
50g pandan extract (from 100g pandan leaves) --See how to do this here.
100g coconut milk
35g coconut oil
140g cake flour
a pinch of salt
8 egg whites
120g castor sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (or you can use a few drops of lemon juice instead)
Extra notes: I used 58g eggs for my chiffon. Egg size does matter! If your eggs are too large, consider reducing one egg yolk/egg white or use a bigger pan haha xp
Method:
Before you begin, ensure that all your ingredients are at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 170 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine 6 egg yolks, 50g pandan extract, 100g coconut milk, 35g coconut oil using a hand whisk. Whisk well till the oil is well emulsified and there are no visible oil droplets.
Sift in 140g cake flour and mix to combine.
Measure out 120g sugar and 1/4 tsp cream of tartar in a bowl.
In a large clean bowl, whisk 8 egg whites briefly using a hand mixer or stand mixer until foamy, then add in one third of sugar and cream of tartar, before mixing again and adding another third, mix some more and add the last third of the mixture and beat until firm peaks are formed. This means that when you lift the whisk the mixture should look glossy and may form a really small hook shape when held up. Try not to over-mix the egg white mixture so that it forms stiff peaks as this makes it more difficult to incorporate into your egg yolk mixture and there is a higher likelihood of white blotches in your cake.
Transfer a few scoops of egg white mixture into your egg yolk mixture and using your hand whisk, try to incorporate the egg white mixture without deflating it too much. The main purpose of this first step is to lighten the cake batter mixture so that it is easier to incorporate the rest of the egg white mixture without deflating it.
Then add about one third of the egg white mixture and incorporate using a hand whisk or spatula until there are almost no white streaks in the batter. Remember to scrape the base of your bowl!
Add in another third of the egg white mixture and fold it into your batter gently, then repeat for the last third of the egg white mixture. Try to gently scrape the base of the bowl and lift the spatula so that the batter falls over the topmost batter and that helps to ensure that the batter is evenly mixed. Repeat until there are no more white streaks then stop folding otherwise you risk deflating the batter and large air bubbles.
Pour the batter into your tube pan from a single spot as this will minimise the chances of large air bubbles trapped at the base.
Depending on how well you folded your mixture, you may need to gently smoothen over the surface of your batter so that it rises evenly.
Run a chopstick through the batter to remove any larger air bubbles.
Gently tap your pan on a flat surface to remove air bubbles near the surface of the batter.
Give your pan a little shake to even out the surface then send your chiffon off into the oven to bake. Try to bake your chiffon at the lowest or second lowest rack in your oven so that the top does not brown too much as your chiffon bakes. (I baked mine at the lowest rack)
Bake for 58 minutes at 170 degrees. You should notice that your chiffon had risen then collapsed slightly and that is an indicator that your chiffon is about done cooking. I like to give mine an additional 3-4 minutes just in case. Chiffons will fall out of the pan when inverted to cool if under-baked!
*Some notes on baking time and temperature: you can bake your chiffon at a higher temperature if you'd like your chiffon to rise higher. However, this also means that there will be more cracks in the chiffon. Likewise, if you decide to bake it at a lower temperature, the chiffon is less likely to crack, but also less likely to rise as tall. I've tried baking this chiffon at 165 degrees for an hour and 180 degrees for 55 minutes and both times they came out of the oven fully baked. Alternatively, you can try to water-bake your chiffon by placing it in a tin, and placing that tin into a larger tin filled with water. However the baking time will be at least 1 hour 30 minutes depending on your oven. Personally, I'd rather just dry bake my chiffon for 58 minutes haha xp
After you have taken your chiffon out of the oven, I like to give mine a quick tap before inverting it to cool at least 6 inches off the counter top/floor. I used an inverted glass cup/jar for this.
Leave to cool completely before unmoulding. This will take about 2-3 hours in Singapore's weather so just give it time. Your chiffon might shrink slightly in height after cooling and this is normal. I unmoulded my chiffon using a spatula but you can also use your hands and that gives a cleaner looking cake but also requires some skills!
and that's about it! My favourite pandan chiffon cake recipe so far so I hope you like it too :)
Let me know if you do give it a go! I will be most happy to hear what you think of it too.
Carina xx
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