Now that exam season is officially over, it's time to welcome the summer holidays! And what better way to kick off summer than a nice fluffy slice of cake. More excitingly, it is the proclaimed national cake of both Singapore and Malaysia-- and in case the title hasn't been a dead giveaway yet, yes we are talking about the all-famous Pandan chiffon cake. I had previously posted the recipe I used in Singapore which made use of fresh pandan juice, coconut milk and coconut oil. However, as these are super rare commodities in London, I've come up with a modified recipe that you just might enjoy regardless! Using tinned coconut milk, pandan paste and canola oil as a replacement for fresh coconut milk, pandan juice and coconut oil respectively, it is nowhere near the real deal in terms of fragrance, but still it's close enough for London's standards and particularly excellent when feeling homesick.
This recipe uses the cooked dough method for an extra soft and cottony texture. It is slightly more technical but the result is entirely worth that extra one step.
And here is a pretty shot of the pandan chiffon I baked over the weekend!
Ingredients: (for 7" tube tin)
3 egg yolks
45g oil
75g cake flour
85g coconut milk
3/4 tsp pandan extract
a pinch of salt
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4 egg whites
60g castor sugar
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Method:
Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius and place rack on the lowest part of the oven.
In a large mixing bowl, add 75g cake flour.
Heat oil over medium-high flame for about 2 minutes, then pour over flour and whisk to combine. It should form a smooth paste at this stage.
Let the paste cool slightly, then add egg yolks one at a time and whisk to combine.
Add 85g coconut milk, 3/4 tsp pandan extract and a pinch of salt and whisk to combine. The colour of the batter at this stage will be a lot more intense than the final product after folding in the egg whites, so if the colour/flavour is too light, consider adding more pandan extract.
In another large clean bowl, add 4 egg whites and whisk using a hand/stand-mixer till large bubbles have formed, then add 1/3 of the sugar and 1 tsp of lemon juice and continue mixing for another minute, then add in another 1/3 of sugar and mix for another minute until only fine bubbles are seen, then add remaining sugar and whisk till firm peaks or when the meringue shows only a slight curve at the tip when inverted.
Gently whisk in 1/3 of the meringue mixture into the batter until uniform in colour. Then whisk in the next 1/3 of meringue until only very few white streaks are seen, then fold in the last 1/3 of meringue until no white streaks are seen and the colour is uniform throughout.
Pour mixture into the cake tin at the same spot and then gently shake to even out the mixture. This prevents air from getting caught at the base of the tin.
Use a chopstick or skewer to run through the mixture in a circular motion to help further get rid of large air bubbles and ensure that there are no air bubbles clinging to the sides of the pan.
Finally, tap the pan against the counter top gently for any large air bubbles to surface and pop, then it's time to send the cake off to the oven to bake for about 42 minutes. If in doubt, you can probably extend the bake time to 45 minutes because it is better to slightly over-bake a chiffon than it is to under-bake it. The chiffon normally rises for the first 30 minutes or so and then it will start to sink as the structure solidifies. I'll normally give it an extra 10 minutes at this stage for it to complete baking. So if you have noticed your cake only start to sink slightly towards the 40 minute mark, you might want to add a few extra minutes.
Once the chiffon is baked, remove from the oven and drop the pan from a height of about 6 inches to prevent collapse then immediately invert the cake to cool. Don't worry about the crackled top, this will form the bottom of the chiffon.
Only unmould the chiffon when it has come to room temperature and this can be done using a thin metal spatula or butter knife run along the pan or you may also attempt to unmould the cake by hand. This can be done by gently pressing onto the cake and pulling it away from the tin towards the centre of the cake.
Otherwise, that's all there is to it. Simple enough to make, and yields a soft fluffy chiffon that isn't overly sweet-- perfect for breakfast or tea.
Happy baking!
Carina xx
Look so delicious! Thank you for such a detailed recipe, I will hv to try cos I miss this cake so much!!