Pandan Chiffon Cake

My all time favourite cake!

In fact, this is my second attempt in 4 days... the first one failed, half of the cake collapsed :(. Think I underbaked it. So this time, to use up my remaining pandan juice and also to find out if underbaking was the real cause of my previous failure , I tried again...after 3 days. This time round I baked slightly longer, using mainly the lower heat, and finally...I declare the attempt successful :)

However, still not satisfied with the fragrance of the pandan in the cake. Perhaps I diluted the juice too much, or perhaps, the leaves were not fragrant enough. Even though I bought two stalks, I can hardly smell its fragrance when the vegetable seller handed them to me. Will try again the next time when I get hold of really nice and fragrant leaves.

mixing still not even... more practice needed!!

Pandan Chiffon Cake
Adapted from: http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2011/06/pandan-chiffon-cake.html

Ingredients for batter: 
6 egg yolks (50g egg)
20g caster sugar
100g cake flour
100ml evaporated milk
2tbsp pandan juice (see below for making pandan juice)
40g vegetable oil
Ingredients for egg whites:
6 egg whites
70g caster sugar
1/2tsp cream of tartar

Ingredients of pandan juice:
20 pandan leaves
1 1/2 tbsp water

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 170deg.
2. Whisk the egg yolks with sugar till pale and creamy. Add evaporated milk, pandan juice. Combine well.
3. Sift in cake flour in three batches into the egg yolk mixture. Mix well. Lastly, add vegetable oil and mix well. Set aside.
4. Use a large clean bowl, making sure there’s no water or oil in it. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until bubbles form. Add the cream of tartar.
5. After mixing well, add the sugar in three batches, about one-third at a time, and beat well between additions. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
6. Spoon out 1/3 of the beaten egg whites and fold into the egg yolk mixture. Lightly fold in the rest of the beaten egg whites with a spatula, until just combined.
7. Pour into ungreased chiffon pan (23cm) and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes. After baking the first 15 minutes, if you find your cake gets browning, reduce heat to 150deg, continue to bake until cooked through. A needle comes out clean when inserted in the middle.
8. Remove cake from the oven. invert the pan immediately. Allow it to cool completely.

To make pandan juice: 
1. Cut pandan leaves into thin shreds, pop in a food processor and add about 1 1/2tbsp of water. Process to small pieces.
2. Place pandan leaves in a muslin bag and squeeze out the juice. You need about 2tbsp of it to make this cake. If you don’t have a muslin bag, just use your clean hand to squeeze out the juice.

Orange Chiffon Cake

I've done it, my favourite chiffon! Extremely happy with the result of this cake, especially after reading so many "scary" things that could go wrong for a chiffon cake. Managed to acheive one that is nicely shaped, spongy, moist and fragrant, but needs improvement on the folding and mixing of the yolks and whites, and also more confidence during the baking process. I was practically standing beside the oven throughout, opening the door to check on the cake every now and then. But alas, the "painstaking care and attention" given to it paid off! Next project... my all-time favourite... Pandan Chiffon!! :)

nicely shaped, but destroyed by my lousy unmoulding skill...haha

soft, moist and spongy :)

Orange Chiffon Cake
Adapted from: wensdelight

Ingredients:
(A) 5 egg yolks, 40g castor sugar
(B) 80ml orange juice, 50g sunflower oil
(C) 100g cake flour (Sieve twice), zests from 1 orange
(D) 6 egg whites, 80g castor sugar, 1/2tsp cream of tartar

Directions: (For 23cm chiffon mould)
Preheat oven at 170deg

Part A:
1. Whisk (A) till the egg yolks turn creamy pale yellow colour or till sugar melt.
2. Add in (B) and mix well.
3. Fold in (C) and mix well.

Part B:
1. Whisk egg whites till foamy, add cream of tartar, then add sugar in batches and whisk till stiff peak forms.
2. Add in 1/3 of the egg white mixture into Part A mixture and mix well.
3. Pour this mixture back to the remaining egg white mixture and fold well till the mixture is smooth flowing and glossy.
4. Pour into a clean & grease free 23cm chiffon mould and bake for 40-50 mins or till cooked. Bang the mould before going into the oven to release excess air. To test doneness of the cake, bake until the cake rises high and then starts to shrink.
5. When the cake is cooked, invert the cake to cool. Remove the cake from the cake pan when it is completely cool (takes around 1hr).

Pandan Yoghurt Swissroll with Custard Peach Filling

Roll roll roll....my first swissroll :) No cream, no oil, modified the recipe using all the ingredients that I like... pandan, custard and peach! Not a bad attempt, though the cake was a little rough as i chose the "lazy"method mixing whole eggs instead of beating the yolks and whites separating (the chiffon way). Custard was too thick and I ended up with a very "heavy" swissroll, perhaps better if reduce the amount by one third.

Pandan Yoghurt Swissroll with Custard Peach Filling
Adapted from: passionbaker

Ingredients: (Makes approximately 13" x 11" sheet pan)
4 eggs
60g fine sugar
80g cake flour, sifted
a pinch of salt
40g yoghurt
1tsp pandan paste

Directions:
1. Whisk the eggs until lighten, then add the sugar gradually and beat till thick and lighten (thick ribbon stage).
2. Add sifted flour and salt in batches into the egg batter, fold to combine.
3. Add pandan paste to yoghurt, mix well. Fold into the batter to combine. The batter will be smooth and thick.
4. Pour into a lined sheet pan, and bake it at preheated oven of 180deg for about 10-12mins, until cake is cooked and top layer is golden brown.
5. Let it cool for a while and unmould from pan.

Ingredients for the custard filling:
350ml milk
40g custard powder
1/2tsp vanilla essence
40g sugar
6-7 slices canned peach (pureed)

Directions:
1. Add all the dry ingredients into a saucepan, then add in milk gradually, stir constantly to avoid lumps from forming.
2. Heat mixture over medium low heat, stir constantly till mixture thickens. Add peach puree and combine well. Remove from heat.
3. Allow the mixture to cool down, then spread evenly onto the cake and roll it up before serving.

Baking butter cakes with Happycall double-sided pan

Have read so much about the miracles that Happycall double-sided pan can create, and yes, baking a cake as well! Finally went ahead and did 3 experiments within 2 weeks. Preparation was not a problem, the tricky part is controlling the flame and also making sure that heat is evenly applied to the pan at all times by shifting the pan  left and right once a while.

First experiment: cake tasted great! but the bottom was slightly burnt and I had to scrap off the burnt parts. :(

not good....must try again!

Orange Butter Cake with raisins (using happycall pan)
Adapted from: Munch Ministry

Ingredients:
250g butter, softened
150g fine sugar
250g self raising flour
3 eggs
Zest from 2 medium size orange
100ml freshly squeezed orange juice (without pulp)
1 tsp vanilla essence

Directions:
1. Whisk butter and sugar till pale and creamy
2. Add in eggs one at a time (ensure one egg completely incorporated into mixture before adding another one). Scrap the sides to ensure mixture is evenly mixed.
3. Add in Vanilla essence. Mix well.
4. Fold in self raising flour and orange juice, alternating in 3 or 4 batches till well incorporated.
5. Add in Zests of orange. Mix well.
6. Grease HCP with vegetable oil or butter, scoop in the mixture. When done,  use the ladle or back of the spoon to ensure the mixture spread out evenly in the pan.
7. On low heat medium stove head, bake for 20 mins shifting the pan from side to side, flip and bake for another 5 mins, shifting the pan to create an even brown top.

Second experiment: Used the same recipe, but added a layer of fresh banana slices in the middle. This time I experimented at mum's place and used her jumbo grill pan. It was almost perfect with nice grill lines created on the cake!

love the bananas and the nice "lines"! :)

Third experiment: This time just made plain butter cake, replaced the orange juice with milk, added dried raisins and cranberries. Baked with my Ocher deeper pan at home, much better result than the first one. As the saying goes... Practice makes perfect! so... never give up!  :)

nice, moist and fluffy