Love & bear swissrolls & pandan chiffon cake

This is part II of the September school holiday post. See how the kids were having fun with baking, and I had as much fun guiding the little chefs! It was a very productive day, the kids made a Lots-of-love swissroll (recipe here) for my aunt's house-warming, and another pandan chiffon cake (recipe here) to bring home for daddy & mommy!

With leftover cream and ingredients, I made another long-ear bear swissroll (recipe here) in the night! 

Almond orange chiffon cake

I'm sort of addicted to baking chiffon cake these days, especially after seeing each of them rise and brown so nicely. They are also easy to bake and because they feel so light, I feel less guilty eating more of them. I also have a big family to share my fats bakes!

The crunch from the almond flakes give a nice twist to an ordinary orange chiffon cake.

Almond orange chiffon cake
(yields 23cm chiffon tin)

Ingredients/ Method
5 egg yolk
100ml fresh orange juice (from 2 1/2 oranges) 
orange zest from 2 oranges
50g unsalted butter, melted  
1/8 tsp salt
60g cake flour, sifted, 
30g rice flour, sifted
Almond flakes 

Egg whites:
5 egg white 
75g caster sugar
1 tsp corn flour 

1. Mix orange juice, melted butter and salt in a bowl and stir. 
2. Using hand-mixer or whisk, add in orange juice mixture to egg yolk and mix well.
3. Add in flour and whisk till smooth batter. Add in orange zest and mix well. Set aside. 
4. Mix sugar and corn flour, set aside. 
5. Use a cake mixer, whisk egg white till foamy and add in sugar/corn flour gradually. 
6. Whisk egg white till stiff peak. 
7. Turn cake mixer to low (KA 2) and slowly pour in egg yolk mixture to egg white. Continue whisking till well combined. 
8. Pour batter into a 23cm tube pan, smooth the surface. Add almond flakes on top of the batter. 
9. Bang the tube pan on the table top for a few times. 
10. Place pan into a preheated 150 deg C fan-oven and bake for 45 mins (23cm chiffon tin). 
11. Remove from oven, invert cake onto table top.
12. Leave it cool completely before removing from tin.

Pandan rice flour chiffon cake (Recommended)

Within a week, I've baked two pandan chiffon cake. One was a 6' size and I was so happy that for the first time, I've got nice brown skin all over and the chiffon cake texture remains soft and moist!

In order to test out the recipe again on a bigger chiffon tin - 23 cm, and viola, I still get the same nice brown skin and very moist and spongy chiffon cake! I was over the moon as after trying out so many pandan chiffon cake recipes, this recipe has yield the best result for me!

Now it seems that getting the right oven settings (fan-oven) and temperature (150 deg C), and of course a good recipe, is key for me in getting the perfect pandan chiffon cake!

Pandan rice flour chiffon cake 

(A) 6' chiffon tin
Ingredients/ Method: 
2 egg yolk
15ml pandan juice (see below)
35ml coconut milk
25ml canola oil or coconut oil 
a pinch of salt
30g cake flour, sifted, 
15g rice flour, sifted

Egg whites:
2 egg white 
37g caster sugar
1/2 tsp corn flour 

Baking time/ oven temperature: 30mins/ 150 deg C fan-oven 

(B) 23cm chiffon tin 
5 egg yolk
30ml pandan juice (see below) 
70ml coconut milk
50ml canola oil or coconut oil 
1/8 tsp salt
60g cake flour, sifted, 
30g rice flour, sifted

Egg whites:
5 egg white 
75g caster sugar
1 tsp corn flour 

Baking time/ oven temperature: 45mins/ 150 deg C fan-oven 

1. Boil pandan juice, coconut milk, oil and salt in a small pot over low fire, till few bubbles start to appear on the surface. Set aside to cool. 
2. Using hand-mixer or whisk, slowly add in pandan coconut milk mixture to egg yolk and mix well.
3. Add in flour and whisk till smooth batter and set aside. 
4. Mix sugar and corn flour, set aside. 
5. Use a cake mixer, whisk egg white till foamy and add in sugar/corn flour gradually. 
6. Whisk egg white till stiff peak. 
7. Turn cake mixer to low (KA 2) and slowly pour in egg yolk mixture to egg white. Continue whisking till well combined. 
8. Pour batter into a 23cm tube pan, smooth the surface. Bang the tube pan on the table top for a few times. 
9. Place pan into a preheated 150 deg C fan-oven and bake for 30 mins (6' chiffon tin) or 45 mins (23cm chiffon tin). 
10. Remove from oven, invert cake onto table top.
11. Leave it cool completely before removing from tin. 

Pandan juice
25 blades of pandan leaves (wash & cut into smaller pieces)
1/2 cup of water

1. Blend pandan leaves with water. Squeeze out the liquid from the puree using muslin cloth. 
2. Pour pandan juice into a bottle, cover and chill in fridge overnight for the reside to settle down. 
3. Discard the clear liquid, use the residue left at the bottom of the liquid. 

The concentrated part of pandan juice give a very nice green colour and fragrant to the cake, and you will be happy to know that there's no unnecessary chemical/ additives to your home-made cake!

Pandan rice flour chiffon cake

After seeing Bakericious using rice flour for her orange chiffon cake, I was hyped to try out using rice flour for, what else, but pandan chiffon cake! I modified the recipe using my previous water roux pandan chiffon cake. I'm not too sure whether is it the addition of rice flour, but the chiffon cake turns out very moist and fluffy. The pandan and coconut flavours are very distinct too! This would be perfect with nice brown skin all over.

Pandan rice flour chiffon cake 

Ingredients/ Method: 
5 egg yolk
100ml pandan coconut milk (see below) 
50ml coconut oil 
1/8 tsp salt
60g cake flour sifted
30g rice flour, sifted 

Egg whites:
5 egg white
75g caster sugar
1 tsp corn flour 

1. Preheat oven to 175C.
2. Boil pandan coconut milk, oil and salt in a small pot over low fire, till few bubbles start to appear on the surface. Set aside to cool. 
3. Slowly add in pandan coconut milk mixture to egg yolk and mix well.
4. Add in flour and whisk till smooth batter and set aside. 
5. Use a cake mixer, whisk egg white till foamy and add in sugar gradually. Add in corn flour. 
6. Whisk egg white till stiff peak. 
7. Turn cake mixer to low (KA 2) and slowly pour in egg yolk mixture to egg white. Continue whisking till well combined. 
8. Pour batter into a 23cm tube pan, smooth the surface. Bang the tube pan on the table top for a few times. 
9. Place pan into a preheated oven and bake for 30 mins. Bake another 5-10 mins on fan-oven 150 deg C. (I baked at 5 mins only and the skin is not brown enough.) 
10. Remove from oven, invert cake onto table top and leave it cool.

To make pandan coconut milk: 
70ml coconut milk
10-12 blades of pandan leaves
30ml water  

1. Blend 10-12 blades of pandan leaves with coconut milk and water, till puree.
2. Squeeze out the liquid using muslin cloth. 
3. Ready to use. If not used immediately, pour the pandan coconut milk into a bottle and chill in fridge. 

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (August 2014 Event: Flour) - organised by Bake for Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe.

Lavender chiffon cake and cupcakes

My ex-colleague was recently hospitalised and I was thinking of baking something "light" when I visit her. I did a Lavender chiffon cake before and since it's not readily available in the market, reckon it would be special too! 

The original recipe is for 8" chiffon tube pan, but I baked them in 6" chiffon tube pan (baking time reduced to 25 mins) and remaining batter into cupcakes (baking time 18 - 20 mins).  

Recipe for Lavender Chiffon Cake
(Makes a 8" tube pan)


Ingredients:5 Egg yolks
20g Caster sugar
90g Whole milk
50g Cooking oil (replaced with olive oil) 
1/4tsp Salt
1 tsp Dried Lavender
Zest from one Lemon
120g Self-raising flour
5 Egg whites
70 Caster sugar
1 tsp Corn flour


Method:

1. In a heatproof bowl, microwave dried lavender with milk for about 20secs at high heat. This is to bring out the fragrance of the lavender. Leave aside. (I boil the milk & lavender in a small pot over low heat.)
2. Mix egg yolks with sugar till light yellow.
3. Add in salt, lavender with milk and cooking oil. Mix well.
4. Sift in self-raising flour and mix well.
5. In a separate clean bowl, beat egg whites till foamy.
6. Mix in corn flour into caster sugar. Gradually add in the sugar into the egg whites till soft peaks.
7. Take one-third of the egg whites and fold into the egg yolk batter.
8. Continue to fold in the egg whites into the egg yolk batter in two batches.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared tube pan. Bang it hard onto the table top.
10. Bake at preheated oven of 180C for 45mins.
11. Remove from the oven and invert the cake until completely cooled.

I'm also linking this post to Bake Along for this week's theme of Chiffon Cakes jointly hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours, Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Lena of Frozen Wings. 

Re-visiting (water roux/ 汤面) Pandan chiffon cake

I seems to be hooked to baking chiffon cake these days, and has been looking at too many pandan chiffon cake. I saw the  汤面 method so frequently on fb and had a go at it. 1st try wasn't really a success, there were lumps of 'pandan bits' after baking and the texture was dense. Was going through my earlier pandan chiffon cake bakes and realised I did one similar method before, totally forgotten about it! Revisiting the recipe and yield more satisfactory result! Ingredients are almost the same, just a little difference in the method and it's more manageable for me. Yum yum! 

Lavender chiffon cake

During my recent trip to Lavender Cottage in Taiwan in Jan with my sis, niece & dad, I bought a packet of dried lavender thinking of baking something with it. So when I saw Jane posting a Lavender Chiffon Cake in facebook, I was eagerly waiting for her to put up the recipe in her blog. Finally had the chance to bake it today, and well-received by my lil baby & T! 

I'm copying the recipe here for ready reference. 

Recipe for Lavender Chiffon Cake
(Makes a 8" tube pan)

Ingredients:
5 Egg yolks
20g Caster sugar
90g Whole milk
50g Cooking oil
1/4tsp Salt
1 tsp Dried Lavender
Zest from one Lemon
120g Self-raising flour

5 Egg whites
70 Caster sugar
1 tsp Corn flour

Method:

1. In a heatproof bowl, microwave dried lavender with milk for about 20secs at high heat. This is to bring out the fragrance of the lavender. Leave aside. (I boil the milk & lavender in a small pot over low heat.)
2. Mix egg yolks with sugar till light yellow.
3. Add in salt, lavender with milk and cooking oil. Mix well.
4. Sift in self-raising flour and mix well.
5. In a separate clean bowl, beat egg whites till foamy.
6. Mix in corn flour into caster sugar. Gradually add in the sugar into the egg whites till soft peaks.
7. Take one-third of the egg whites and fold into the egg yolk batter.
8. Continue to fold in the egg whites into the egg yolk batter in two batches.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared tube pan. Bang it hard onto the table top.
10. Bake at preheated oven of 180C for 45mins.
11. Remove from the oven and invert the cake until completely cooled.
12. Cut and served. Can be served chilled.

Dark chocolate banana swirl muffins

There's 3 left-over bananas after my banana chiffon cake, and I had to put them in the fridge as they had over-ripened. I was thinking of something chocolate with the banana, and chance upon a yummy-looking picture here. And here's my version. 

I'm copying the recipe here for future reference.

Ingredients (makes about 12 muffins)

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup dutch process cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons boiling water
• chocolate chips for topping

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (I use 185 deg C) 
2. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
3. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and baking soda
4. In a large bowl, mix together bananas, sugars, egg and oil, and vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture into the banana mixture just until moistened.
5. Spoon 1/3 of the muffin batter into another bowl. Stir the cocoa powder and boiling water together until smooth, and then stir the cocoa mixture into the batter that you set aside.
6. Spoon a dollop of regular into each muffin well- just enough to cover the bottom. Follow with a dollop of chocolate batter, another small spoon of regular and then a small little spoon of chocolate, filling to a maximum of 3/4 of the way.
7. Use a toothpick or skewer to swirl all the batter together, and sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Banana chiffon cake

I bought a bunch of bananas thinking of baking something for lil baby's breakfast. Not the usual banana muffin, so end up with a soft & fluffy banana chiffon cake.

Small small baker has a variety of chiffon cakes, and that's where I get my recipe from here. I'm copying it here for future reference.

Ingredients (portion reduced to using 2 eggs for 6 inch tin)
2 egg yolks
1/8 tsp salt
20ml oil
60g banana puree (1 medium banana)
15g sugar
35g plain flour
1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
30g sugar

Method
1. Combine egg yolks, salt, sugar and beat until pale in colour. Add oil and mix well. Add banana puree and mix well.
2. Fold in plain flour and bicarbonate of soda until batter forms.
3. Whisk egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy. Add in sugar gradually in 3 portions until stiff peaks form.
4. Gently fold in egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture, 1/3 at a time.
5. Pour mixture into ungreased tin and bake at 170C for 25 mins.
6. Remove from oven and quickly turn the chiffon cake upside down on a wire rack.
7. Wait for the cake to cool completely before removing it from the tin.

Mandarin orange chiffon cake

A good chiffon cake recipe using left-over mandarin oranges from CNY. 

I'm copying the recipe here for easy reference. The original recipe is here. 

Ingredients (makes one 17cm chiffon tin)

3 egg yolks
20g sugar
30g vegetable oil
40ml fresh Mandarin orange juice
zest of 1 Mandarin orange
50g cake flour

3 egg whites
50g sugar
5g corn flour

Method

1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until the sugar dissolves.
2. Gradually add in vegetable oil, followed by Mandarin orange juice and zest. 
3. Sift cake flour twice and add into egg yolk mixture. Mix until just combined. Set aside.
4. In another bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy. Add in combined sugar and corn flour mixture gradually and continue whisking until stiff peak form.
5. Gently fold in the egg white into the egg yolk batter (in step 3) in 3 batches. 
6. Pour the batter into an ungreased chiffon tin. Give the tin a few slight knocks on the tabletop to remove air bubbles. Bake in preheated oven at 170 deg C for 35 minutes. 
7. Remove from oven and invert the tin immediately onto a cooling rack.
8. Unmould the cake only when it is completely cool.

 

Hokkaido chiffon cake

I've been a laggard in baking these yummy Hokkaido chiffon cakes. There are so many recipes out there, and I took the easy way out when I found one in DreamersLoft who has made comparison of 2 recipes. Taking the same cue, I also tried out Reirei's recipe and they are really good - soft & yummy - even when chilled overnight in the fridge! I've copied the recipe here for my future reference.

Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes

(Adapted from Reirei of All That Matters, makes 10 cupcakes)
(A)
3 egg yolks
1/8 tsp salt
24g corn oil
24g milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
32g cake flour
1/8 tsp baking powder (sift together with cake flour)

(B)
3 egg white
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
50g caster sugar

(C)

90g chilled fresh milk
30g custard powder
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
3/4 tbsp icing sugar (optional)
145g dairy whipping cream

Some Snow Powder (optional)

Method
1) Preheat oven to 175℃。
2) In a bowl, whisk egg yolks with salt. Then add oil, milk and vanilla extract, whisk till well-blended.
3) Fold in flour mixture and set aside.
4) In another bowl, beat egg whites , sugar and cream of tartar to stiff peak.
5) Scoop 1/3 of the egg white mixture to the yolk batter, fold well, then pour batter back to the remaining egg whites. Fold lightly till well-mixed.
6) Fill baking cases with about 30-32g of batter. Bake for 20 mins, then leave to cool.
7) In a separate bowl, mix milk, instant custard powder, vanilla paste and icing sugar till mixture is smooth.
8) Pour in whipping cream and beat till the thickness desired.
9) Using a piping tip, insert tip into the cake and pipe for 5 seconds. 3 to 4 seconds if you prefer less cream.
10) Sieve snow powder on top (optional) and chill cake before serving

Pandan chiffon cake

Not another boring pandan chiffon post again?! Throughout my short baking/blogging stinct, THE pandan chiffon cake has been my most "adventurous" where I tried more than couple of different recipes. Isn't it ironic for a so-called common cake? The recipe I'm trying today is one which I've bookmarked for a long time, which originated from ieatishootipost which is a very detailed post/recipe, but Jane had kindly posted a modified and easy-to-read recipe. I'm typing out the recipe for my future reference.



This is the first time I get a nice brown skin for my pandan chiffon cake, and I think it's probably due to the fan oven used. However, I felt the skin is slighly tough and cake is drier. Perhaps I didn't understand my oven since this is my first time using the fan oven, I'll play with lower temperature and/or shorter baking time to see how the chiffon cake will turn out the next time.

Pandan Chiffon Cake
(Adapted from Jane which was modified from ieatishootipost)
(Yields a 23" chiffon)

Ingredients/ Method:
(A) 4 egg yolks
55g castor sugar (reduced to 45g)

(B) 77g corn oil
94g coconut milk
1 1/3tbsp pandan juice (replaced with 1/4tsp pandan paste; would increase slightly to have more prominent pandan taste)
1 tsp vanilla extract

(C) 133g Top flour (or cake flour)
1 1/3tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt

(D) 6 egg whites
68g castor sugar
3/4tsp cream of tartar

1. Cream (A) until light and fluffy using a hand whisk or electric mixer.
2. Add (B) gradually and mix well.
3. Sift (C) into the mixture and mix well. Set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk egg white till frothy and slowly add in sugar and cream of tartar until soft peak.
5. Scoop 1/3rd of the egg white into the egg yolk batter and fold to ensure that they are mixed thoroughly.
6. Pour the mixture back to the egg white and fold gently and swiftly. I realised that folding by hand is much easier and effective than using spatula.
7. Before pouring the batter into the tube pan, give the batter a few knocks on the table to get rid of air bubbles.
8. Pour the batter into the tube pan slowly and in one direction. Do not grease the pan.
9. Bake in pre-heated fan oven at 160 deg C for 50 mins. (I will try to reduce the temp to 150 deg C for 45 mins)
10. When done, remove the tube pan from the oven and invert on a cooling rack and leave to stand for 2 hours.

Japanese dark pearl cake

This is my second weekend where I get to bake early in the morning, and managed to get everything done and clean up within an hour or so.  Although I lose so sleeping time, we are able to carrying on with our day's activities more leisurely. Like last week, we went for a swim today and since it's still early the pool is pretty empty and water seems cleaner. We'll see how long our new swimming sessions will last.

Japanese dark pearl cake
(Recipe adapted from aunty yochana)
Original recipe is for 23-25 inch tube pan, I halved the recipe for my 21 cm tube pan

Ingredients/ Method:
Cocoa Batter:
75g chocolate, chopped
45ml water
50g corn oil
12.5g cocoa powder
32.5g cake flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
57.5g egg yolks (about 3.5 eggs)

Egg White Batter:
112.5g egg white (about 3.5 eggs)
45g castor sugar
a pinch of salt
1/16 tsp of cream of tartar

1) Melt chocolate in microwave for 2 mins on medium and stir till smooth. Add in cornoil and stir till smooth. Fold in the rest of the cocoa ingredients and stir till smooth. Set aside.
2) Whisk egg white with cream of tartar till frothy, then pour in sugar gradually and then add in the salt. Whisk till a medium peak.
3) Add about 2 cups of egg white to the cocoa batter and mix well.
4)  Fold cocoa batter into the remaining egg white evenly.
5) Pour into 21cm tube pan and bake in pre-heated oven at 170 deg C for 45 mins.
6) When done, remove the tube pan from the oven and invert on a cooling rack and leave to stand for 2 hours.

Update 25 May 2012: I had the cake on Monday & Tuesday as breakfast, and it's soft, spongy, moist & chocolatey! Nice <3

Mango cream cake

Finally get to bake after so long, and I kid you not that I've been dreaming and thinking of baking cakes. After a late night on Saturday, there was a sudden urge and influx of energy flowing through my body in the early morning of Sunday. "I must bake and it must be NOW" ~ that was what went through my head. Although nothing really fanciful came out of the oven, I'm delighted to have accomplished a so-called task. By 10.30am, I was done with the washing up and baking, only left with cake decorating which was completed after we had our afternoon swim near our house. My lil boy was so sweet that he offered to do some chores after my baking, "...like sweeping, cleaning or mopping...". Daddy allows lil boy to mop the kitchen "... as mommy dirties the kitchen floor after baking..." Oh my, lil boy has grown up! It was a really good Sunday, and of course, a memorable Mother's Day.

Mango chiffon cake

Ingredients/ Method

(Recipe is for 25cm tube pan, but I baked in 2 tube pans - 21 cm and 17cm)
7 eggs
200g cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
165g icing sugar
100ml mango puree + 50ml water/mango juice (will add more mango puree the next time)

150ml corn oil

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1. Pre-heat oven to 170 deg C.
2. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. (abt 240ml egg whites)
3. Sieve cake flour, icing sugar, and baking powder into a mixing bowl.
4. Make a depression in the centre of the cake flour mixture, add egg yolks, mango juice and oil and stir until well combined.
5. In a clean separate bowl, whisk egg white and cream of tartar on high speed until stiff.
6. Add in cake batter to the egg white gradually and fold gently in batches, until well mixed.
7. Pour into tube pan and abke for 50 mins at 170-175 deg C. 
8. When done, remove the tube pan from the oven and invert on a cooling rack and leave to stand for 2 hours.
9. Remove the cake from the tube pan by pressing the sides of the cake along the perimeter of the pan and inverting the cake onto a plate.

Mango cream
1 3/4cup whipping cream
2 tsp icing sugar
1 1/2 mango puree
1/2tsp vanilla bean paste
1 extra fresh manago, cubed (for decoration)

1. Whisk whipping cream until foamy.
2. Add icing sugar to whipping cream and continue to whisk on medium-high.
3. Add in vanilla bean paste and mango puree, and continue to whisk till stiff.
4. Decorate cake as desired.