Pandan Xiangsi (Ogura) Cake

After baking the most ideal pandan chiffon cake using pandan concentrate made from Wendy's method, I was asked (by my husband) to extract pandan using coconut milk instead of water. By doing that, my husband thinks that this method utilises pandan more by not discarding the forgotten fragrance which still exists in the liquid-soluble and less-denser layer of the extract. Sadly, this part of the pandan extract was discarded using Wendy's method.

After the success of my vanilla Xiang Si cake, I'm thinking of baking another Xiang Si cake again. This time, I like to bake the pandan version. And so for this cake, I have adapted the coconut milk-pandan extraction method and use it to bake with my preferred Xiang Si cake recipe with a little tweak. Instead of baking my usual 16 cm round cake, I doubled the amount of cake batter to bake a 20cm cake assuming that the bigger cake will be taller but I was wrong as all Xiang Si cakes in all sizes turned out to be equally short. Being a typical Xiang Si cake, this cake is indeed very cottony soft. I reckon beating the egg whites to stiff peaks should make the cake slightly taller.

We like both this pandan Xiang Si cake and the pandan chiffon cake that I have baked previously but if we really really have to choose one, my family and I will prefer the tall and fluffy pandan chiffon cake but we don't know why???

Soft and Cottony Pandan Xiang Si Cake

No water but only coconut milk is used to extract pandan juice this time.

The only thing to discard is these badly squeezed pandan pulp

Making the cake batter

Baking this cake can be quite nerve-wrecking.

The cake shrunk a little while cooling.

Pandan Xiang Si Cake - a short cake with smooth cottony texture and beautiful fragrance

Thumbs up and this last slice of cake is for me !

Here's the recipe mostly adapted from my previous vanilla Xiangsi cake

Ingredients A:
100g cake flour
1/4 tsp salt
60ml canola oil
60ml coconut milk
(I used Ayam brand light coconut milk)
6 pandan leaves
5 egg yolks (from 60g eggs)
1 whole egg (60g egg)
20g icing sugar

Ingredients B:
5 egg whites (from 60g eggs)
70g caster sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 150°C or 130°C fan force. Grease and line 20cm round cake tin. Prepare 2-3 cups of boiling water at this stage.

For ingredient A:

Using a kitchen scissor, cut 6 fresh pandan leaves into small pieces. Place them into a blender with 45 ml (3 tbsp) coconut milk and process.

Place blitzed pandan over a cheesecloth or anything similar and squeeze out the pandan juice. To minimize wastage of pandan, add another 15ml coconut milk to re-hydrate the dry pandan pulp and squeeze out any leftover pandan juice. If required, top pandan-coconut-milk extract with extra coconut milk to a total volume of 60ml.

Whisk oil, pandan-coconut-milk mixture, egg yolk and whole egg until frothy.

Sift in flour, salt and icing sugar. Mix well, put aside.

For ingredient B:
Using electric mixer, beat egg white with tartar powder and castor sugar until near stiff peak - *See my opinion on beating egg whites.
 
Using a spoon, fold mixture B into A by batches until well combined. Pour batter into the prepared cake tin. Tap pan lightly to remove air bubbles.

Pour 2 cups of boiling water into four ramekins and place them below the baking rack at four corners. Cover the pan loosely with a foil and bake the cake at 150°C or 130°C fan forced for 1 hr 15 mins and another 15 mins or longer at 160°C fan forced for the cake develop a nice browning top according to your preference. Note: Over-baking the cake is better than under-baking it!

Invert pan onto a cake rack and allow it to cool completely. Cut with a serrated knife and serve.

*My opinion on beating egg whites for Xiang Si (Ogura):

• First of all before airing my opinion, I have to clarify that I have never taste the real Xiang Si (Ogura) cake from Batu Pahat, Malaysia before. Thus, the technique that I suggest in this post is purely based on my opinion.
• At my first Mocha Xiang Si cake post, I beat my egg white to soft peaks and was advised by Sonia, Nasi Lemak Lover that my egg whites should be beaten to near stiff peaks, not soft peaks which eventually improve my subsequent Vanilla Xiang Si cake and this Pandan Xiang Si cake baking.
• However, I also realise that many bloggers (for example, Aunty Young at this post, Jozelyn at this post and Eileen at this post) beats their egg whites until stiff peaks for Xiang Si cake baking, resulting their cakes to be slightly taller and very spongy.
• In contrast, mine with egg whites beaten to near stiff peaks is not exactly the spongy kind but rather smoother in its texture. Based on my Cotton Soft Japanese Cheesecake baking, I actually like this cake baked in the form of this texture in order to differentiate Xiang Si (Ogura) cake from most typical chiffon cakes.
• I have learned this preference based on what Ju (Little Teochew) mentioned at her Japanese Cheesecake post. Ju notices "foam sponge" texture whenever she uses egg whites beaten to stiff peak and prefers to beat egg whites to soft peaks for less spongy but smoother texture for her Japanese Cheesecake post. Likewise, I like to agree with Ju and did the same for both my Cotton Soft Japanese Cheesecake and Xiang Si (Ogura) cake baking.
• Overall, I like to conclude that the cake texture and egg white beating technique can be subjective to individual taste and preference. Beating egg whites to both near stiff peaks for Xiang Si (Ogura) cake baking is the preferred option for me.
•  Amongst all pandan Xiang Si cakes that I have seen, I am most impressed with May's at this post as she has baked hers ultimately with nicely-defined green zebra strips! - Wow! 

Happy Baking
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