Heavenly Light and Ultra Soft Pandan Chiffon Cake

You have to believe that this pandan chiffon cake is the lightest and softest that I ever baked. This chiffon cake recipe originates from Cookpad and I have made it with fresh pandan leaves. Lightest and softest... Needless to say, we are loving it.

It is the lightest because...

1) A 17 cm tall or 20 cm short cake contains only two tablespoons of oil. Despite this minimal amount of oil used, this cake is surprisingly moist and soft.

2) Unlike my most ideal pandan chiffon cake, this cake contains NO coconut milk but only milk or water and this means that this cake has even lower fat content than most pandan chiffon cakes that are made with coconut milk.

3) It is mostly made of eggs, especially egg whites and that's why it is extra fluffy in its texture.

4) Unlike my my fail proof pandan chiffon cupcakes, it contains a low flour-over-liquid ratio and so it can be a little fragile to handle. Due to this reason, it is essential to weigh the eggs in order to ensure the right proportion of ingredients used.

It is the softest because...

It contains no cream of tartar. Remember the ultra light banana chiffon cakes that I have baked? I have shown that the addition of cream of tartar works really well as a stabilising agent to produce a nicer looking chiffon cake but can result a slightly less softer kind of texture.

Interestingly, this chiffon cake recipe is so simple that it contains no baking powder and uses no complicated method like the cooked dough pandan chiffon cake that I have baked previously. It is just a plain pandan chiffon cake made with all natural ingredients.

Although we love this lightest and softest cake, I have to say that this pandan chiffon cake without coconut milk is never traditional or ideal enough for me. All I can say is that this lighter version of pandan chiffon cake is simply heavenly to enjoy.

Heavenly light and ultra soft pandan chiffon cake

First, I need my Tovolo yolk out to do this job.

I try to extract as much pandan flavours as possible.

This recipe contains only 2 tablespoons of oil. Yay!

This smells so good. I can smell the pandan fragrance in this batter.

Instead of using cream of tartar, I'm adding lemon juice to stabilise the meringue.

I was curious to see if the slits made during baking help the cake to rise evenly and they did.

After baking, I turned cake upside down and wait for it to cool completely.

The cake looks great after I removed it from the pan but be careful as it can be a little fragile.

I wish that I can place a slice of this cake on your hand and let you feel that it is so light.

I wish that you can pinch a piece of this cake with your fingers and feel that it is so soft.

Here's the recipe that I have mostly adapted from Cookpad

Make one 20 cm short or 17 cm tall round chiffon cake

A
6 fresh pandan leaves
60ml (1/4 cup) milk, at room temperature
65g egg yolk, depending on the size of the eggs that you used, it should about 3-4 egg yolks
30ml (2 tbsp) vegetable oil, preferably light and neutral tasting
70g cake flour with 8% protein

B
160g egg white, depending on the size of the eggs that you used, it should 4-5 egg whites
1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
60g caster sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C or 160°C fan forced. Place an un-greased 17 cm or 20 cm chiffon cake pan on a baking tray.

For ingredients A:
Using a kitchen scissor, snip fresh pandan leaves into small pieces and place them into a blender or a processor container with 1/4 of milk and process. Place blitzed pandan over a muslin cloth and squeeze out the pandan-milk juice. Use only 60ml (1/4 cup) of the juice. Top the mixture with extra milk to 60ml if the extracted juice is less than 60ml.

Place the extracted juice, egg yolks and oil in a large mixing bowl and use a hand whisk to mix until everything is combined.

Sift the cake flour into the egg mixture and use a hand whisk to mix until batter is smooth. Set aside.

For ingredients B:

Place egg whites and lemon juice into bowl of an electric mixer. Please make sure that the bowl is clean with no any liquid or water. Using an electric mixer with whisk attachment, beat egg whites in low speed for 2-3 mins until foamy. Increase beating speed to medium high. While beating, add sugar gradually in about 3-4 batches and continue beat till stiff peaks form. The beating speed should not be too high as it will create larger bubbles. 

Fold egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture in 2-3 batches and do it very gently. When the mixture is well combined, pour the batter gently into the chiffon cake pan. Use a spatula or a spoon to distribute the batter evenly and also smoothen the top of the batter. Please note that this cake batter is slightly different from other chiffon cake batter. You can either give the batter a light tap before baking but should not tap the batter too hard as this smaller bubbles will pop leaving most of the large bubbles in batter.

.

Bake the cake for 40-45 mins. After 8 mins of baking, open the oven and be quick by making five 1 cm deep slits over the surface of the cake evenly. This will ensure that the cake will rise evenly. If the top of the cake turns brown too quickly, cover the top the cake loosely with a foil and continue to bake for at least 40 mins. 

Remove from oven and invert the cake immediately to cool on a wire rack. Allow it to cool completely before removing it from the cake pan. The cake can be very fragile and easily squashed and so it is better to slice with a serrated knife.

Serve or store at room temperature for up to 3 days if only you can resist eating this heavenly cake for more than 3 days :p

Happy Baking

Please support me and like me at Facebook...