Friday, July 18, 2008Y
my first chiffon!
on tuesday, i made an attempt to make a chiffon cake after reading through All That Matter's chiffon walkthrough. my gosh... she is so steady la can? i read through the theory part bout the water ratio is to the flour and egg and everything and it really makes me wonder if she went to some schools or excel superbly in math. definitely a very inspiring mother and baker! =D
i woke up around 9am (no work mah) and the moment i chanced upon her blog, i told myself i'm gonna bake my very first chiffon cake today. i didnt care whether i got the cake tin or not, i just found myself grabbing the essentials at my home's nearest supermarket and start working my butt off in the kitchen. Oh how i love ATM's step by step walkthrough with all the photos. its really very useful and easily understood. i followed her recipe religiously, praying hard to have the same successful result as how she always did.
i think 4 yolks and 5 whites will yield out a cake that's just nice for my family of 3. plus with me bring some to work and my mom giving out my bakes to neighbours and friends (i hate it when she does that) i think it should be enough. and opps, i broke a yolk =P
and here is the ingredients for the yolk batter. 90g of sugar, 30g of corn oil (i used sunflower oil), 1/4 tsp of salt (i put this into the oil without even thinking that it would sink. stupid) and the 140g concoction of coconut milk and 1tsp of pandan paste. yes i know the green is very artificial and i should have blended my own pandan, but i seriously dont want to see my pandan plant go botak. the pandan paste should be fine coz it smelt very aromatic =)
for the corn oil, the walkthrough mentioned to use 40g of it, but the recipe said 20g. so to play safe, i think 30g in the middle is the best! =D
so first, beat the yolks and in goes the sugar. for your infomation, I've never used a whisk in all of my bakes. i rely totally on my egg beater and this whisk you see in the picture has been inside my cupboard for more than half a year. i got it at Daiso and i tell you, it's good! but a whisk is still a whisk and even after beating the sugar, i felt sore on my upper arm. i was thinking how the hell you going to beat it till white and fluffy with a whisk?!
die la... i'm really a very lazy baker =(
but anyway. i managed to beat in the sugar (notice the color change of the yolk?) and in goes the salt and oil. i was really skeptical about the oil because its not easy to add oil into water or anything that is runny. but maybe i really suck in my science, the oil was nicely absorbed and there wasn't any oil beads floating around. a whisk is afterall, the basic of whipping.
next in, is the scary looking green mixture of coconut milk and pandan paste. forgot to mention that i use Kara brand's coconut cream. i think it should be the same right? be it milk or cream or am i bullshitting? but anyway the moment i add in the mixture, not only the whole bowl turned incredibly green but also watery. is it suppose to be like that?
i thought it was scary enough and wait till i added in 120g of flour and 1/2 tbsp of baking powder! scary ok! the whole mixture turned heavy and pasty and it was a pain to whisk it. by the way the recipe said to use cake flour. but because i couldn't get any of it, i used normal plain flour. i hope it wouldn't be of much difference.
and here comes the nightmare. you guys know i sucked big time in beating egg whites right? i've tried doing it a few times and only to see the whites foaming up nicely and stiff, but with a big puddle of dunno what at the bottom. after reading ATM's walkthough, i realised that all these while i have actually overbeat the whites.
so when doing this chiffon all i worry bout most is the whites. such heavenly purpose can only be accomplished by the egg beater. the moment the whites turned white and with bubbles, i added in 50g of sugar.
and here is when i realised that actually i could have continued beating a while more because later on after adding the sugar, i realised the true meaning of foaming. the whites turned really full of foam but still watery and i think the bowl i was using was too big. hence my poor egg beater had to cover a large surface area of whites. it took me bout 8+ mins to reach soft peak. how i know it was soft peak? by rising up the whisk and observe the tip of it. the moment the wind bowl it was trembling and wobbily. so did the whites in the bowl. so in goes the 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar.
and because of the bowl, i finally reached this stage after like another 8+ mins of beating. this time the tip on the whisk was much firmer and wind blow also no use leh! i dunno how to see whether its glossy/shiny and in order to confirmed that i had beaten the egg for enough, i had to...
THE ULTIMATE TEST OF FAITH!!! YES! THIS IS STIFF PEAK!!!! even the little blob of whites at the bottom left of the bowl was strong! i got rid of the egg beater immediately and i remembered ATM said must act fast as if we let the whites stands, it might separate into protein and water and then a puddle at the bottom and there goes all my effort =(
so chop chop fast fast. i carefully scoop up bout 1/3 of white and start folding into the green yolk batter. it's very amazing to see the green lighten and the whites folding nicely. no sooner, i got this:
i dunno if i folded the batter correctly, but i just so what i always did when it comes to folding batter: scrapping downwards from the side of the bowl. and scooping upwards from the bottom. once the batter was done, it reached a ribbon stage and even when i lift up my spatula, the ribbon doesn't break! (i admit i was super gleeful at this point)
i did not have a chiffon pan. yes. so i had to pour my batter into a normal round pan. funny right? but aiya who cakes? though the standard chiffon comes with a hole in the middle but i really dont mind filling that hole with the batter. mom said we used to have it but she threw it away because it was rusting soon and wasn't easy to keep in the cupboard. nevermind, i will get my chiffon tin soon k.
btw, i greased my cake tin. I GREASED IT. stupid right? i dunno what on earth am i thinking but later when the cake was done, my mom said its alright to grease because we didnt have a chiffon tin. no choice one =S
i dunno why but its like a phenomenon to me. something like birthday is to a kid. i took a stool and sat in front of my oven and watch my very first chiffon cake browning. it's really a historic moment for me ok? but after watching the first 10 mins i got really bored and hop onto my bed. heh. i did not tent the cake even though i know for my oven i should. i just change the heating element to the lower rack and then back to the upper and lower one.
i swear the cake was so fragrant and aromatic that i even smell it when i was inside my room on my bed. the moment i smelt it i thought i burned the cake and jump out to check. nothing's wrong and my dad in the living room even said, ' Smells really very good leh' =D and bout 45 min later... my first chiffon cake was done! but to my horror....
my chiffon spilt and opened a mouth!!!
HOW COME!!!! my mom said it's because the oven temperature is too high. very high meh? 160 degree mah! and the cake browned quite nicely. sigh i guess it browned too fast and turned into a giant souffle. i was really sad when i saw this but still, no choice. i brought it out to cool it under the fan and proceed to wash all the mess in the sink.
i looked at the sides of the cake and wondered if i had underbaked the cake. it was springy and very spongy, but still the bottom was not browned. or could it be the greased cake tin?
nonetheless i proceeded to cut the cake (we love eating cakes freshly baked and still warm from the oven) and OH MY GOD! IT SMELT SO HEAVENLY!!! and the cake was really very springy to touch. i know in this pic it looked very much like a pound cake, but i guess its because i used plain flour instead of cake flour. and again, did i underbake the cake?
we really enjoyed the cake very very much. my mom said the last time she baked this was more than 10 years ago and back then, she find hers was dry and not very fragrant, worse, is super green because she pounded the pandan leaves. so i told her, use pandan paste in future lor = P
i brought some of the cake for my friends at work and they said it was really nice. not too sweet and really fluffy. i think so too! the sweetness was very acceptable (in fact i think i wanna add more sugar but mom said NO) and it goes SUPER WELL with lipton red tea (my ideal tea time). this recipe is definitely a keeper! the next time i make this, its gonna be a blueberry chiffon cake baked in real chiffon tin. heh heh =P
anyway, thanks ATM for the walkthrough! it's super helpful and i'm sure many bakers out there found salvation through her post. haha =D
i woke up around 9am (no work mah) and the moment i chanced upon her blog, i told myself i'm gonna bake my very first chiffon cake today. i didnt care whether i got the cake tin or not, i just found myself grabbing the essentials at my home's nearest supermarket and start working my butt off in the kitchen. Oh how i love ATM's step by step walkthrough with all the photos. its really very useful and easily understood. i followed her recipe religiously, praying hard to have the same successful result as how she always did.
i think 4 yolks and 5 whites will yield out a cake that's just nice for my family of 3. plus with me bring some to work and my mom giving out my bakes to neighbours and friends (i hate it when she does that) i think it should be enough. and opps, i broke a yolk =P
and here is the ingredients for the yolk batter. 90g of sugar, 30g of corn oil (i used sunflower oil), 1/4 tsp of salt (i put this into the oil without even thinking that it would sink. stupid) and the 140g concoction of coconut milk and 1tsp of pandan paste. yes i know the green is very artificial and i should have blended my own pandan, but i seriously dont want to see my pandan plant go botak. the pandan paste should be fine coz it smelt very aromatic =)
for the corn oil, the walkthrough mentioned to use 40g of it, but the recipe said 20g. so to play safe, i think 30g in the middle is the best! =D
so first, beat the yolks and in goes the sugar. for your infomation, I've never used a whisk in all of my bakes. i rely totally on my egg beater and this whisk you see in the picture has been inside my cupboard for more than half a year. i got it at Daiso and i tell you, it's good! but a whisk is still a whisk and even after beating the sugar, i felt sore on my upper arm. i was thinking how the hell you going to beat it till white and fluffy with a whisk?!
die la... i'm really a very lazy baker =(
but anyway. i managed to beat in the sugar (notice the color change of the yolk?) and in goes the salt and oil. i was really skeptical about the oil because its not easy to add oil into water or anything that is runny. but maybe i really suck in my science, the oil was nicely absorbed and there wasn't any oil beads floating around. a whisk is afterall, the basic of whipping.
next in, is the scary looking green mixture of coconut milk and pandan paste. forgot to mention that i use Kara brand's coconut cream. i think it should be the same right? be it milk or cream or am i bullshitting? but anyway the moment i add in the mixture, not only the whole bowl turned incredibly green but also watery. is it suppose to be like that?
i thought it was scary enough and wait till i added in 120g of flour and 1/2 tbsp of baking powder! scary ok! the whole mixture turned heavy and pasty and it was a pain to whisk it. by the way the recipe said to use cake flour. but because i couldn't get any of it, i used normal plain flour. i hope it wouldn't be of much difference.
and here comes the nightmare. you guys know i sucked big time in beating egg whites right? i've tried doing it a few times and only to see the whites foaming up nicely and stiff, but with a big puddle of dunno what at the bottom. after reading ATM's walkthough, i realised that all these while i have actually overbeat the whites.
so when doing this chiffon all i worry bout most is the whites. such heavenly purpose can only be accomplished by the egg beater. the moment the whites turned white and with bubbles, i added in 50g of sugar.
and here is when i realised that actually i could have continued beating a while more because later on after adding the sugar, i realised the true meaning of foaming. the whites turned really full of foam but still watery and i think the bowl i was using was too big. hence my poor egg beater had to cover a large surface area of whites. it took me bout 8+ mins to reach soft peak. how i know it was soft peak? by rising up the whisk and observe the tip of it. the moment the wind bowl it was trembling and wobbily. so did the whites in the bowl. so in goes the 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar.
and because of the bowl, i finally reached this stage after like another 8+ mins of beating. this time the tip on the whisk was much firmer and wind blow also no use leh! i dunno how to see whether its glossy/shiny and in order to confirmed that i had beaten the egg for enough, i had to...
THE ULTIMATE TEST OF FAITH!!! YES! THIS IS STIFF PEAK!!!! even the little blob of whites at the bottom left of the bowl was strong! i got rid of the egg beater immediately and i remembered ATM said must act fast as if we let the whites stands, it might separate into protein and water and then a puddle at the bottom and there goes all my effort =(
so chop chop fast fast. i carefully scoop up bout 1/3 of white and start folding into the green yolk batter. it's very amazing to see the green lighten and the whites folding nicely. no sooner, i got this:
i dunno if i folded the batter correctly, but i just so what i always did when it comes to folding batter: scrapping downwards from the side of the bowl. and scooping upwards from the bottom. once the batter was done, it reached a ribbon stage and even when i lift up my spatula, the ribbon doesn't break! (i admit i was super gleeful at this point)
i did not have a chiffon pan. yes. so i had to pour my batter into a normal round pan. funny right? but aiya who cakes? though the standard chiffon comes with a hole in the middle but i really dont mind filling that hole with the batter. mom said we used to have it but she threw it away because it was rusting soon and wasn't easy to keep in the cupboard. nevermind, i will get my chiffon tin soon k.
btw, i greased my cake tin. I GREASED IT. stupid right? i dunno what on earth am i thinking but later when the cake was done, my mom said its alright to grease because we didnt have a chiffon tin. no choice one =S
i dunno why but its like a phenomenon to me. something like birthday is to a kid. i took a stool and sat in front of my oven and watch my very first chiffon cake browning. it's really a historic moment for me ok? but after watching the first 10 mins i got really bored and hop onto my bed. heh. i did not tent the cake even though i know for my oven i should. i just change the heating element to the lower rack and then back to the upper and lower one.
i swear the cake was so fragrant and aromatic that i even smell it when i was inside my room on my bed. the moment i smelt it i thought i burned the cake and jump out to check. nothing's wrong and my dad in the living room even said, ' Smells really very good leh' =D and bout 45 min later... my first chiffon cake was done! but to my horror....
my chiffon spilt and opened a mouth!!!
HOW COME!!!! my mom said it's because the oven temperature is too high. very high meh? 160 degree mah! and the cake browned quite nicely. sigh i guess it browned too fast and turned into a giant souffle. i was really sad when i saw this but still, no choice. i brought it out to cool it under the fan and proceed to wash all the mess in the sink.
i looked at the sides of the cake and wondered if i had underbaked the cake. it was springy and very spongy, but still the bottom was not browned. or could it be the greased cake tin?
nonetheless i proceeded to cut the cake (we love eating cakes freshly baked and still warm from the oven) and OH MY GOD! IT SMELT SO HEAVENLY!!! and the cake was really very springy to touch. i know in this pic it looked very much like a pound cake, but i guess its because i used plain flour instead of cake flour. and again, did i underbake the cake?
we really enjoyed the cake very very much. my mom said the last time she baked this was more than 10 years ago and back then, she find hers was dry and not very fragrant, worse, is super green because she pounded the pandan leaves. so i told her, use pandan paste in future lor = P
i brought some of the cake for my friends at work and they said it was really nice. not too sweet and really fluffy. i think so too! the sweetness was very acceptable (in fact i think i wanna add more sugar but mom said NO) and it goes SUPER WELL with lipton red tea (my ideal tea time). this recipe is definitely a keeper! the next time i make this, its gonna be a blueberry chiffon cake baked in real chiffon tin. heh heh =P
anyway, thanks ATM for the walkthrough! it's super helpful and i'm sure many bakers out there found salvation through her post. haha =D
Labels: Chiffon
Katherine blogged@ 8:08 PM
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